7
DeSean
Though I usually projected an aura ofcalm, seeing Camilla waiting outside the Tae Kwon Do studio infuriated me. Part of the anger came from her being out of the mental ward, when I expected her to be there longer than 72 hours. The real rage came because she was keeping me from Tegyn again. It was like she knew, like she sensed my happiness, my hope, and she was determined to snuff it out.
Scowling, I stormed over to her vehicle, realizing she had been to the house to pick it up and feeling pretty glad that I’d dropped off Keyon with Tommy before I left for the airport instead of bringing him to class for Ari to watch. As I neared the vehicle, I watched her casually lower the window a few inches. She appeared to be calm, but her face wasn’t fooling me. I could practically see the flames shooting off her head. The woman was hot. “What you want, Camilla?”
“What you doing with that white woman?” Her eyes narrowed on me.
“Nothing. We talking. You saw that.” I crossed my arms over my chest. Behind me, I could hear Tegyn backing up and driving off. I stared after her, certain the longing was obvious on my face. “Why you here, Camilla?” Through the years, I had perfected saying her name to the point that it now sounded like I was spitting it out of my mouth.
“I want to come home. The doctors say I need to be in a calm environment.” She watched me for a reaction.
For years, I’d been kind to this woman and all she’d done was take advantage of me. I knew she expected me to say that her room was ready and waiting. She could pull it together with me and her son, and leave when she was ready to go out on her own. I’d given her three years, and she was never gonna get better. If I let her back in, I’d never get her out so easily again.
I shook my head. “No, ma’am. The house is full. And the only reason it’s peaceful is because you ain’t in it. We gonna keep it that way.”
“You and that white bitch?” She snarled. “Is that the ‘we’ you referring to?” She slammed a hand on the dashboard.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply a few times, trying to remain calm before I answered. A hand on my arm had me stiffening and glancing about wildly. Luckily, it was only Ari.
“I’m the ‘we.’ Me and my daughter,” my sister snapped.
“Ari,” Camilla murmured. She had always pretended to be sweet, demure, and God-fearing around my family. This was the first time my sister had seen her in action. I’d only touched on everything going on during the drive, since I hoped to keep Necie out of grown people business. “Did you know your brother kicked me out?”
Arionna’s face hardened. “DeSean told me what happened.” This wasn’t true. I hadn’t had the chance. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” This was true. Camilla had lost her damn mind.
I met my sister’s stern eyes. “You ‘bout ready to go?”
“I’ve been ready,” she retorted. “Goodbye, Camilla. I wish I could say it was nice to see you again, but I’m a lousy liar.” Then she spun on her heels and strode back to my truck.
With a shrug, I started to follow her, but Camilla stopped me.
“I want to see my boy,” she gritted out.
I tugged on my chin for a minute. “No. I don’t think you give a God damn about my son. He’s just a pawn for you and I’m done playing your games.”
“Then you’ll see me in court,” Camilla growled.
I nodded. “Looking forward to it.” Then I took my sweet time making it back to my truck. Arionna covered her mouth to hide a smile, but since my back was to Camilla, I grinned. My sister knew me. I tugged open my door, climbed into the cab, and then dropped into my seat.
Out of view, my sister reached out and offered me knuckles. I chuckled and our fists bumped. “Necie, ear buds,” she ordered.
Fishing around in the front pocket of her backpack, my niece pulled a set out and plugged it into her phone before turning her attention to the screen.
“We going home now?” Arionna asked.
I shook my head. “We need to get Keyon first. I left him with a friend. And I want to make sure we lose Camilla first. I don’t want her getting any ideas.”
“So, what you gon’ do?” She frowned at me.
“You hungry? I thought we could go grab lunch.” I forced a smile. Right now, I wanted to do anything but, only I had Camilla watching us, looking for a crack in my armor, probably hoping to follow me and spy on us. And I wasn’t going to make it easy on her.
“Don’t you have to work tonight?” Arionna asked, her brow furrowed. “Sounds like you plan on wasting some serious time.”
“No. Not tonight. The re-opening has been postponed to Tuesday. Looks like you’re stuck with me all night.” I forced a smile.
We went out for pizza. We did a little grocery shopping. And then, when we were certain she had given up, we drove to Tommy’s. He’d moved into a house about three months back and in an amazing act of foresight, I never told Camilla about it. Soon, I emerged with Keyon, strapped him into his seat, and we drove home. In the past, I’d never park in the garage, but now I did. It was easier to get in and out, to keep a secret that way. I worried often that Camilla had eyes on me. I probably wasn’t wrong.