by Jade Jones
Roxie shook her head. “You think handling problems your way are going to solve things when they won’t. It’ll only make shit worse. You really need to grow up.” She turned around, and walked back to her car.
***
Rumor waited at the front door for Cameron to grab her things. They were going to the mall and afterward to get a couple drinks. Although Jude had advised her against making friends it felt good to have a girlfriend in a new city where she knew no one. In Cameron’s opinion Rumor seemed sane enough and that was all that mattered to her.
After grabbing her green Chanel clutch from the counter, Cameron kissed Justin on his forehead and waved goodbye to Elyse. Now that she’d gotten a little friend she had been dumping her motherly duties on the nanny. Elyse, however, didn’t mind the responsibility.
When Cameron climbed inside Rumor’s 2013 Lexus ISC, she noticed Rumor’s bandaged hand. “What happened?” she asked.
“I…uh…burnt myself earlier,” Rumor lied. “Anyway we ain’t goin’ to the mall,” she casually said.
Cameron fastened her seat belt. “What are you talking about? What else did you have in mind?”
Rumor put the gears into drive and smiled.
Thirty minutes later they pulled into the driveway of a beautiful half-million dollar in Alpharetta, Geogia. Rumor parked behind a red and black Bugatti and killed the engine.
“Who lives here?” Cameron asked.
Rumor unfastened her seatbelt and turned towards her. “Don’t be mad, but O’ Zone has been hounding me and a bunch of other girls at Persuasion about you, Cam. He knew the only way you’d really give him the time of day was if I brought you to him.” She left out the fact that he’d also tossed her two racks to do it.
“O’ Zone lives here?” Cameron asked.
“No, this is Zeus’ home. O’ Zone’s in the studio,” Rumor explained. “He really wants to see you, Cam...”
Cameron looked at the six-bedroom, four-bathroom executive home. “Why’d you bring me here? Rumor, I—I can’t be here. My dude would flip!”
“Mind my manners, but fuck your dude. Bitch, this is Greek Gang’s own O’ Zone. You know how many chicks would love the opportunity he’s given you.”
***
Calix Ramirez reeked of urine, rotting food, and foul body odor. He’d been trapped inside the garage nearly a week. Calix was so famished that it felt like his stomach was touching his back. Rumor was doing a nigga so cold. Sometimes at night he often prayed she’d just go ahead and finish him off. She was fucking with his sanity and that was far worse than a bullet to his head.
I swear when I get out of here I’ma choke this bitch until her eyes pop out of her damn sockets, Calix promised himself. He would’ve never thought Rumor would go to these extents to make him suffer. She seemed perfectly normal all throughout their seven year relationship. Who would’ve known that an infidelity would have been the thing to make her snap?
Mosquitos nibbled on his flesh, and he felt like a carcass that was still somehow breathing life. If he didn’t escape, he would surely die at the hands of his girl. There was no limit to the things a woman with a scorned heart would do.
From the corner of his eye, Calix noticed the sharp edge of a broken container lying several feet away. Freedom was imminent after all.
***
Jude drove in silence on the way back home. He would never be the same after that day. Sleep would never come peacefully knowing the shit he’d taken part of with Aso. Georgia was turning Jude into something that he wasn’t.
The stench of blood remained in Jude’s nose. He could still feel Lana’s warm body in his arms as he lifted and dropped her body inside an empty alley’s dumpster. The plan was to make it look like she’d been beaten, raped, and left for dead.
Jude ran a hand through his dreads. He was getting himself into way more than what he’d bargained for. Seeing Lana like that made him want to love and cherish Cam more than he already did.
I don’t know what the fuck I’d do if I didn’t have that girl, Jude thought to himself. His life would be hollow.
Taking the next exit, Jude made a quick detour. He had to do something to show Cameron how much he cared and how much she meant to him. He also needed something to get his mind off the unspeakable act he’d just committed.
16
“No! Please don’t!” Cameron begged.
O’ Zone ignored her pointless pleas as he carried her over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” Cameron demanded. “I said put me—”
PSSHHH!
