Page 7 of I Heard It All Before

“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Courtney smiled.

Asha sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes up to the sky to keep from screaming. She couldn’t believe how stupid Cam was being. They needed all the money they could get, and he was giving shit away like he was a baller.

“Thanks, my baby. You never cease to amaze me,” Nora said as she gave her son a big hug and kiss.

“And don’t forget about what I asked you to cook. I’ll be over here to spend the day with you Sunday,” Cam said as he turned to walk away.

Nora knew that he was headed outside to her garage to check on his prized possessions. “I’m looking forward to it,” Nora said as she followed behind him.

Cam was like a big kid as he started up each car and played around with their features. He couldn’t wait to put them on the road again, just like he used to. After staying in the garage for a little over an hour with his cars, Cam was ready to go. He would have stayed longer, but Asha was getting on his nerves. She kept making crazy noises and blowing out frustrated breaths. He would have checked her about it, but he didn’t want to bring drama to his mother’s house. Nora and Courtney stood in the driveway and watched as they pulled off and drove away, before going back inside.

“Why did you let her keep all that money?” Asha asked as soon as they were alone.

“Because it was mine and I’m grown,” Cam replied nonchalantly. He already knew that was the reason for Asha’s attitude, as if he gave a damn.

“Wow. You didn’t even count it or ask me if I needed something first,” Asha noted.

Cam responded by turning his music up and ignoring her. He had love for Asha, but her selfish ways were starting to turn him off. She was always in competition with his mother, but that was a battle that she was guaranteed to lose. Asha knew what time of day it was, so she turned her head and looked out of the window. Cam had her fucked up if he thought she was going to adjust her lifestyle because he had a change of heart. She had mad niggas throwing money at her when he was locked up. She dropped all her side niggas a few weeks before Cam came home, and she was regretting it. Well, she’d dropped all except one, but he wasn’t as paid as Cam once was. It was better than nothing at all, but Asha needed to pick up a few more sponsors. She loved Cam too much to leave him, but he needed to get his shit together. Asha had an image to uphold and he wasn’t going to change that.

Thankfully, her mother and brothers kept the rent paid while Cam was locked up, so Asha used that extra money to shop and keep her hair and nails done. Cam thought she used the money that he’d left to keep it paid, but that was her little secret. She just assumed that Cam would pick up where he left off, but he was on some other shit. Asha was gonna give him some time to get his mind right, or she was moving on to something or someone better.

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