Hot Girlz: Hot Boyz Sequel (22 page)

“Okay. I’ll see it when you get home
later.”

“It’s from the California Men’s
Colony.”

She paused, then gave a breath and
asked, “Oh? Why? I mean why does Owen Chambers think he can keep writing me all
of a sudden?”

“I guess we’ll find out. Find out when
we read it together.”

She laugh subtly. “I can read it. It’s
just nonsense anyway.”

“We can read it. You got a problem
with that?” His tone began to change.

“No. But Claude, I mean we’re talking
about a letter from a maniac murderer here.”

“A maniac murderer writing my wife as
if the two have a history together.”

She stuffed the bags into the under
cabinet. “We don’t.”

“We’ll see.”

She said, “No, there’s no we’ll see.
I’m telling you.”

“Venus, I’m being cool about this.
Don’t start acting like this is everyday life for anyone. Not many men have to
deal with their wives getting letters from a man serving twenty-five to life in
prison.”

Venus simply stood in place. “Not very
many men dated a woman who cheated on him with a man who’d end up killing her.
Not very many men then married the woman’s best friend. There’s nothing everyday
about us.”

He said nothing.

“Just come home later. We need to get
him to stop once and for all.” She walked to the sink and turned on the water.

“I plan to.”

“See you when you get home.”

“Yep,” he said with an edge.

Venus just ran the warm water along her
hands, turning up the hot water, and stared out of the kitchen window.

~~

A few hours later when Venus returned
from more shopping, she pulled up and saw Cameron’s car parked in the garage.
He still drove his mom Fatima’s old Lexus.

She went inside and immediately
yelled, “Cam! Can you come down here, please?”

“Yeah!” he yelled back.

Venus put down her keys and purse and
went into the formal dining room and took a seat, leaning back against the high
back chair. She crossed her legs.

Cameron walked in. “Yes.”

“Hi. Sit down please, would you?”

“Sure.” He pulled out a chair and sat
across from her. “What’s going on?” He had on a sky blue Hugo Boss dress shirt
and black pants. His shirt was unbuttoned.

“Cam, I wanted to tell you that I set
up an interview for you.”

“With who?”

“I had a conversation with my old boss
at Make-A-Wish.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. She knows you studied finance.
They need an assistant to the CFO. I’ll email you the info but I want you to
make sure you give her a call. Her name is Ann Howard.”

“Okay.”

She checked out his expression. “You
look hesitant.”

He squinted like he just couldn’t see
it happening. “It’s in Westwood. I don’t want to drive that far.”

“You don’t? You know, sometimes you’ve
gotta sacrifice to get ahead.”

“I want to work in Orange County or go
to school out here.”

“What have you done to make that
happen?”

“Oh, no. Not you, too. I already had a
job interview today over at an insurance company in Mission Viejo. Penny told
me about it.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. And me asking
you to call Ann about the Make-A-Wish job is simply a referral. I want you to
follow-up.”

“I’ll call, but I just don’t want to
drive sixty-five miles each way. I mean, didn’t you quit when we moved out
here?”

“I quit because your dad and I agreed
that it’s better for me to be home with Skyy. That’s the only reason.”

“Whatever.” He put his hands on the
table and began playing with his fingernails.

“Okay then, don’t call.” She watched
him begin to shut down. “Cam, what is up with you?”

He looked bored. “I don’t know.”

“Or the question is, why are you doing
this to yourself?”

“I’m fine. I checked out the college
website when I talked to Dad. I’m trying. You guys need to give me a minute.”

“I just have to ask; don’t you want to
make your own money as soon as you can?”

“I do. And I will.” He came to a
stance. “I’ll be back on Monday.”

“You’re going over Penny’s again,
right?”

“We’re going to Santa Barbara for the
weekend.” He pushed in the chair.

She looked up at him. “On her?”

“Yes.”

“Does your Dad know you’re going?”

“I’m grown.”

“Yes, you are. But based on what
you’re doing over there with her, you’re gonna get kicked out of here.”

“Actually, if I do, it’s cool.” He
rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at the wall.

“Cam, you’re a man. Where would you go
if he kicked you out? I know you wouldn’t move in with Penny. Men don’t move in
with women.” Her voice was firm.

“I didn’t say I would.” He paused like
he should not say more, then looked right at Venus. “You know, maybe you guys
would be happier if I got a big old house in Brentwood like Rashaad, or if I
bought a brand new BMW like Rashaad. I mean, Rashaad is all into the money and
everyone’s proud of him. And he’s too busy to even call me back nowadays. We’re
not kids anymore. I’m not into the things he’s into. I’m not a golfer. I’m
tired of being compared to Rashaad, Uncle Mason, Uncle Torino, and Dad. Yeah,
Dad and Uncle Mason went to U.S.C. Yeah, Uncle Torino went to Berkley. I didn’t
even wanna go to college. I went because you two made me.”

Venus looked stunned.

He continued, “I’m a Wilson, but I’m
really not. Maybe because I don’t have a drop of Wilson blood in me. Maybe
because I don’t know who I am or where I’m from or what the hell happened to my
mom. Don’t think I don’t know the guy who killed her is the same guy she dated
when I was young, only back then she called him Bobby. I know his name is Owen
Chambers. Don’t think I don’t remember how much I hated you when you hooked-up
with my dad after he adopted me. Don’t think I’m like any of you. Because I’m
not.” He looked like he could still go one, like more was inside. He dared her
to not understand by him not blinking, not even once.

