by Sa'id Salaam
The long day had taken its toll on the young girl and she was asleep soon after arriving. In the deep sleep the night passed in minutes. A glance at her cheap watch confirmed why her belly was grumbling, she had missed breakfast at school.
Since school without breakfast was futile she decided to skip for the day. After foraging for food out of the local gardens and groves, Tywanna headed to the higher learning the internet had to offer. It would be good to get out of Longs Mississippi for the day. Little did she know it would be her last day here for many years to come.
At the same time Emit was turning the small town upside down in search of the two women. Now he was convinced he had been swindled and was none too happy. He had spent the night parked in front of the empty Johnson house waiting on his prey.
When his temper reached a boiling point he marched up the steps and through the front door. Had he not been such a brute he would have seen the door was unlocked. Instead he used his broad shoulder to reduce it to splinters. A quick search of the small house told him no one was there. The open bedroom windows proved he got tricked out of his money.
It only took a few inquiries in the tiny town, where everyone minded everyone else’s business, to get the news that Kathy fled town. That meant quite a few dicks would go un-sucked. The news of her death would never make it back to Longs. She was going to be one of those ‘what ever happened to’ people.
When her unidentified corpse was found a day later, she was buried in a cardboard box in Potter’s Field, laid to rest with the homeless and thrown away people. Her cheap headstone read Jane Doe #5312. It should have read Karma.
“I’m looking for my wife!” Emit demanded when he barged into the small school.
“Does she work here?” A frightened employee asked.
“Tywanna Johnson! I paid for her, where’s she at?” He yelled. “Bring her to me now!”
“She's not in school today,” the office worker replied.
Emit didn’t take her word for it and began a room by classroom search. He barged into every class and demanded his bride. He waved his worthless marital consent form around to prove his claim. When he reached the room Tywanna would have been in had she come to school, he finally got some information on her whereabouts.
“She’s over to the ….. What you call that place? The place that got all ‘dem books?” A goofy class mate snitched. Silly girl knew every word to every new song minutes after it came out but couldn’t even say library.
“The library!” Another student cheered, taking a guess. She had never actually been there herself but at least knew the name.
As Tywanna surfed, chatted and liked online, the man who would change her life came swaggering in. He glanced around dangerously and made eye contact. She quickly averted her eyes from the gorgeous stranger.
He came over and took the computer next to her and began his search, a search made dreadfully tedious by the antique dial up modem attached to the dated computers. Tywanna stole glances at him while he worked.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Cam growled as his search repeatedly yielded the same results. Every time he entered his name in, the only thing that came up was wanted posters of him and news of the recent shoot out. A glance over at the cute little girl next to him proved she knew what she was doing.
“Say Shawty, how you goggle a nigga?”he said, purposefully mispronouncing the word to break the ice.
“You mean google!” Tywanna replied laughing, lighting up the drab room with her smile. “Does he have a Facebook? That’s probably the quickest way to find someone.”
“A what?” Cam asked curiously. Of course, he had heard of the social media giant, but real Dope Boys Did Not maintain an online presence. Note to all the “fronters”.
“What’s his name?” She asked as she switched screens to her account. She caught her own flirtatious tone and realized she was still in her online persona Cameisha.
“Cameron Forrest, F.o.r.r.e.s.t.” He replied spelling needlessly as she had it searching before he finished.
“You hafta’ buy me lunch for helping you,” Cameisha demanded. Tywanna was so happy Cameisha was here, she never would have been brave enough to ask.
“That’s what’s up, lil’ mama.” He agreed standing to look over her shoulder. Cam wrinkled his nose at the slight odor emanating from the pretty little girl. Cute but stinks, he thought to himself.
“Wow! It’s a lot of them. What state does he live in?” she asked to narrow the parameters.
“New York. Check for New York City,” he replied looking at the results. Cameron Forrest was obviously a popular white guy name because the screen was full of them.
