Page 21 of A Boy is a Gun: Part I
“Hey, girl!” I put a batch of cookies in the oven. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing but the rent. Well, I don’t have rent or a mortgage,” she shrugs. When I say, Hayley loves to flaunt her wealth… “What about you? How are you?”
“Starting to get some sleep again,” I yawn for the umpteenth time. I love my daughter, but when Cameron offered to get me a nanny, I didn’t hesitate. Tesh quickly stopped it, stating she didn’t want anyone caring for Mia without an extensive background check, so she offered to be the nanny.
She’s not doing this for the love of Mia and Cameron; she’s getting paid significantly well for it. “I don’t get up every couple of hours like I used to, but whew, new motherhood ain’t for the weak.”
“It damn sure ain’t.” Hayley ties an apron around her waist. Despite being a foodie and a hardcore workout enthusiast, Hayley is very much Ms. Slim Thick. A tiny waist, big thighs, and bigger ass are why she’s so popular on Beyonce’s internet. “How’s Cam?”
Yeah, Taylor. Howisyourmurderous baby daddy? “I don’t know.” The words came out in a defensive mode, and I don’t know why. Well, no, that’s not true. I do understand why; I don’t want to admit it. “I guess he’s okay?”
“You guess he’s okay?” Hayley looks at the laptop and checks for orders not done. She goes through them, writes down the most important ones, and gets started. One thing I can never knock about Hayley is her hustle.
She doesn’t have to work, but she does because it’s fun for her. She’s always been serious about motherhood, food, and money. Everything else can go by the wayside, including Que. “What does that mean, Tay?”
Gotta love Hayley. She loves to act ignorant and blissfully unaware unless it’s a sale at Macy’s. “Are we going to be playing this game? We’re going to pretend we don’t know what our baby daddies are up to?”
Hayley writes down a few more orders and smiles at me. “You know what this is, Tay.”
I know what it is, all right. I also know how Hayley and I could be charged as accessories. I walk over to Hayley and speak low so the cameras can’t pick it up. “You’re not the least concerned there’s about to be a bloody war, and our men will be behind it?”
Hayley shakes her head and writes down some more orders. “Nope.” Her lips smack, emphasizing the p.
I feel like I’m in a constant episode of Bizzaro world. I don’t like what Cameron does, but I defend him against Ethan and my Granny. I know he won’t stop just because it’s me. Damn if I do, damn if I don’t. “Fuck you for not having a conscience,” I shake my head.
Hayley scoffs and closes the laptop. “What is it you want me to say, bitch? You’ve always known what Cameron did, even if you were in denial. Cam may not have been obvious with it, but he damn sure didn’t hide it. He purposely didn’t tell you a lot, so you were protected. That wasn’t good enough for you, so there you are.”
I'm not too fond of it when Hayley is right. “I still don’t know anything,” I counter.
“And it’s for a good reason,” Hayley stares at me, “the less you know, the better.”
It’s like Cameron owns Lenox Square, and I don’t need to know the day-to-day of what he does. And that goes for his many other business ventures. I know he’s swamped, and he still picks up the phone when I call and knows how to send a return text.
I know how Cameron operates. He doesn’t have to go to some seedy place or trap house to do business. He could manage his empire from the comfort of his home or inside the mall, and no one would know the difference. “How much do you know?”
“Nothing that could make me testify against Que or anyone else in the Administration,” she raises an arched eyebrow, “and honestly, you should feel the same way.”
Even if I were to be called to testify, what could I possibly say? I didn’t physically see Cameron kill anyone. He only confirmed things after I asked him, and it wasn’t a situation where there were cameras and other witnesses. It would be his word against mine.
“We have daughters, Hay, in case you forget that.” She dismisses me with a brush of her hand. I can honestly say that even though she’s my ride-or-die, she also fits into the weird category of known-you-my-entire-life-but-I’m-not-sure-if-we-met-now-we-would-be-friends. “You’re not concerned about Monica at all? I’m concerned about Mia!”
“Mo is not old enough to know about any of this, and even if she did, I doubt it’ll make a difference other than giving her street cred.” Hayley dismisses my concerns like it’s truly nothing. “And Mia is barely three months old, Taylor. You’re worried about really nothing.”
“No, Cameron is wreaking havoc on the person who set him up, and then it’ll be a tit-for-tat before someone dies.” My voice is angry. “You’re not afraid of that at all?”
“That’s the street life, Taylor,” Hayley says, and I feel like we’re going in circles. “Sometimes you have battle scars, sometimes you leave, and sometimes bad things happen that can’t be undone.”
My only thought goes to Ethan and Cameron. It’s clear they hate each other for different reasons and also the same reasons. They both claim they’re looking out for my best interest, and I’m not entirely sure I believe that. They’d hated each other before I entered the picture, and now that I’m firmly in it, it’s clear I’m the prize they both want to win.
It’s apparent, however, that neither man wants to squash the beef. This would be the time I would tell Ethan to back off because he doesn’t know what he’s up against. Cameron has low friends in high places, and Ethan wouldn’t be remotely prepared for that smoke.
I also know that if I tell Ethan, it’ll make him pursue Cameron more.
“When are supposed to meet with the food blogger?” Hayley changes the subject.
I’ve been talking with a food blogger about the shop and a potential partnership. She has some pretty amazing ones that are too good to pass up. Hayley and I want to do a hip-hop-themed ghost kitchen inside Fresh Espresso, and we have the space for it.
I’m excited about this new opportunity. It can solidify Fresh Espresso as more than a coffee shop and put us more on the map in the food culinary world. Maybe I might meet Bobby Flay and be on Food Network as I showcase Fresh Espresso to those Karens in middle America.
