Twisted War

by Danielle James

  “Hell no.” He turned to face me. “We’re attracted to each other but clearly we both have self-control. I promise not to try anything with you, okay?”

  “Okay. I won’t try anything either,” I told him. It would be hard as fuck but I did like our friendship and I didn’t want to put him in the path of Emmanuel’s rage, so friends it was.

  “Would you mind if I hung around with you today?” Alexander asked. I was sitting at the dining room table with paper spread around me trying to work out the menu for Chloe’s party. So far I knew we were having mac and cheese.

  “Why would I mind? I like when we spend time together,” I shrugged. He walked up behind me and rubbed my shoulders.

  “I know you do, I was asking because I know Manny watches you like a hawk and I also know you have to pick up Chloe.” My mind flashed to my baby girl and then to her party. I had to mail out the invitations.

  “Emmanuel has to go somewhere today. He didn’t say where though, but I’m assuming he’ll be gone for the entire day. Xavier wants to keep Chloe one more night, which is annoying but I’m fine with it.”

  “Why is it annoying?” He asked, turning into Dr. Epps.

  “Because I feel weird without her.”

  “You miss your daughter. It doesn’t have anything to do with Xavier.” He told me. I rolled my eyes and grumbled under my breath.

  “Look, my point is we’re free. Just me and you today.” I smiled up at him and he was beaming. “I like when you smile like that,” I told him. I’m pretty sure I had hearts in my fucking eyes.

  “You do?” He raised an eyebrow and sat beside me. “What else do you like, Camilla White? I know all about your issues and chaos but I want to know the good parts.” My palms felt itchy the closer he sat to me. I rubbed them on my knees and thought of the things that made me happy. One thought was instantaneous and it popped out of my mouth without much thought. “Chloe. I like when she tugs on my finger when she wants attention. I like the way she squishes my face between her hands and the way she calls me mommy. I even like her little temper, she’s so much like me it’s crazy.” I really missed my child and I wanted to go up to New Grace and hug her. Alexander smiled as I spoke about her.

  “You’re a great mother but what about things that make you happy that don’t tie you to anyone else?” He asked sincerely. At this, I shrugged my shoulders blankly.

  “Before Chloe I was mostly angry all the time. The only things that were enjoyable was fucking or manipulating people… oh my god I sound like such a horrible bitch. Jesus.” Alexander let out a hearty laugh and shook his head.

  “No, you’re not horrible. You just never sought help.” He assured me, but I still felt like an awful person. “Look, have you ever been to Disney World?” The question caught me completely off guard.

  “Once when Chris and I were little, Emmanuel took us when he had to go to Orlando for a retreat. It was all his idea because Dana hated amusement parks or anything that resembled them.”

  “You haven’t been since?”

  “Nope. I haven’t.”

  “Well, we’re going. We can take a bus and spend the day there. It’s still early.” I was smiling like an idiot. Who the fuck just up and decides to go to Disney World one morning? I kept telling myself it was corny but the idea spoke to my inner child and deep down I was giddy as I figured out what to wear.

  I laid out a pair of white shorts and a light pink t-shirt with golden arrows decorating the bottom. “Hey, I’m gonna get in the shower and get dressed.” I told Alexander.

  “You do that and I’ll go home and get ready. I’ll meet you here in forty-five minutes.” I nodded and slipped my arms around his strong frame for a hug. “We’re gonna have fun today.” He told me before resting his lips on my forehead. I noticed he never actually kissed me; just let his lips rest against my skin.

  Once he was out of the driveway, I called Dempsey.

  “What’s up sweetheart?”

  “Hey Dempsey, did you ever get me that phone number I asked you for?” I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek.

  “Yeah, I got it right here. Did you do what I told you to?” I walked over to my dresser, reached in the first drawer and pulled out a nondescript black flip phone.

  “Yeah, I have the phone.” I told him. I flipped it open and pushed the power button. “Are you with Emmanuel?” I asked randomly. I noticed Dempsey suck in a breath then pause.

  “You know it kiddo.”