“New York City,” she repeated as she typed and hit enter. “Here you go.”
Cameron Forrest Junior took a deep breath as an older version of his own face appeared on the screen. The similarity was so striking even Tywanna immediately clicked on his profile.
“I may be dying, but so are you. Life in itself is a terminal demesne,” Tywanna said reading the latest post. “It’s from a few minutes ago!”
“That’s him,” Cam croaked a he stared at the father he’d never met.
“I’ll send him a message, give me your number?” Tywanna asked as she typed.
“Shit! I ain’t got a phone,” he fumed. Cam had wisely tossed his phone out the window after the shootout. It would not be used as a tracking device against him. “Tell him it’s his son Cameron, give your number.”
“Ok, but you gonna hafta’ put some minutes on it,” Tywanna agreed. The cheap little phone was left behind as payment for Kathy, who accepted payment in kind as well as in cash. If you didn’t have money for a blow job she would accept trinkets and small appliances.
“No problem.” Cam huffed like it was a problem.
“Minutes and a fat-fat burger!” Tywanna cheered. This was shaping up to be her best day ever. She'd never had minutes on the phone and a Fat-Fat burger!
“A what?” Cameron laughed at both the strange name and the young girl’s sudden enthusiasm. She was practically bouncing in the chair.
“A fat-fat burger! It’s got meat and cheese and onions and….”
“Ok, ok, yeah you can have your fat-fat burger.” He cut in ending the lengthy ingredient list. In fact he had heard enough to want a fat-fat burger himself.
“You got a deal shawty, what’s your name?” He laughed.
“Tywanna!” she blurted out before she had the chance to lie. She would have preferred to be Cameisha for the man. “What’s yours?”
“Um, Mike,” he replied forgetting he had already told her his real name. "Come on so we can get our big fat burgers"
“Fat-fat burger!” She corrected doing a mobile version of the fat-fat dance as she led the way outside.
“There your little ass is! Brang yo ass over here right now!” Emit demanded as he pulled up. He was so thirsty he hadn’t even stopped his car completely. It rolled to a stop against the building as he rushed over to Tywanna.
“Um, uh! I ain’t going nowhere with you Willie!” Tywanna yelled as she took cover behind Cam.
Cam could only shake his head at his luck. Here he was a national fugitive on the run, about to get jammed up in a domestic dispute. He could only assume the older man was her father and knew he had to tread lightly. He couldn’t interfere but he needed to get that call.
“Excuse me. I don’t mean to get in your business Mr. Willie, but I…”
“My name ain’t no damn Willie and you best stay out my business!” He shot back. “Now I done paid good money for this gal, she coming with me!”
“You can’t make me marry you mista’!” Tywanna screamed. The situation was getting out of hand quickly as tempers flared.
“Paid for her?” Cam asked now getting heated himself. He may be a drug dealer and killer, but kids were off limits. Still he calmly approached the man hoping to quickly resolve the issue.
“Look, why don’t I…”
Emit slapped the rest o
f whatever he was about to say over to the neighboring county. Cam instinctively reached to his waist, where a gun would usually be found, but came up empty.
Instead of killing the man Cameron tossed a two piece combo at him that would have made Mike Tyson proud. The left, right to the big man’s chin dropped him to his knees. He was in perfect position for the kick that put him to sleep.
“Fuck!” Cam cursed at the commotion. “What the hell was that all about?”
He rushed to his car with the girl hot on his heels. She was in and seated before he was. He decided he would give her a couple bucks for the phone and her food and put her out a block away. Until she answered that is.
“My junky mama tried to sell me to that man.” She replied bitterly.
The reply touched Cam but what could he do? He was running for his life, he didn’t need any extra weight. Yeah she could get a few bucks but she had to go.
As Cam pulled into the motel he saw the creepy old clerk peep through the blinds. He ducked away when he turned his head in that direction. The move spooked Cam and confirmed what he already knew; it was time to move on.
