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Cameron POV
"Come on guys, we're going to the grocery store." I call out to Taleah and Aj who are in their rooms. I set my laptop aside and stretch. It's a Saturday and I've been sitting on my laptop doing nothing but work since 9am and it's 3:00pm right now. All I want to do is go back to sleep, but I know that won't be possible since I have to get food to put in the fridge and then get back to my work so I can finish.
I don't get an answer from either of them so I decide to go to their rooms. I open Taleah's room door and she's laying down with her headphones on blast. She doesn't even notice that I opened the door. I take her headphones out of her ears.
"Why is your music so loud?" I ask her.
"Ummm, I don't know. The music sounds better when it's louder."
"Stop putting the volume up so much. That can damage your ear drums. Anyways, come on, get dressed. We're going to the grocery store."
"Papa, really right now?"
"Yes, Leah! Unless you don't want me to cook and you just want pizza tonight. Because that's fine with me."
Taleah grunts and slowly sits up, puts on her slides and puts her hair up in a bun. I leave her room and try to open Aj's door but it's locked. I knock on the door but he doesn't respond.
"Aj!"
"What?" He calls.
"Open the door."
Aj opens the door and he looks like he was just sleeping. He looks at me expectantly. "We're going to the grocery store. And what did I say about locking doors? What if it's an emergency and I can't get to you quick enough?"
"It's not that deep but okay." He walks away from the door and puts on a shirt and sneakers. Of course, he has an attitude like always.
"I'll be downstairs guys, don't take too long." I leave my apartment quickly and go down to my car in the parking lot. My kids come down about five minutes later and get into the car. The car ride to the grocery store is filled with Taleah singing loudly. And although she has a beautiful voice, she makes my ears hurt.
When we get to Stop&Shop, I immediately pull up my grocery list and start grabbing things to put in my cart. I take Taleah and Aj with me a lot of the time because I rather not be alone in here. When I am alone, people bother me more. More specifically, men.
"What do you guys want to eat tonight?" I ask Taleah and Aj.
"Fried chicken."
"I make that all the time, you don't want something different?" I laugh. At least three nights of the week I make fried chicken with some type of sides. I'm getting so tired of it.
Taleah shakes her head, so I decide to just pick up some chicken to have it for the 3rd time this week, "you guys eat so unhealthy. It's my fault."
As I'm walking out of the meat and poultry aisle, I bump my cart into someone else's causing some of their things to fall out. My mind was in a totally different place, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.
"I am so sorry," I say to the person and bend down to pick up the stuff that dropped.
"Oh you don't have to do that Cameron, I got it."
I look up at the person confused as to how they would know my name and I see Giovanni bending down to pick up his things. "Oh, hey Giovanni." I smile and we both stand up.
"What's going on?" He asks, putting the last thing in his basket.
"Nothing, just doing some grocery shopping."
"Yeah me too. My fridge is practically empty. It was either this or takeout again."
I nod and smile awkwardly wanting him to go away. Like I said, he's nice, but he always catches me at the wrong time. And frankly, I really do not feel like having a conversation right now. Giovanni looks behind me at Taleah and Aj and smiles at them.
"Oh, these are my kids, Taleah and Anthony jr. Guys, this is my colleague, Giovanni."
He waves at them and Leah waves back, but Aj ignores him. Giovanni smiles at me, "Well, I'll see you at work Cameron. I won't hold you up for much longer." He looks me up and down and smirks. "And you're still gonna let me take you out. No matter what it takes."
I just smile politely and he gives me one last wave and walks off. I let out a huff and shake my head, and continue to shop. It seems oddly silent, mainly from Taleah since Aj is not much of a talker.
"Papa, who was that?" Taleah asks me.
"Oh, he's a teacher in the school."
"Yeah, but he was acting mad weird."
"He's always like that." I say, confused about why he's still the topic of conversation.
"Don't tell me you're dating him or anything..." Taleah says hesitantly and I stop what I'm doing. "Papa you can't do that to daddy."
"Taleah, Im not seeing anyone. I never have so why would I now? Relax." I frown.
"That's some bullshit, how you gon' do that to daddy?" Aj says angrily.
"Aj, watch your mouth. And I already said that I'm not dating this man."