O’ Zone finally granted Cameron’s wish when he tossed her inside the pool’s crystal blue water. Rumor leaped inside the pool seconds after.
Cameron, Rumor, O’ Zone, and a few of his homies were lounging on the W’s rooftop patio. Ozone had rented out the patio to entertain his crew and new love interest. Bottles of liquor—both light and dark—lined the edge of the pool. Everyone, including Cameron, was high on weed and pills. Jude was always out, not paying her much attention because he was focusing on other shit, and that only pushed Cam closer to Rumor and the party life. She was even beginning to spend less time with her son.
Just because he could, O’ Zone threw a handful of money into the pool. His $3700 Givenchy jeans hung low on his waist, he was shirtless, and a solid gold diamond chain hung around his neck. Dangling on the chain was a sparkling pendant in the shape of Africa.
One of O’ Zone’s homeboys recorded the show on his cellphone so that he could post it to the rapper’s Instagram and YouTube account later.
“This how we mufuckin’ do it out here in the A, shawty! We turn up to the sun rise, nigga! Who fuckin’ with Greek Gang ENT? Not a na’an nigga! Get wit’ it or get run the fuck over!”
O’ Zone swaggered over to the pool carrying a small silver tray. On top of it was a white powdery substance.
Rumor waded over towards him to get in on the drug. “You gon’ do a line with me?” she called out over her shoulder.
“Nah, I’m good,” Cameron declined. She was still feeling herself from the pill she’d taken earlier. “Í should probably be getting ready to leave soon too. I gotta get back to my son. I promised my baby sitter I’d be back by seven.”
Rumor sucked her teeth and waved Cam off. “Girl, that lil’ nigga straight. You and I both know he’s in good hands. Now chill.”
“Come on now, shawty.” O’ Zone said. “We all takin’ a trip to the sky tonight. Don’t be the only one to get left behind.”
Cameron gave the drug a suspicious look. “What is it?” she asked.
“Adderall.”
Rumor sniffed aggressively and wiped away her nostrils. “This shit right here…it feels like fucking heaven, Cam.”
***
Jude called Cameron’s phone for the fourth time that evening. It seemed out of the ordinary for her to be away from home for so many hours, and not answer her phone. It was even worse that she had yet to call and check on her son.
Jude sat with a look of irritation at the dining room table. The table was set up similar to a scene in a romance movie. Two candles sat opposite of each other on the dining room table, illuminating the dimly lit room.
Jude’s lone shadow danced against the wall as he wondered where the hell his girl was. He’d planned the perfect evening. After sending Elyse on her way, Jude had put his son to bed, and cooked dinner. Butter poached lobster with tarragon and champagne.
White and red rose petals sprinkled the hardwood floors from the front door to the master bedroom. Sitting in the center of their king sized platform bed was a Christian Louboutin shoebox.
Jude downed the Champagne and stared at his cellphone’s screen. He figured maybe if he stared at his long enough his fiancé would call. Cameron had already agreed earlier that she wasn’t going to work that night so he didn’t know where else she could be.
Jude wasn’t the insecure type but he still felt that Cameron could’ve at least told him where she was going to be.
Fed up with waiting on a call/text that was never going to come, Jude stood to his feet and dumped the expensive food inside of kitchen’s trash can.
“Fuck it…”
***
O’ Zone and Cameron shared a comfortable blue pool side chair as they rotated a tightly rolled blunt.
“I wanna take you out tomorrow and buy you a car just ‘cuz…,” O’ Zone said. His eyes were low and glassy.
Cameron laughed and took the L from him. She hadn’t started smoking until recently, and she was only doing to fit in. Jude wouldn’t be all too pleased if he knew since he always complained that women who smoked were a turn off. Speaking of Jude Cam didn’t even notice her phone ringing on the table beside her. The sound of loud music had drowned out her ringtone.
“You can’t buy with me material,” she said. Truth be told, she was actually starting to dig him on the low. The promise to keep it professional had gone completely out the window.