“Say shawty, walk over to that burger joint and grab our food,” Cam ordered once they entered his hotel room.
He opened his bag and removed one of the crisp hundred dollar bills. Tywanna frowned at the gun, the money and the suggestion.
“Walk! That’s too far!” she protested. “And that man out there!”
“Leave the phone here, and grab me a sweet tea too,” he said ignoring her protest. He grabbed a few items and went to take a quick shower before he got on the road. He planned to be gone by the time she returned.
Cam jumped in the shower when he heard the door open and close. It opened again and closed once again a minute later. Tywanna had come back for the big gun for protection. She admired the bundles of cash that was more money than she’d ever seen in her short life.
Route six ran parallel to route five where the fat-fat burger was made. Tywanna took a deep breath and cut through the woods. She actually felt safer there than on the streets where an angry steel worker was searching for her. The short cut shaved enough time off the trip to change history.
“I know this lil’ girl ain’t back already!” Cam sighed. He wrapped the towel around his waist and rushed out to dismiss the kid once and for all. “Look here lil mama, I…”
“I know you boy. Seen ya’ on da news,” the motel clerk snarled. He had what appeared to be the biggest shot gun ever made leveled at Cam’s mid-section. A tug on the trigger would have cut him in half.
“There’s money on yo’ head boy,” the clerk advised, explaining his presence.
"I got money too! Right there in that bag like thirty thousand,” Cameron urged hoping to buy his way out of the situation.
He was fully prepared to pay his last cent to remain free if that’s what it took. Poor and free, beat the hell out of being rich and in jail.
“I reckon I’ll take that money there and still claim the reward ‘fo turning ya’ in!” The greedy man announced. To Cam it sounded like “please take this shot gun from me, ram it up my ass and blow my head off.” He planned to do just that.
“Just look at, count it. It may be more like a hundred grand. Dump it out on the bed and look,” Cam said. He planned to make play for his gun as it hit the bed. His muscles tensed as he prepared to leap, but the gun was gone.
“Shut my mouth!” The clerk exclaimed at the sight of all that cash.
Cam was perplexed as to what happened to his gun until the partially open door began to ease open.
“Put it down mister!” Tywanna demanded with Cam’s gun pointed at him, a greasy bag full of fat-fat burgers and fixings clutched tightly in the other hand.
Her eyes grew large with fear when the man turned to face her. It was old man Grimes, the one who molested her as a child.
“Put that gun down gal!” He demanded so forcefully she started to comply. Then her face changed into a mask of fury.
Cam was set to make his move but the girl lifted his gun and fired. The slug tore into old man Grimes’ forehead and out of the top of his skull. A piece of scalp with fuzzy grey hair was stuck on the ceiling.
It had taken a split second for Cam who was frozen in place from shock to react. Clad only in the towel, he scooped his money back in the bag and dashed out the door.
Again, Tywanna was seated in the care before him. He shook off the thought of putting her out as he pulled away from the murder scene. She had just saved his ass, he owed her.
“Is that man dead?” Tywanna asked solemnly as they sped away. Cam cast her an incredulous glance when she asked. Surely she saw his head explode.
“Yes, yes he is,” he answered honestly and soothingly. He was prepared to try to comfort her, but she started laughing hysterically.
“Yesss!” she cheered pumping her little fist. It was pretty much the same reaction she had when the news of Big Bessie’s death swept through the school. When the realization that she’d caused the death hit home, she shrugged an “oh well” shrug and went on with her life;life is after all for the living.
“Oh No!” she suddenly moaned and switched gears. Now the girl was crying her little eyes out just as hard as she had been laughing only seconds ago.
“You had no choice shawty. It was him or us. He would have killed us,” Cam offered.
“That’s not why I’m crying! To hell with that man. He molested me,” she finally admitted.
“Shit, why you crying then?”