  “Text me when he’s on his way back,” I said quietly.

  “Okay. I can do that.”

  “Thanks, now give me that number.” I listened as he rattled it off and then I dialed it on the flip phone.

  “Hey, kiddo…be smart okay?”

  “I got it Dempsey. Trust me, I’ve been around twisted motherfuckers my entire life. I know what I’m doing.” I ended the call with him and pressed send on the flip phone. As soon as I heard a male voice answer, I started talking. “Jade Peterson is in room 432A at Mercy Hospital.” I pressed end call and bent the phone backwards until it broke in half. Shattered pieces of plastic showered down on my feet. I tossed the phone in the trash and swept everything up. The dirty work was done.

  **

  Chapter Eighteen

  Emmanuel

  Florida State Pen was five hours away from Miami by car. Six hours if there was traffic. Luckily for me, I’m the fucking Mayor so I had private jets at my disposal. I got there in an hour.

  This would be my first time seeing Trevor since last year and I know we’d both had plenty of time to think about things. I had time to think about him plotting and scheming behind my fucking back but I also had time to think about the fact that I was fucking his daughter behind his. Depending on this meeting we had, his February would either be great or fucking horrible.

  Just as I was climbing in the back of my chauffeured car, I got a call from Camilla. “Hey, everything okay?” I asked her.

  “Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

  “Okay, I’m getting ready to handle some business so I don’t have long to talk.”

  “Sorry, I just wanted to ask you about my dad’s trial.” My entire face contorted into a frown. It was like she had eyes on me and I didn’t like that feeling.

  “What about it Camilla?” I snapped at her with a growl. I was failing to understand how the fuck she even knew his trial was approaching.

  “Um…just, can you pull some strings and maybe get him out?”

  “How long have you been in contact with him?” I could hear her voice hitch in her throat. It gave me all the answers I needed. “Answer me,” I demanded.

  “I’ve written him letters but he won’t respond.” Her words started to break apart with tears. “I just keep up with him by calling his lawyer. I knew you’d be mad that’s why I didn’t want to tell you,” she sniffled. I mulled her words over in my head and tried to decide if I thought she was lying to me or not. If she were it wouldn’t be very good for her. I didn’t have to do much to hurt Camilla and I didn’t want to hurt her, but if she needed to be warned about who ran shit I’d break her heart just a little.

  “You’ve never lied to me before, right?” I asked her.

  “No…” She had a frown in her voice. “You think I’m lying now?”

  “I was asking a question. Look, don’t worry about your father. I’ve got my eye on him. Okay?” I rubbed my forehead and shut my eyes. I could just envision her face twisted up in a pout. “I’ll see what I can do,” I sighed. A pang of guilt flickered through me thinking about if she was lying to me. I knew better. Camilla was always honest with me. I also knew that she wanted her father back in her life more than anything so of course she would keep up with him however she could. I was being crazy.

  “Thank you Emmanuel.” She said her voice was much lighter. I ended the call and watched the palm trees grow sparse and turn into flat, barren land. We were nearing state prison.

  It’s usually a big deal when a Ma
yor visits a prison, but in my case it was quiet and nobody but the warden and guards knew I was coming. I needed to see where Trev’s head was at and if he deserved to be a free man. I waited for Dempsey’s car to pull up before I went inside.

  “What are you gonna say to him?” He asked as we walked up to the doors.

  “I’m gonna see if he wants to be free,” I smiled. We bypassed all the checkpoints and headed straight down a long dimly lit hallway until we reached a steel door flanked by two guards. They nodded at me and I walked in. Trevor sat at a metal table with his head held high and a sharp glint in his eyes. I sat down in front of him and Dempsey sat on my right.

  “Trev! Look at you.” I chuckled and he just nodded. “You don’t have anything to say? No hello?” I chided.

  “What’s up, Manny? What do you want?” His tone was even but still strong. It let me know he hadn’t lost himself and I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing.

  “Just came to see how you were holding up in here. I heard your parole is coming up in a couple weeks, right?” Trevor nodded his head slowly.