Taleah shakes her head and Aj says, "That nigga was looking at you in all types of ways like he knew something and all you did was smile and blush back. Fuck outta here with that shit."
I feel myself get heated and I look at both of them. "Can you guys stop? Are you serious right now? Are you kidding me?" I felt like people were listening to what we were saying so I shut up until we finish shopping. After we finish loading groceries in the car and get in that's when it all comes back to me.
"What both of you did in there is just... How are you gonna question me after I already finished telling you guys no? Are you out if your mind?! Can I just live without you guys being down my back constantly about every male that I come across? I'M the one married to your daddy, you don't think I know that?" I yell and feel myself getting even more upset.
"Aj, how dare you question me like that like I owe you answers?! You both forget that I'm the parent. Aj you don't run nor control a damn thing like you think you do and I definitely don't need to explain myself to you." I say finally. It's super quiet in the car and I know my face is red. They're always doing this crap to me. Every time there's a male that I speak with they're down my back about who it is. It gets really frustrating, it does. Especially since it's been fifteen years I've been loyal to their father, but yet it's still like there's no trust.
I run my hands through my hair, "Put your seatbelt on." I sigh. We drive the rest of the way in silence. When we get back to the apartment I put the groceries away and just go straight to my bedroom and close the door. I lay down and pull out my phone to see texts from a few people. I answer them quickly and set my phone down to the side again. I should take a shower now before I do anything.
After I finish taking a shower and getting dressed in my lounging clothes, I go into the kitchen and start cooking and about twenty minutes in, Tyler calls me.
"Hello?"
"Hey, what you doing?" Tyler asks.
"Nothing really, just cooking."
"Oh okay, I'm coming over in the next two or three hours, I'm hungry."
"Tyler, you're in Miami. You're gonna come all the way here to Brooklyn because you're hungry?"
"Cameron, stop judging me."
"Im just saying, I'll see you later then."
"Aight, see you." Before Tyler hangs up I hear some of his fans screaming in the back and he mumbles, 'oh my fucking god yo." and then hangs up making me chuckle. I put my phone down and that's when Taleah walks into the kitchen quietly and sits in one of the chairs.
"Papa, I'm sorry."
I stay silent and shake my head.
"Papa?"
"It's okay Taleah." I sigh, not wanting to stay mad at her for too long.
"It's just really scary because I know you're lonely and—"
"What makes you think I'm lonely Leah. Don't assume."
"Yeah but daddy is in jail and I know that eventually, you might look for somebody else."
"Taleah, you're worrying about the wrong things honestly."
"Yeah, But I know that you might feel like you don't want to be alone and that might motivate you to find someone else and I know that would hurt daddy."
"Taleah, what makes you think I would want to hurt daddy? I don't like the fact that you guys are assuming that my mind is on being in another relationship."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine baby, just let me finish up okay? We can talk later." I say finally and she nods and leaves the kitchen. I sigh and feel myself getting emotional. I'm not lonely, I'm just alone and I don't want to be alone. But I don't yearn to be in a relationship with anybody other than Anthony. It's just not something I want. But my kids don't seem to understand that, especially Aj. On top of him constantly having an attitude with me, whenever I have some type of male associate he gets paranoid and thinks I'm getting into a relationship and being dishonest with their father.
Like I said, Aj loves Anthony so much, much more than he loves me. And that's okay, but sometimes his love for his father causes him to be paranoid with every little thing I do involving other males.
That's not even where my mind is at. My mind is strictly on my kids, work, Tyler, and my husband. I don't have time to think about being with someone else. Plus, like I've said countless times, I don't have any desire to be with someone else. I've still got this ring on my finger that Anthony gave me over ten years ago.
I don't know, I just hope it isn't like this forever and that my kids will trust me more. If something was going on I'd be honest with them about it. And along with that, Aj needs to be put in his place. He really thinks he intimidates me and that's where his problem lies. What he doesn't comprehend it that I'm just not very good when it comes to discipline, so he thinks he could get away with anything. All I can do is express what I'm feeling, but in terms of physical discipline I just can't bring myself to do it because then I will feel terrible.
