14. Nakyra
Chapter 14
Nakyra
I pulled up to the address Camilla had texted me and was shocked seeing her and Dylan outside arguing. After meeting her a week ago, we had agreed to go out for food and drinks. I was still kind of in my feelings when it came to the encounter with Marisol, so hopefully this would take my mind off that. Her car was currently getting fixed so I was picking her up.
I threw my car in park and climbed out, focusing on the fighting couple. My eyes bucked seeing Camilla shove Dylan. Looking closer, it looked like he had scratches on his face too. “I’m so sick of your shit! You don’t give a fuck about me!”
He grabbed both of her arms and shook her. “Stop putting your damn hands on me before I hit your ass back!”
“I wish you would. Get off me!” She shrugged out of his hold.
I wasn’t sure what to do. Creed had told me the two argued frequently so maybe this was normal for them.
“You need to calm down and listen to me.”
“I’m tired of listening!” Camilla bellowed. “It’s always the same shit. Do you think I want to be a girlfriend for the rest of my life? If you don’t want me, let me go, Dylan! I’m sure I can find someone more than willing to lock me down!”
His face twisted and his nostrils flared. “You’re not going any fucking where. I never said I didn’t want to marry you! I just told you now’s not the time!”
“Then when?” She yanked away from him. Her face was red and tears ran down her rosy cheeks. “Tell me when!”
Dylan stayed quiet. I looked around. There were things scattered around the yard and now it looked like a few people were coming out of their houses to see the commotion.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly approached them. Even if this was normal for them, they didn’t need to keep letting everyone in their business.
“Camilla, honey. Calm down,” I said softly, placing my hand on her shoulder.
She spun around and stared at me in shock, as if she hadn’t even realized I had been here this whole time.
“I’m glad you’re here.” She roughly swiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Let’s go.” She darted past me hastily.
“Camilla, man, hold up!” Dylan protested, attempting to go after her.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” she shrieked and yanked away from him. “You don’t love me like I love you and it’s obvious Dylan! Fuck you!” She looked deranged as she yelled and veins bulged on her forehead.
“Hey, maybe you should let her calm down some,” I suggested.
Dylan turned to face me with a blank expression. His jaw clenched and he turned to look at Camilla again who was now opening my passenger side door and climbing in the car.
“Yeah a’right,” he said before turning and walking to the house, not bothering to pick up the scattered things on the ground. Noticing a purse a couple feet away from me, I walked over and kneeled to pick it up.
I turned, walked to my car, and climbed back in.
“Here.” I handed her the purse but she was too busy typing on her phone. Her nails clicked rapidly on the screen as her fingers moved viciously. Her breathing was heavy and every so often her cheeks poked out.
“I swear I can’t fucking stand him!” she shouted once we were out of her driveway and heading down the street. She tossed her phone on her lap and swiped her long, thick, honey blonde loose curls out her face.
I glanced at her quickly then faced the road again.
“You want to talk about it?” I asked.
Her leg bounced wildly as she stared out the window, wiping her eyes every so often. She sniffled and pushed out a deep breath.
“Dylan just doesn’t get it. He never fucking gets it!” She picked her phone up and tapped the screen a couple times. Her eyes scanned the screen before her fingers started flying again. I knew she had to be texting Dylan. I’d never gotten in a blow up like this with a boyfriend before. Me and Rome argued sometimes but never to this extent. I wasn’t sure how to approach the situation.
When she was finished, she dropped the phone again. “Just answer me this. He doesn’t hit you, does he?” I asked, remembering the scratches on Dylan’s face.
Her head whipped in my direction before she choked out a laugh. “Hell no. He isn’t crazy.” She dropped her eyes to her hands and balled them. “I need to stop putting my hands on him, but sometimes I just get so mad I can’t help it.”
Her tears started falling again and it made my chest ache. I hated seeing people upset around me.
“C’mon, girl. Don’t cry.” I reached over and grabbed her leg, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Sorry, girl. We’re supposed to be having a fun day and here I am crying and shit.” She laughed.
I shook my head. “It’s okay. Sometimes we just gotta let it out. I get it.”
Her phone vibrated again, but this time she just peeked at the screen then flipped it over. Her shoulders fell forward and she released a heavy sigh.
“I miscarried two months ago.” My eyes widened and I glanced at her. That was the last thing I expected from her.