She uncrossed her legs and leaned
forward, looking up at him. “Cam. I’m sorry about all of that. But, what is it
that you want to know? What is it you need? We’ve tried to show you that you’re
family, because you are.”

“Who’s my real dad? Is it Bobby or
Owen, or whatever his name is, or is it the devil? I was there when this guy
showed up and shot my mother in the head. The same guy she was seeing while she
was with my dad. Oh, but was he my dad? Or was that guy my dad?” His words
sounded like he was playing, but his face was not.

Venus forced herself to keep her words
to a minimum. “You need to ask your dad all of that.”

“Is he or isn’t he? You know the
truth. Just tell me.”

“Ask your dad. He’ll be here in a few
minutes.”

Cameron turned around and headed for
the staircase. “When he gets here, tell him I’m not available until Monday.
Knowing him, he’ll have my things put in storage or out on the porch. But I
don’t care.”

Venus stood and spoke loudly. “Yes you
do care, and so do we. This started out as a conversation about a job for you
and it’s turned into this?”

“Give me ten minutes. I’ll be gone.”
He sprinted up to his room.

She yelled, “Cam, no! Don’t leave!
Por
favor!
”

He slammed the door.

For Venus, what started out as her
wanting to do something good for her stepson, backfired horribly.

~~

By five o’clock, just before Venus was
about to leave to go pick up Skyy, Claude came home. He didn’t bother greeting
her with a kiss, or going upstairs to change clothes, or ask what was for
dinner, even though the smell of red wine pot roast and potatoes had taken over
the house.

They were in the wide hallway that led
from the garage to the kitchen.

He just stood before Venus.

She stood before him holding her keys
in one hand, the other hand clutching the leather strap of her purse that hung
from her shoulder.

She had just told him that Cameron was
gone.

“He what?” Claude asked.

“He left. Actually, they’re both
gone.”

“What happened?”

“I talked to him about the fact that I
was able to get Ann from the foundation to interview him. They have an
opening.”

“How’d that turn into this?”

“We sat down and, it just happened.”

“You had like a family meeting with
him on your own. Even after I talked to him the other night?”

“I did.”

“I thought he had an interview this
morning.”

“He did. He went.”

Claude took a step away and then a
step back. “Call him and her. One of ‘em.”

“I told you, they’re gone.”

“Where’d they go?”

“He said to Santa Barbara.”

“Staying where?”

She said, “I don’t know.”

He spoke with his hands although
holding a few pieces of mail. “That’s it?”

“Well, when we talked he had a lot to
say. And he asked me if Owen was his dad.”

“What’d you say?”

“I told him to ask you.”

“Dammit. Here. Open it. Now.” Each
word was louder than the previous.

Venus took the letter he handed her.
It was a white envelope, once again with familiar scribbled, small letters,
with the sentences all running together without much punctuation “Okay,” she
said, opening it.

“Read it.” He was so close to her she
could feel the heat of his breath.

She saw the first word and said it as
though she didn’t want to get any further than that. “Venus . . .”

He snatched it and stood just as close
to her, talking like she was a mile away. “I’ll read it.”

Venus Baby How are you You didn’t
write me back That’s okay I just know you’re having fun doing what you do So
I’m sure I’ll hear about this one but here goes Does your husband know you’re
the one who told me that
you and him and Fatima were meeting at the Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes
as a ménage birthday present to him And does he know I sat outside of that
hotel all night and followed him and Fatima the next morning back to their
house and then to Mason’s for the lovely family Thanksgiving dinner Hell I’m in
here for the rest of my life I don’t care but if you ask me I never would’ve
gone over the edge if you hadn’t talked Fatima out of going to Vegas with me to
get married And if you hadn’t told me about the little birthday threesome And
if you hadn’t told me you wanted Claude all to yourself maybe I wouldn’t have
allowed you to do just that by me getting rid of her so the way I look at it
you’re an accessory to murder Don’t you agree Who loves you baby OC

Time stopped.

Venus’s heart cried.

Her face was blood red.

Claude screamed at her as he headed
for the door to the garage. “I’m going to get Skyy and by the time I come back
I want your sorry ass gone!”

25

Sequoia

“What in the world is going on?”

More than two weeks after the custody
court date, the first child support check had already been sent to Colette
Berry.

Now it was time for Kyle Jamal Brewer,
Jr. a.k.a. Kyle Jamal Wilson, to come home to a house he never knew existed.

Torino walked in through the arched
front doors on a Friday at six-o’clock with his new seven year-old son right
behind him.

Sequoia had heard them pull up in the
driveway. She had been getting ready all day, from what she wore, to what TJ
wore, to how the house looked, to what she cooked . . . she was ready. And
dinner was ready.

She stood tall as though wanting to
make a good first impression. “Hi there.” She wore a white blouse with a lace
collar and a pair of black pants.

Kyle Jr. replied, looking all around
at the large house. “Hi.”

Torino closed the door. He was
carrying a large shoulder bag. “This is Sequoia. My wife.”

“Sequoia?” Kyle Jr. asked.

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

He looked to be in thought.

Torino said, “And this is TJ. Like I
told you, and your mom told you, TJ is your little brother.”

TJ spoke right up. He wore brown
shorts and a bacon and egg happy-face t-shirt. “Hi.”