And I will never tell Anthony because I know it would kill him to hear that his baby boy curses me out, disrespects me, and despises me. I feel like it would break the bond that they're even lucky enough to have and I'm not doing that to Aj or Ant. I'm just not. That's so mean. And Taleah as well. There's nothing wrong with her, but I would never tell him what Taleah has to endure everyday with the constant harassing from men and women in public. That would probably make him go ballistic and that is the last thing we need.
There's a lot I don't tell Anthony, but I only don't tell him to protect him from any emotions that he won't be able to express while he is confined which will only result to chaos.
I finally finish up cooking. "Food is done you guys." I call out to them. I leave the kitchen and sit down on the living room couch to finish up my work from earlier. They thank me and go into their separate rooms to eat which I constantly tell them not to do.
While I'm in the middle of my work the door opens and in walks Tyler. Whenever he comes over I tell him to be discreet because I don't need his fans knowing where I live because they will terrorize my apartment.
"Hey Ty."
"What's up?" He asks while giving me a small hug and kiss on the forehead. "I missed you."
"You missed the food. That's why you came." I say.
"Yeah, you're lowkey right." He says and continues to walk right to the kitchen. When he comes back he's got a plate stacked high, "I ain't eat all day. Didn't get a chance to."
I shake my head and go right back into my work. We sit in a comfortable silence until Tyler asks, "So, what's wrong?"
"Huh?" I look up from my work.
"I can see it in your eyes. What's wrong with you?" He asks again.
"Nothings wrong." I say and he looks at me as if he doesn't believe me.
"Cameron, come on. I know you. There's definitely something wrong with you." He grabs my laptop from my lap and puts it on the table. "Talk to me," He says.
I shrug, "It's nothing really. We just had a small situation while we were grocery shopping. Well, one of the other teachers, Giovanni, was there. And we were talking for five minutes or so. And I guess he was being flirtatious- but he's always like that. And Taleah and Aj thought that I was dating him or something or was interested. So Aj kind of spazzed out on me in the store, you know how he usually gets. And I just don't know how I can get them to trust me. Taleah apologized but I think Aj still thinks that I'm cheating on Anthony."
Tyler takes it all in. "Cam, let me ask you this. You do understand that you're the adult in the situation? You don't need to prove shit to them kids, okay? As long as you know what's going on and you're doing what's right, it ain't nobody's business. Not mine, and not even Aj or Taleah. Don't let your fifteen year old son press you. And I'm mad that you still haven't told Ant about him."
"I'm not telling him because what can he really do?"
"Scare that nigga, the fuck?"
I look down at my fingernails.
Tyler calls out for Aj and Leah to come into the living room. When they come, Tyler tells them to sit down before they could even greet them. "What's the issue and I'm only gonna ask once."
"I apologized to Papa, I know what I asked and assumed was uncalled for."
"That's right babygirl." Tyler caresses Leah's hair and she smiles. "Aj?"
"What do I have to apologize for?"
"What do you have to apologize for? You're really asking that right now?"
"Yeah, because I ain't do shit to him." Aj shrugs and looks away.
"Relax nigga. Apologize to Papa. He didn't do shit to you for you to be acting like a bitch bruh. Sorry papa for my language." Taleah says and I shake my head at her.
"Taleah how bout you mind your fucking business. Always putting your two sense into shit that has nothing to do with you." Aj taunts at Leah.
"Aj! Relax!" I yell and he sits back into his seat.
"Aj you're gonna apologize to your papa or I swear on God you're not gonna like me in the next minute because at this point, you're going way too far." Tyler says.
Aj mumbles a 'sorry' and stands up to walk away until Tyler tells him to sit back down. "I didn't hear not a word you said so we're gonna try it again. Apologize."
"Sorry." He says with no emotion.
"We could stay here all day. Now you gonna apologize and tell him what you're apologizing for. Leah, let's go. We'll be back in ten minutes and if you still haven't apologized then we really have a problem." They leave out the door.
About two minutes pass and he doesn't say anything so I pick my laptop back up and continue doing my work. A few seconds in I feel the couch dip and Aj sits next to me. I look at him and he looks away, "Sorry for yelling at you like that earlier."
"Okay."
"And sorry for assuming you were with that man."
I nod at him, "It's okay, Aj. You need to trust me more. I haven't done anything for you not to trust me."