  “You see I haven’t ratted your ass out, right?” He folded his arms across his chest. I smiled wide.

  “Well Trev, you’re smart. You’ve enjoyed not getting killed so far, I take it?”

  “I’m good. I suppose I owe you a thanks for that?”

  “Yeah you do.” I rested my ankle on my knee and looked right into his eyes. “I heard you haven’t been keeping in touch with anyone. That’s a shame.”

  “Who is there to keep in touch with? You took me away from everyone. You took me away from Camilla.” He broke my gaze and looked down at his hands. So he was broken? Good.

  “I know she’s been writing you. She tell you about Chloe?” I smiled at the mention of her.

  “Yeah, she did.” He fought back emotion and kept his eyes on his hands. “So since you control everything, am I gonna get to see my granddaughter?” He asked me quietly.

  “That’s up to you, Trevor. I need to know if you feel fucking stupid for plotting to take me down.”

  “I actually do,” he sighed. “I’d much rather just pretend you don’t fucking exist.” I laughed genuinely that time and shook my head.

  “That’s gonna be hard to do considering your daughter is in love with me.” I watched his body language. I watched for him to tense, to clench his jaw, to laugh bitterly. He just sat there, staring, unflinching.

  “I can’t change who she loves,” he replied.

  “You can’t,” I said sternly. I glanced at Dempsey who was becoming agitated the longer my meeting with Trevor went on. “Look Trev, I’m not the bad guy you think I am. What happened wasn’t personal. If it were personal well, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you face-to-face. I’d be talking to your tombstone. Granted, I didn’t like the shit you were trying but we all know I figure everything out. Especially when it’s under my nose. I’m willing to overlook all this petty shit once I get an apology.” Trevor looked from Dempsey to me and straightened his back.

  “An apology? Why not just get an apology when everything happened? Why waste a year of my life and take me away from my family?” I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back in the chair.

  “It was all a part of a plan. You played your part.”

  “I did? Is my part up now?” He asked quietly.

  “After your apology, sure. I have a heart. I wanna see you get to know Chloe.” Trevor no longer posed a threat to me. He knew better at this point.

  “I’m sorry Manny.” He said in a low voice. I know it fucked with his pride, and I really didn’t care about getting an apology but I like to antagonize. What can I say? I smiled at him and stood to my feet.

  “Good man.” I shook his hand and he sucked in a breath. “I guess I’ll see you back at home soon.”

  “Thanks, Manny.” He said before I walked out.

  Well, there was only one thing left to do and that was to tell Camilla the good news. I texted her when I got back to my car to be at my house when I got home in an hour. I couldn’t wait to see her face.

  I think I checked my watch no less than ten times in the span of one minute. Where the fuck was Camilla? When I sent her a text to meet me at the house she said to give her a little while, but I’d been home for an hour and she wasn’t anywhere to be found. I called her phone once more, and finally got an answer.

  “You know I don’t like when you’re disobedient, right?” I growled into the phone.

  “I’m sorry Emmanuel. I’m kinda caught up right now. I took a little day trip and I’m still on the bus back.”

  “A day trip? With who?” I frowned. It was completely out of character for Camilla to do something like that. Maybe her and Xavier were trying to patch things up. Not my favorite thought in the world.

  “Do I have to go on a day trip with someone?” She quizzed.

  “Well, that right there let me know you’re with someone. Look, I’m already pissed with you. Get your ass here. Where is Chlo?”

  “With Xavier. Why? Is she okay?”

  “If she’s with her father then I’m sure she’s fine. I haven’t checked on her today.”

  “Okay. Yeah, the bus will be back in about forty minutes,” She told me. I could hear rustling on the other end and I pressed the phone to my ear to see if there were voices. I couldn’t make anything out though. For some reason, Camilla had me suspicious as shit.

  “Okay. Tell your new boyfriend you’re sleeping over here tonight.” I said before ending the call. Maybe she finally got tired of Xavier’s bullshit and decided to get a new man. If that was the case, I was going to find out. Even though I’d never try to cage Camilla, I still liked to keep tabs on her at all times. She could have all the boyfriends she wanted, as long as they all knew who held the highest rank.

