Page 109 of I Heard It All Before

Cam already knew how his mother was, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. He didn’t want his first day of freedom to be spent arguing with anyone. He grabbed some sweats and a t-shirt and headed to the spare bedroom to shower. Once he was done, he flopped down on the bed and prepared to get a good nap in. He hadn’t been in a comfortable bed in seven weeks and he was looking forward to it. Cam had just drifted off to sleep when he heard soft taps coming from the other side of the bedroom door.

“Cam!” Demi’s sweet voice called out to him.

Cam wanted to rush and let her in, but his stubbornness wouldn’t let him. She knocked and called his name again and, again, he ignored her.

“Camden! I know you hear her out here knocking. Get your ass up and open this door before I kick it down,” Nora threatened, making him chuckle.

Nora was barely five feet tall, but she always talked like she was a giant. Cam was used to her threats, since she’d been issuing them since he was a child.

“Don’t worry about it Ms. Nora, I’m leaving. And no need for you to hide out by your mama’s house when you have a house of your own. I’ll have all my stuff out by the weekend,” Demi replied as she walked away.

Cam struggled with himself for a while, but he jumped up and went after her. He ran down the stairs and got to the front porch, just in time to see Demi speeding out of the driveway.

“Damn!” Cam hissed as he ran back upstairs to put on his shoes.

He felt bad for how he’d been treating her and he needed to make it right. Demi was wrong for what she’d done, but Cam was no better. He wanted her to hurt like she’d hurt him, but he took things too far.

“No need to chase after her because she’s not going back to your house,” Nora said when she saw him preparing to leave.

“Where is she going?” Cam asked.

“None of your damn business,” Nora snapped angrily.

“Seriously Ma?” Cam asked, looking at her sideways.

“Yes, seriously. You really need to grow up Camden,” Nora fussed.

“Man, stop acting like Demi wasn’t wrong, Ma. She did me dirty while I was locked up and you act like all this is my fault,” Cam replied.

“I never said that she didn’t do anything wrong Cam, but she tried to make it right. You have a hard time forgiving and letting shit go. You’ve already missed out on a lot of things in your life because of that. How much more are you willing to lose?” Nora asked.

“Damn man,” Cam drawled as he ran his hand over his natural curls.

“Sit down Camden, we need to talk. I said that I was going to mind my business, but fuck it. I can’t take this shit no more. Y’all are driving me crazy,” Nora sighed.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Cam asked, nervous about what she had to say.

He sat down and listened to what his mother said with mixed emotions. He was happy and sad all at the same time, but he had to get his shit together. Nora went off on him again and everything that she’d said was right. Cam had a problem forgiving others and he had to change his stubborn ways, starting with making things right with Demi. He headed back to bed, preparing to get a good night’s rest once he finished talking to his mother. Cam had a big day ahead of him and he was looking forward to it.

***

“Are you okay honey?” Nora asked Demi as she drove to their destination. Demi was staring out of the passenger’s side window, just like she’d been doing since Nora picked her up from her sister’s house that morning.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Demi replied as she mustered up a weak smile.

She barely got any sleep the night before because Cam was on her mind all night. Demi half expected him to call and apologize, but that call never came. It was one thing for Cam to be locked up and ignore her, but she wouldn’t be able to take it now that he was home. Demi felt physically sick over it all and she felt herself getting depressed again.

“Don’t worry about Cam. He’s a stubborn lil bastard and he’s been that way since he was little. He was my only baby, so his ass was spoiled,” Nora admitted.

“I tried and that’s the best that I can do. I love Cam, but I’m not kissing his ass to be with me,” Demi replied.

“I know that’s right,” Nora said as she found a place to park and turned off her car.

She and Demi entered the building and walked down the long hall to the last door on the right. When they walked into the office, Demi paused, shocked to see that Cam was already sitting in there.

“Your ass had better already been here,” Nora said when he stood up and kissed her cheek.

“I told you that I would,” he replied as he touched Demi’s tiny baby bump.

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