“Cause! I dropped the fat-fat burger!” she yelled painfully before launching into another round of crying.
Cam felt so bad for her that the thought of going back crossed his mind. He knew that motel was a full crime scene by now; a crime scene with his name written all over it. He was already hot when he left Atlanta, now he was a man on fire.
“We finna’ go to New York?” Tywanna asked. The smart girl knew ‘he’ was now a ‘we’, because she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Yeah lil mama, ‘we’ finna’ go to New York.”
Chapter 10
The girl was still crying halfway through Alabama, and Cam knew it was something other than not eating a burger that was eating away at her. He waited until the sobs let up before finding out what was bothering her to the point of tears.
“Lil mama we can find another spot that makes the fat-fat burgers,” he offered trying to do the fat-fat dance himself. He failed miserably, but managed to get a smile on her tear slicked face.
“Just thinking ‘bout my mama,” she sighed. Tywanna knew she would never see her mother again, not in this life anyway.
Even though Kathy was unfit and never did anything for the girl, she still loved her. That set off another round of tears, but she was still able to speak.
“My mama sold me. Sold me!” she said trying to come to terms with it.
“Where’s your daddy?” Cam inquired in hopes for someone or somewhere to leave the kid.
“Hmpf, what’s that?” Tywanna huffed. “I ain’t never met or heard nothing ‘bout him. My grandma said I’m part Mexican or something.”
“Well, I’m you’re your daddy now,” Cam vowed. He was taking responsibility for the girl who had saved his ass.
Cam pulled over just before the Georgia line and replaced the girl’s phone that they’d hurriedly left at the motel. He also needed to build his courage up before entering the state that wanted to kill him. If he could have driven around it, instead of through it, he would have. But, that was not an option.
Tywanna went online and sent another message to Cameron Forrest senior. Minutes later just as they entered the state of Georgia, the phone rang. “212 must be for your daddy,” Tywanna beamed. It was the first time she had a chance to use the word and it felt good.
“Hold on,” Cam said upon answering and dangerously pulled off the highway and onto the shoulder.
“A-yo, who’s dis?” The deep voice on the other end boomed, when Cam came
back on the line.
“Cameron, this is Cameron Forrest,” Cam said defiantly. “Your son.”
“My what! Nigga find something safer to play with!” Senior barked and hung up.
Cam was steaming at the snub. While hitting redial, he pressed the send button so hard, the cheap phone threatened to break.
“Check this shawty! I do got a million things better to do then to call niggas talking about they’re my daddy!” Cam barked. “You remember Tywanna? My momma, from Atlanta?"
"Eastwyck in Decatur?” His father asked after a protracted silence. “Yeah I know, well, knew her, so what?”
“She named me after my father, you!”
“Damn!” Cameron senior sighed as memories came rushing back. He had been in love with the young girl who was in love with the streets.
Senior remembered hearing that she was pregnant but he was already back in New York by then. Given the girls promiscuity, there was no way for him to know he was the father. But still?
“Aight, so why you just now getting at me? What do you want?” He asked skeptically. “Where are you?”
“I’m on 75 north headed your way and I’m hot as hell!” Cam replied.
“Hot huh? Must be my kid” senior laughed. “Check it, I’m in the Bx, hit back once you reach the city and I’ll tell you how to get to me.”
The call ended before Cam got a chance to reply, leaving him only to comply. He jumped back into the car and rushed north.
Tywanna talked nonstop like only people who don’t normally have anyone to talk to can. By the time they crossed over into South Carolina he knew almost all there was to know about her. He had to fight the urge not to turn the car around and find this Kathy person and put his foot in her ass.
The girl talked herself to sleep and began snoring lightly. Cam shot a plutonic glance over her thick frame and pretty face and shook his head. The wolves of the world would devour her in the state she was in. He knew he wasn’t long for the earth but vowed to teach her everything he could. Teach her to hustle, to survive, the only thing he himself knew.