“Well, shit…money can buy happiness. What bitch doesn’t want that?”
“Not every woman’s happiness comes solely from materialistic things. Sometimes we want something simpler.”
“Like what?” O’ Zone asked, pulling on the blunt.
Cameron shrugged. “I don’t know. Like getting attention. To feel like we’re special. To feel like we come first.” She thought about Jude.
O’ Zone blew smoke through his nostrils. “You fuck with me and you’ll get all that and then some, baby girl.”
***
Cameron and Rumor rode back to Midtown with the top down. “Diced Pineapples” played on low. The wind blew through their hair as they enjoyed the peaceful ride.
“You’re the only person I’m telling this to—and I don’t even know why I’m telling you…but I guess I gotta tell someone,” Rumor said. “I just found out that my sister slept with my man.”
Cameron looked over at Rumor and pulled her sunglasses off. “Are you serious?” she asked in shock.
“Dead ass,” Rumor nodded her head. “And the bitch has the nerve to be calling me trying to apologize and shit like I want anything to do with her.” Since she was drunk and her emotions were all over the place, Rumor was grateful just to have someone to vent to.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cameron said sincerely.
Rumor chuckled. “Don’t feel sorry for me,” she said. “Feel sorry for my sister…’cuz even though she fucked my man she really fucked herself in the end.”
Cameron was confused. “What do you mean?”
Rumor didn’t respond immediately. Cameron was the first and only person she was telling this to. Even though she hadn’t known for a while she felt like she could open up and be honest with someone. “Me and my boyfriend, Calix are both HIV positive…”
***
Rumor stumbled inside her townhouse at four-something in the morning. She held her six inch heels in her hand because her feet were too sore to wear them. Tonight’s fun had made her forget all about her problems, and the fact that her boyfriend was tied up in the garage.
Most of the lights were off inside. Rumor heard the pity-pat of Tigger’s paws before she even saw him. She instantly noticed something dangling from his mouth as he ran up to her. Evidently, he’d forgiven her about the whole bathroom ordeal.
“Boy…what the hell you got in your mouth?” Rumor dropped her bag and keys on the foyer accent table and picked up Tigger. When she finally saw what was clenched between his teeth she could’ve passed out.
Cable wire.
“I ain’t think you would ever come home,” Calix said in a low tone. He emerged from the shadows. After hours of rubbing the cable wire against a sharp edge he had finally freed himself.
Rumor accidentally dropped Tigger on the floor. He quickly scurried away yelping.
Calix’s fists were clenched tightly as he approached her. There were small cuts and nicks on his hands and arms from trying to free himself.
“Calix…I—how did you—”
“Bitch, I been waitin’ all night to get at you! You thought you was just gon’ lock me away and not pay for this shit?!” He couldn’t figure out if he wanted to beat her to death or strangle her for the shit she’d put him through.
When he finally reached Rumor, he wrapped his large hands around her throat and slammed her against the wall. The back of Rumor’s head slammed against the wall so hard that she could’ve sworn she felt her brain shake.
Calix bared his teeth like a madman as he choked the life out of his girlfriend. “You thought you was gone kill me bitch?!” he yelled. Spit splattered Rumor’s face as he hollered. “Huh?! Is that what the fuck you thought you was gon’ do?”
Rumor grabbed his wrists and tried to pry Calix off but he was far stronger. She hacked and gasped for air as his hands tightened around her windpipe. Her toes were barely touching the hardwood floors.
Without warning, Rumor pressed her thumbs into his eyes, causing him to loosen his hold. She then delivered a swift kick to his left shin.
“Shit,” Calix kneeled over in pain. He was the very one who’d paid for her weekly self-defense classes.
“If a nigga tries you and I ain’t there to protect you, you gotta know how to defend yaself, babe.”
Calix never thought he’d be the one facing her self-defense attacks.
Not giving him a second to recuperate, Rumor grabbed the small ceramic vase off the table nearby, and slammed it into Calix’s temple.