“Oh shit. I’m so sorry.”
Camilla wiped her eyes and wet her lips. She grabbed her purse and unzipped it, digging inside and pulling out tissues.
“It’s my third one, but Dylan only knows about two of them. The first one was a couple months after we first started dating. We were drunk and forgot the condom. Before I could tell him, I was losing it. The next one was six months ago, then the one two months ago.” Her head dropped. “Dylan just keeps saying maybe it’s not our time, but he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand how hurtful it is that my body won’t carry a fucking kid. When I asked him if he even cared, he said he did, but that we can always make another one, as if a baby is just replaceable.”
Camilla’s phone went off a couple times. “Leave me the hell alone!” She flipped the phone over and pressed the side button until it turned off.
“Hey, how about we go to my house instead of going out somewhere? We can make some drinks, order food, turn on a movie, and relax.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Using the tissue, she wiped her eyes again before blowing her nose. “Wait… doesn’t Creed stay with you? I don’t want to run into him right now.”
“He’s not there. I’m sure he’ll be out most of the day. I’ll text him and tell him to stay out if not.”
Camilla sighed. “Thanks, girl. I don’t have a lot of girlfriends. Bitches are too shady and I don’t play that funny shit. Normally I wouldn’t even be telling my business or crying in front of someone I just met, but I don’t know, I feel like it’s okay in front of you.”
“Listen… I recently had a run in with my future mother-in-law from hell. It’s always been hard dealing with her but with Rome in a coma it’s ten times harder. My cousin Summer is always my sounding board but I don’t always want to overload her with my troubles, so I get it. I know we just met each other, but if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.”
For the first time since I picked her up, a smile split her mouth. It wasn’t as big as I’d seen, but it was there.
I continued to drive. While I wanted to know more about her situation, I decided to wait until we got to my house. Right now she had calmed down and stopped crying and I didn’t want to trigger her again.
____
“You live here? This is nice as hell!” Camilla gushed when we stepped into my house.
“Yeah, it’s okay I guess.” I looked around my foyer.
She turned to face me. “You don’t like it?”
I shrugged and kicked my boots off before heading to my living room. “I mean… I love the house, but it’s not exactly what I wanted. It’s too big and Rome is gone a lot so I often feel lonely. Hi, Bella girl!” I reached down to pet her head.
“Oh she’s cute. Is she friendly?” Camilla asked.
“Yeah. She’s my service dog actually.”
“You don’t need her to leave the house?”
“Sometimes, mostly when I know I’m going to be in an unfamiliar place or if my ears are bothering me. A lot of times I don’t use my aids at home so she helps me out around here more than anything.”
“Understandable.” She stroked the top of Bella’s head whose tail began to wag eagerly.
“Go ahead and get comfortable. I’m going to grab some glasses. There’re trays on the side of the couch against the wall.”
We had gotten premade frozen drink packs that we could either put in a glass or drink out of the pack. We also got a bottle of LuxeMoné wine.
“Is there a bathroom where I can wash my hands?”
“Oh yeah, right over there?” I pointed across the hall. “Outside, Bella, c’mon on,” I called out as I headed for the kitchen.
After letting Bella out, I went to the sink and washed my hands then grabbed glasses. We had gotten Chinese food on the way here as well.
Once I let Bella in and went back into the living room, I took a seat next to Camilla who had already started removing everything.
Reaching for my remote on the coffee table, I turned the TV on. “Anything you want to watch?”
“Something that’s gonna make me laugh.”
I snickered. “Okay.”
We ended up settling on Martin. For the first hour we ate and laughed while drinking the premade slushies.
“Can I ask how you and Dylan met?” I asked after a while.
“At a race.” Her words slurred as she spoke. “Me and a few of my cousins always used to go because it was always like one big party. Dylan had caught my eye a few times but he always had bitches in his face so I played it cool. One day one of my cousins dared me to approach him, and because I’m no hoe I did, and the rest was history.”
I snickered. “So just like that.”
“Yep! We were locked in from the beginning.”
I licked my lips and spoke cautiously. “Do you think you two are over?”
Her lips twisted and she swirled the drink around in her glass while staring at it. “I just want him to get where I’m coming from. I mean, here I am screaming about marriage and I don’t even give a damn about all that. I just want him to show he gives a fuck! I lost three of his babies and it seems like I’m the only one who’s hurting from it.”
