Page 37 of Finesse
My eyes fly open as I hear what sounds like a deranged woman outside. There’s a bit of a distance between Cameron’s driveway and the front door yet I could hear her as if she was right below his window.
The noise disappears and it’s silent again. Maybe I was tripping nuts and thought it was one of Cameron’s groupies. This man has a following that grows by the minute and the thirsty-ass comments from the desperate girls are something I’m still struggling to get used to.
Cameron’s arms are wrapped around my body and I snuggle more into his embrace. Maybe I thought I heard a woman screaming and it was a dream. We were up all night making love and christening every place in his bedroom. My mind is delirious.
My eyes close again and I fall back asleep but it’s short-lived. The silence lasts all but a few minutes. There’s a loud crash and screeching tires that follows. It’s definitely not a dream.
I sit up and cover myself as Cameron sits up with me. He wraps an arm around me and stares out the window. “I got you,” he quietly says, “I need to handle something.”
“What’s going on?” My heart is pounding and I’m trying to steady my breath. I thought this was a quiet neighborhood but I guess any place can be ghetto depending on the occupants.
“I don’t know.” Cameron’s focus is on the window. “I’ll find out shortly, though.”
“CAMERON!” A woman screeches as she pounds on the front door. “I KNOW YOU HEAR ME!”
Cameron’s body went stiff and he breathes out frustration. “Shit!” Cameron flies out of bed and puts on some jeans and a T-shirt. “Stay here, Tay.”
“What’s going on?” I sit up in bed and turn on the light. “What’s happening?” Soon, the bedroom door opens and two men come into the room, unannounced. I quickly cover myself and Cameron pays no attention to me.
“Where is she?” He calmly asks. The world could be on fire and Cameron would still have the voice of calm.
“Downstairs,” one of the men answer. I recognize the men from our first date. They’re not wearing suits like they were; they’re casually dressed. It’s Cameron’s personal security.
“Shit,” Cameron quietly replies, “let me go deal with her before she wakes up the neighbors.” All of them leave the bedroom and I’m stuck wondering what in the hell is going on?
Cameron and his security detail are gone for a while and I’m getting antsy. I quickly get dressed and make my way downstairs where I see a blonde, white woman clearly tweaking. She can’t stay still, and she’s loudly chewing a piece of gum.
What’s more alarming is she’s dressed nice – she’s wearing Gucci loafers and a Fendi sweater. Her hair looks freshly blown-out. This isn’t a poor, strung-out junkie. This is a rich addict.
“I just…” Her voice is a cross between begging and pleading. “…I just need a little to tie me over. You know, Allie just started her ballerina lessons and little Markie…little Markie is in preschool now.”
“Claire,” Cameron’s voice is low, “you know better to come here and at this time of night.”
“I know, I know…” Claire mentions as if she knows it was a mistake. “…but I really need your help, Cam. Just this one time. Just this one time and I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”
I look at the woman and I’m trying to remember where I saw her before. She looks awfully familiar.
“Where’s Robert?” Cameron asks. “I know Robert didn’t let you drive over here like this?”
Claire give s a sheepish grin and shrugs. “You know your brother…”
Brother?This interaction is clearly more personal and Cameron is fully involved.
“He has no idea you’re here?” Cameron replies and before Claire could answer, a tall, lanky White man barges through the front door. It’s Robert.
“CLAIRE!” He grabs her arm and pulls her to the side. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Ow, you’re hurting my arm!” She yells at him. “I needed Cam’s help and you kept saying you would talk to him but it’s taking too long so I wanted to do it myself!”
“I told you I would.” He lets go of her and walks up to Cameron. “Cam, I—” Before he could finish, Cameron hold up a finger.
“Robert, I told you about this before. This is my home, my sanctuary. I don’t want anyone acting like they can come over and do whatever they please because we’re related.” Cameron sits on the bottom stairs as his security flanks him. “Now I have a broken gate I need to repair because you couldn’t control your bitch.”
“And I’m sorry for that!” Robert hastily replies. “I’ll cover the damage and pay for a new one. Just…just help her out here. She’s going crazy without it and you know how she functions with it.”
“And this is exactly why I didn’t want to do business with family. You give them something and they keep expecting more and more at the family hook-up price.” Cameron motions to his security. A man walks over to Robert and hands him something I couldn’t see, but I already know what it is. I feel sick to my stomach.
Claire rushes over to Robert and grabs the items out of his hand. It’s enough to last her for a while, however long that is. “Oh, thank you, Cameron! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She jumps up and down like a person who just won the lottery. I guess she did in a sense. The lottery for drug addicts.
