Page 34 of A Trial of the Heart
Chuckling, Kameron slowly turned, facing me. His head cocked to the side slightly, and his eyes spoke before his mouth did.
“C’mon, lil bro, I know you better than that. You can walk around for other motherfuckers like everything is okay, but I see right through that fake ass persona you got going on,” he said,pausing only a moment. “Tell me what’s up? Talk to me like old times,” he added.
I had to hold in my chuckle. When Kameron and I were younger, we’d go to each other for everything. It wasn’t until we were older that it wasn’t as frequent. Now, it was almost nonexistent.
“I fucked up, bro,” I admitted after a bout of silence.
Kameron looked to the salesperson in the room that I’d forgotten all about with a nod, and he urgently removed himself from the space we were in.
“Talk to me.” He nudged me after sitting down.
“I got myself into some shit that I may not come back from.”
“Typa trouble you in?” Kameron questioned with concern.
The trouble I was in wasn’t the topic or the reason for me saying I’d fucked up, so I didn’t want to make that the topic. I just had to mention that to lead up to the reason I was feeling the way I was.
“The trouble is not the problem.”
“Then what’s up?” He seemed confused.
I exhaled deeply. “The shit that happened has me going to court and shit, right?”
“Right…”
“Remember the chick from the cruise?”
Kameron chuckled. “You mean the one yo’ ass couldn’t stay away from?”
I mimicked his laughter. “Yeah, her.”
“Wait, man. Don’t tell me she got some sexual harassment charge or no other bullshit against you. Or wait… She got a dude, and it’s some problems?” Kameron rambled off.
I chuckled again. It was just like Kameron to go right to the worst of things. If you said someone had gotten into an accident, he’d never ask if they were hurt. He’d go right to them being dead.
“Nah, man. None of that,” I replied, my laughter slowing. “Like I said, I got into some shit that’s landed me with some charges. Long story short, Shiloh, the girl from the cruise, is the prosecutor for the case.”
“Ohhhh, shit. You fucking with the opp?” Kameron joked.
Once again, I matched his laughter. “More like she is.”
My laughter slowed, and so did Kameron’s.
“It’s more to the story, huh? ‘Cause you don’t seem fazed about whatever the charges are but mentioning that woman… something is happening. So, what’s up?”
“I fucked around and started feeling her and can’t cut ties, even though I know we can’t be together. Shit was real on the cruise, but it got even realer after our paths crossed again. Shiloh is perfect, too damn perfect.” I chuckled. “Past shit just won’t let us be anything more than it was.” I was rambling, which hadn’t been my intention, but like most times, Shiloh had me all over the place.
Kameron looked at me with a slight smirk before laughing a hearty, obnoxious laugh that only came when something slick was coming.
“Man, you ain’t saying shit except you done fell in love with the opp that you barely know.” His laughter never slowed.
I stood sucking my teeth. “Man, hell nah. I barely even know Shiloh’s ass. I mean, yeah. She had some type ofeffect on me, but it wasn’t love.
I satat the five-star restaurant with my second glass of bourbon on the rocks, concluding Shiloh had played me. Oddly enough, this place was her recommendation. She even stressed the need for me to be on time or else she’d leave. Picking up my phone I looked one last time to see if I’d gotten a text that she’d be late. Coming up empty, I chuckled. She had truly playedme. Downing the rest of my liquor, I grabbed my wallet in preparation to pay and head out. Opening my wallet, a card from the head chief that conducted our private dinner from her birthday fell out.
With a shake of the head, I rested back in the seat. It was almost comical how Shiloh had trusted me as a stranger, and we spent a better portion of the cruise together. Now that she already presumed I was guilty, she quickly forgot who I was. I guess that innocent until proven guilty went out the window the second the law said I did it.
Lifting my phone from the table, I unlocked it and went to the contacts, finding Shiloh’s name. I pressed the button to connect the call. I patiently waited with the phone to my ear. It was probably farfetched that she’d answer as it was perceivable that I’d been stood up. The melodic tone of the consistent ringing of the phone sounded in my ear before Shiloh’s voicemail greeted me.