  “Okay, Trevor gets paroled on the twelfth of February, two days before Chloe’s birthday.” Dempsey handed me a few papers and I glanced at them then set them to the side.

  “Thanks,” I grimaced.

  “What’s up your ass, man?” He prodded. “You mad because Camilla’s not here yet?” He poured himself a drink and offered me one. I took it.

  “Yeah, I feel like she’s keeping shit from me,” I admitted.

  “Well, what do you think she’s keeping from you exactly?” he asked curiously.

  “A new boyfriend. There’s someone new in the picture. I just can’t see it because I’m too fucking close to her.” I finished my drink and set the glass down on the table.

  “Does it really matter, Manny? Let the girl screw who she wants. You ever think she’s keeping something from you because you’re being too controlling? Let me tell you something, you keep trying to hold on to her and you’re gonna fuck up everything just like Xavier.” Once again his words stung as they settled into my mind. I made the decision not to press her about who she was with because she was staying with me tonight anyway. Whoever she was with would just have to be mad about it.

  “This girl is gonna kill me one fucking day. I keep saying that,” I sighed.

  “You’re the one running behind a wild young girl. She needs freedom.”

  “She can have it too. I’m too damn old for drama.” I felt every last one of my 44 years too. Chasing Camilla around was too much fucking work. I’d much rather stick to making sure she was where I wanted her when I wanted her to be there.

  “Yeah, sure,” Dempsey laughed. “You’re crazy over Camilla. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing but it’s definitely true.” He stood to his feet and patted my shoulder. “I’m heading home Manny. I’ll see you in the morning.” I nodded and waved him off before pouring myself another drink.

  I was a few drinks away from being shitfaced when Camilla came in the house. She was rambling and talking a mile-a-minute like she was high on life. Her new man had her floating around like a goddamn butterfly. She looked sexy in a pair of shorts and a shirt and she smelled like sunshine. Like she’d been outside all fucking day. T
he glow on her skin was driving me crazy though.

  “You look sexy when you’re drunk.” She laughed settling in my lap. I kissed the nape of her neck and she closed her eyes. Her laughter sounded like music to my ears.

  “You look sexy all the fucking time.” I said against her ear. I watched as the goose bumps blossomed over her tanned skin. I still affected her body. Good. I realized that I’d been missing her lately. “What the hell have you been doing, Camilla? I barely see you anymore.” I looked at her bandaged hand and ran my fingers over it gently. Her face fell into a thoughtful frown.

  “Do you miss me?” She asked, playing with my long fingers.

  “Yeah, I do actually.” I inhaled her sunny scent and kissed her neck more. “I miss you a lot.”

  “That’s so sweet.” She sounded choked up. I looked into those hypnotizing eyes and smiled a little.

  “I love you, of course I miss you.”

  “I love you too,” she purred. “Hey, you wanna order something to eat and hang out?” I’d much rather fuck her but hanging out was cool especially when it was with her. I gave her the food menus and she picked out pizza of all things.

  “You don’t want any?” She frowned as she bit the tip of a slice. I shook my head and pulled her body against mine on the couch. “Try it. I had them put feta cheese on it. It’s so good.” She shoved the pizza in my face and I took a bite just to please her. “You like it?” She asked with bright eyes.

  “It’s good,” I told her. My hand slid down her shorts to grab a handful of her ass and she smiled at me. “New boyfriend must be a foodie.” She stiffened beside me and I laughed. I loved unnerving her. Dempsey was right; I needed to lighten up with Camilla.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend,” she grumbled.

  “Didn’t we do this same song and dance with Xavier?” I tilted my head to the side to eye her.

  “Yes, but this time I’m not fucking anyone. I’m just hanging out. It’s like I have a new best friend since Laurel left me to go to school.” She said with a bratty pout. I could feel my jealousy settling down the more she rambled about having a best friend.