Page 37 of A Boy is a Gun: Part I
I went from being in an 11,000-square-foot home with a private lake and gazebo to being relegated to the back bedroom of my Granny’s house. Granny helps out when she can or I should be honest and say when she wants to.
She also told me flat-out that she doesn’t offer free babysitting, and if I wanted to utilize her, it will cost me. I politely thanked Granny for her offer and quickly enrolled Mia in daycare.
I spend too much time on social media and looking at how everyone is living life and doing the damn thing while I have to remember if I changed my underwear that day. Old friends went on vacations and bragged about how their businesses were doing.
And here’s me…stuck.
Living with Granny hasn’t been easy. I’m 22 years old, and everyone knows that except Granny.Her house, her rules, and she makes that very clear every second of the day. If I want a friend over, I need to ask permission first. If I’m going to be out late, I need to call ahead.
It’s like I’m a teenager being punished.
I know my conservative Christian Granny frowns upon me being an unwed mother and she’s made it clear where she stands with Cameron’s family. I also know I can’t stay in this home if I want to keep a little bit of my sanity.
I don’t know where I could go. Going back to Cameron’s is obviously off the table and staying with Granny is a no-go. Even if I ask other family members for assistance, they’ll report everything I’m doing back to Granny so things don’t change too much there.
For the first time, I could see why Heather stayed with Eric, even though he was and is a cheating asshole. She has a life of luxury that lets her lead a separate life away from him. Plus, being the wife of Senator Eric Page opens doors she didn’t realize existed.
Wives of rich men already know the game – keep quiet, and I’ll lace you with everything you ever wanted. When’s the last time anyone heard about Mackenzie Scott running off at the mouth about Jeff Bezos? She got her billions and dipped. She still hasn’t said shit.
I tried to play that game, but I spectacularly failed at it. I asked too many questions. I didn’t ask enough questions. I turned the other way. I should’ve stared straight ahead. Cameron was a target, but so were me and Mia.
When Mia’s life was in danger, that was it. If Cameron and his friends want to kill somebody else and risk their own lives, so be it. When my daughter is in the fray, it’s game over.
It’s been two weeks since everything went down. I promptly moved out of Cameron’s home and was planning to get an extended-stay hotel somewhere. My Granny demanded I stay with her, and me, being the stupid obedient fool I am, agreed.
Cameron has called and texted at least twenty times and all of it went unanswered. I knew we had a lot to discuss. But where to begin was the question.
“Hey baby, yeah, the other day when Mia was almost killed in a shootout? Yeah, crazy, right? Like, omgggggg….”
“You know, I really, really, REALLY, like how you’re a drug-dealing murderer, babe. Just try not to get me and Mia killed, m’kay?”
“Do you think your daddy is going to mention all the crime? Sure, he can do a press conference at Earth, Wind, and Flour! I mean, let’s groove, amirite?”
Fantasy was always so much easier in my head. It’s the reality part of life that really messes you up. The TV shows and movies make it seem like it’s one big mafioso game, and maybe it is in real life. But there’s nothing cute about this.
I just saw on the news last night about a suspected overdose involving 10 people, and most of them are dead. The only person who was alive and could say anything about what happened isn’t talking, but he isn’t arrested because they think he was given bad drugs.
The media and police are acting like they do not know what happened, but a weird feeling told me it was Cameron. He’d been planning revenge for a long while and I don’t doubt this was a part of it. While everyone is figuring out his chess moves, he already moved onto the next game.
I need to deal with Cameron at some point. When it was just me alone, it was easy. Well,easier.I could ignore him for as long as I wanted, and that was it. Now with Mia, Cameron might play my game in allowing me to be mad and ignore him, but we both know long money will eventually win–he will go legal to see Mia if it comes down to it.
And he will win. There’s no question about it. Cameron wouldn’t have to use every resource to ensure he’ll get full custody. The Page name alone guarantees it.
My body sighs again. It would be a bald-faced lie to say Cameron hasn’t caused chaos in my life since his appearance. Everything was fine. My dad was still alive. Laurie was out doing Laurie things. Alicia was sipping tea and enjoying her sunsets she loved to post.
Now they’re all dead. Ayesha is dead. It wasn’t just a natural cause type of deaths; they were murdered in the worst way. They suffered.
Tesh is still in physical therapy, but she’s expected to recover fully. The doctors suspect she might have to use a cane for the rest of her life, but she’ll be fine otherwise. Most of the bullets hit her bulletproof vest. Otherwise, she would’ve been paralyzed from the waist down.
And then there’s Cameron. They won’t stop until he’s dead as well.
I need to head to the shops. Even though my life is a clusterfuck of epic proportions, people still need their coffee and sandwiches. Jamie took over the soft opening of Earth, Wind, and Flour, and the pop-ups have been going great. But I can’t hide from everyone forever.
The secret of Cameron's actions and whom he’s connected to is out. I haven’t spoken to either Ethan or Jamie about what happened. Still, Hayley told me Ethan has stepped up patrolling the area where the leading Fresh Espresso shop is because he knows Cameron owns the surrounding businesses.
Ethan plays it like he’s doing it to protect Jamie, and maybe that’s one of the reasons, but I know Ethan. He’s been gunning after Cameron forever. All he needs is something – anything – to take him down for good.
The clock is ticking, and it’s only a matter of time before everything comes to a head. I have a feeling it’s already here.