He dropped down onto the cherry hardwood floors instantly. The blow had knocked him unconscious for a few moments which brought Rumor just enough time to drag him back to the garage. When Calix finally came back to he noticed he was right back inside of his chamber.
“Crazy…bitch,” Calix mumbled. His brain told him to get up and whup her ass, but the strike to the head had weakened him greatly. He felt a step away from being paralyzed. His eyelids fluttered as he stared up at ceiling. “I swear…I’ma end ya existence…”
Rumor ignored his useless threats as she re-tied his wrists, and legs together with cable wire and duct tape. “Now let’s see ya ass get out of that shit,” she said cockily. “And you know what? You gotta lot of nerve for being pissed at me. You can’t say you didn’t see this shit coming? I mean, I can only put up with so much,” she vented. “Hell, I pretty much signed my death certificate after finding out you gave me HIV…but yet and still I chose to stay because I thought we could get through this together.” She shook her head in disgust. “But then you go and stick your sick dick in my little sister. How could you do that to me?”
Calix’s chest heaved up and down slowly. “Please, Rumor,” he begged. “I’m sorry.”
“Fuck you,” she said heartlessly. She then stood to her feet and walked out the room.
Emotionally and physically weakened, all he could think to say was, “I’ma fuckin’ kill you…” However, his threat went unheard as Rumor slammed the door shut behind her.
***
Cameron emerged from the master bathroom wearing one of Jude’s oversized t-shirts. Although she had brushed her teeth and gargled with mouthwash you could still smell the scent of liquor on her breath. Cameron had taken a risk tonight by hanging out with O’ Zone and his crew and guiltily she’d enjoyed herself. Nothing had went down between her and the music artist but if she didn’t stop it before it began then something would surely pop off. Something she wouldn’t be able to take back.
Climbing into the comfy king sized bed Cameron wrapped her around Jude, and snuggled closely behind him. His dreads smelled so good, and his body was firm yet warm.
Jude stirred softly before grabbing Cameron’s arm and pulling her closer. In the beginning, he had intentions to go in on her the minute she walked through the front door, but having her there beside him was more than anything he could ask for.
17
Jude was sitting at the kitchen island counter, eating a bowl of cereal when Cameron sauntered inside the following morning. Justin sat in the middle of the li
ving room floor, playing Topples without a care in the world.
When Cameron walked past him he lifted his arms to be picked up but she completely ignored her. Lately, she’d been neglecting him more than usual, and Jude wasn’t any better since he worked most of the time.
Jude studied Cameron’s profile for a couple minutes before he said anything. Her beauty was subtle yet she was the baddest chick he knew. He had never put as much trust into a female as he did with Cam, and he hoped like hell that she wouldn’t make him regret it.
“I waited up for you last night,” Jude said smugly. He was beginning to notice a slight change in her attitude and body language.
“I stayed out late last night with Rumor,” Cameron answered nonchalantly, not even looking in his direction.
“Rumor this? Rumor that? You spendin’ a lot of time with this chick and you don’t even really know her. She could be crazy for all yo’ ass knows.”
Cameron looked over her shoulder at him and smirked. “Someone sounds jealous.”
“I was looking to spend some time with you last night and you out runnin’ the streets with some broad—”
“So you can run the streets with Aso and ‘em, but I can’t do me. Come on now. Don’t be a fucking hypocrite—”
“I work,” Jude corrected her. “What I’m doing, this is for us, Cam. I don’t enjoy this shit.” And he meant every word of that. His ideal job didn’t involve stealing cars for a living. She had no idea all he was doing to provide. He was sacrificing his freedom and putting his life on the line for a few measly stacks. “It’s all about business,” Jude continued. “Don’t ever confuse the two.”
“Well, you sure looked like you were enjoying yourself at my job,” Cameron retorted.
“That shit’s irrelevant. Don’t hold it over me,” Jude said. “And quit callin’ that shit ya job. It ain’t ya damn job. It’s some temporary—nah, you know what? As a matter of fact, I don’t even want you fuckin’ with that scene no more. I’m tired of smellin’ those niggas on you every time you come home.”