“Since I’ve never been pregnant or lost a kid, I can’t say I know what you’re going through. I’ve also only been around you two once, but from that interaction it seemed like you two love each other. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to process the losses.”
She was quiet for a second. “How did you know your fiancé was the one?”
I scraped my bottom lip with my teeth. “Uhm…” I thought about it. “I guess he was the first guy to show he loved me out loud. I don’t have a good relationship with my parents. I don’t have friends. Rome was the first person outside of my cousin to show he cared so it was easy to fall for him.”
Camilla finished her drink then reached for another one. Our girls night continued with laughs, drinks, and talking. The conversation shifted from relationships to random topics. Even with her starting off upset Camilla still turned out to be a lot of fun. She was outspoken, blunt, and made me laugh more times than I could count. Hopefully she and Dylan could work it out because it was clear that she loved him.
____
“Hey, if you need somewhere to sleep tonight, I have a spare room,” I let Camilla know, shaking her slightly.
She mumbled something in her sleep I couldn’t make out before rolling over and getting more comfortable.
It was going on ten at night. We had been together since six and drinking since seven. I had stopped but Camilla kept going.
Bella’s head popped up and she looked toward the foyer and started barking, indicating someone was at the door. A few seconds later I heard the lock and the door open.
The sound of multiple footsteps filled my ears, gaining my attention. Soon Creed and Dylan appeared in the living room.
“I told you she was good,” Creed said, then looked at me. “I tried calling you to see if Camilla was here.”
“You did?” I reached for my phone. “Oh, I forgot I put it on silent.”
Dylan was silent as he observed the scene in front of him. He focused on the empty glasses on the table then shook his head.
Walking around the table, he approached the couch, kneeled, and placed one hand under her knees and the other under her lower back, lifting her bridal style.
Camilla mumbled something and fluttered her eyelids. “Mhm, what are you doing here?”
“I came to bring you home, drunky.”
“No, I’m mad at you,” she whined but curled deeper into his chest.
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “I know, baby.”
Dylan looked at me. “Hopefully she wasn’t too much.”
I smiled softly at her. “Nah, she was fun.”
He tossed a nod at Creed. “I’ll hit you later. She can grab her shoes another time.” He kneeled and picked up her purse.
Creed followed them. I got comfortable and turned to stretch out on the couch. I reached for my food and scooped up some of my General Tso’s Chicken.
“I heard you experienced The Dylan and Camilla Chronicles,” Creed mentioned when he reappeared.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a domestic dispute when I picked her up. Do you think they’ll be okay?” Creed walked over to the couch and I thought he was gonna sit at the end of my feet, but instead he lifted my legs and took a seat, placing them on top of his thighs.
“Those two are the most in love people I know. They got their issues like every other couple, but they always work it out. My boy would take a bullet and hide a body for that woman.”
I shoved my fork into my mouth. I wanted to ask if he knew about the miscarriages but I didn’t want to betray Camilla’s trust if he didn’t.
“Camilla was really upset but it’s clear she loves him just as much.” Creed’s hands ran up and down my shins. Although I had leggings on, it still made my nerves buzz.
“Watch, when you talk to her tomorrow, they gon’ be good.”
“I hope so.”
He turned his head from the TV to face me. “What you eating?”
“General Tso’s Chicken.”
He licked his lips. “My favorite. Let me get a bite.”
“Okay I’ll go grab you a fork and?—”
“Just let me bite off yours. My mouth clean.” He opened his mouth.
For some reason that made my pulse race and my stomach flutter. Scooping up rice and chicken I leaned forward and held the fork out. Creed moved and took the fork into his mouth.
He licked his lips again. “Damn, that’s good. Let me get another bite.”
I scooped up the food and held out the fork. He chewed slowly, keeping his eyes locked on me. My heart did an unusual dance in my chest.
“You like Martin?” I asked, darting my eyes to the TV.
“Yeah, I fuck with it.” I was hyperaware as he continued running his hand up and down my shins but I didn’t mention it. While it might be crossing lines, I couldn’t deny I’d missed physical contact. Even something as simple as what he was doing was soothing.
The night continued with us sharing the rest of my food and laughing at Martin. I was glad the awkwardness between us this past week seemed to pass and we were back to normal.