He looks down. "I know you're looking out for daddy, but I can fend for myself." I say.
"I feel like eventually, you're gonna get tired of waiting around for nothing and leave daddy behind."
"I'm not leaving daddy behind. Don't worry yourself about that."
Aj shrugs. I kiss his forehead. The door opens and Tyler and Leah come in. "Apologize to your sister." I tell him.
Aj kisses his teeth, "Sorry Leah."
"Fuck you bitch." She says automatically and sits on the couch.
"Taleah! You've got to stop now, seriously. Please." I yell tired of the swearing.
"This is why I don't apologize to her dumb ass."
"Sorry papa." Taleah says bashfully.
I let out a noise of frustration and pick up my laptop again.
"So, I hope y'all understand now that that as long as y'all are out in public with papa, men and even women are going to try and shoot their shot. Now, this has been happening since we were teenagers because ain't nobody has ever seen someone like him. He made straight niggas become gay niggas, okay. Your daddy for example, even though Ant isn't gay. But he sure as hell wasn't thinking about being with no male until he came across Papa."
Taleahs eyes lightened up and Aj was attentive. They love when Tyler and I tell stories about Ant.
"I remember when y'all daddy tried to front like he wasn't feeling Cam, remember?" Tyler asks and I nod with a smile, thinking back to it.
"But little did he know he use to almost break his neck to look at—well... yeah, moving on." Tyler laughs and Taleah grins. "And I remember when he told me finally and I already knew, that's the thing. This nigga is stupid as fuck, mad obvious."
"Now your papa? The most sensitive and innocent person I knew. And even now, he's still like that in a lot of ways. But before, you couldn't tell him nothing or he'd start to cry."
"Alright, here's where the story telling stops. That is not true." I narrow my eyes.
"Lie again, Cameron. Every little thing made you cry. Me telling you this right now would've made you cry back then." I laugh, not being able to defend myself anymore. It is true.
"But that all changed after everything happened with your father... Cameron was dragging bitches left and right. Physically and orally. But I remember the day when I found out you weren't innocent anymore. Ugh, gross. That's something we don't wanna talk about. That's how y'all came into this world."
"Ewwwwww" Taleah says playfully and I smile and blush at them. "Tyler, stop."
"Okay, Okay. But anyways, back to the original point, niggas used to be after papa like an obese bitch after a piece of chicken, okay. Back then, they couldn't get away with it because Anthony was always there and it was never pretty for anyone who tried to talk to him... That's why your daddy is locked up right now. He wasn't having that shit."
Taleah nods as Aj still sits silently.
"So, nothing has really changed in the past couple of years. Papa still looks like he's in his late teens/ early twenty's and clearly a lot of people find him attractive. It's never gonna end, okay. He's got to be the most unique person on this planet, and people like that shit, especially men. So if you see somebody trying to talk to him, relax. He'll be polite of course because that's the type of person he is. But you don't have anything to worry about until he tells you something or you catch him with somebody. That's when you have the right to ask questions. Aj? Taleah? You get it?"
They both nod.
"Alright, go to bed. And that doesn't mean scroll on your phone." I say and Leah kisses Tyler and I goodnight and they both go to their rooms.
"Cameron, discipline those kids. That's all it takes, they're all over the place."
"I know, but I still don't know how. I was never really disciplined by my parents so I don't know how to do it."
"Slap them! Hit em with a hanger or some shit. You're too nice. Leah is more so respectful, but Aj needs some guidance. Your niceness lets them feel like they can get away with everything they do." Tyler says and I know he's right. And I definitely do let them get away with a lot.
"You're right." I say. But I know myself and I can't bring myself to hurt my kids in any way.
Tyler chuckles a bit, "Imagine if Anthony was around to hear all this shit? Damn... I don't even know what would happen."
"I don't even wanna think about it."
Tyler stretches, "Well, I got some shit in Miami tomorrow at 12pm, what time is it now?"
"9 almost 10."
"Okay, let me go then. Ughhh, I don't wanna go." Tyler whines.
"Tyler, when is the last time you went home?" I ask curious about the last time he's been in his New York City mansion that he bought like three years ago.
He laughs and shrugs, "I don't know. I'm bout to sell that shit. Or you can have it if you want. You want it?"
"No I don't want it, I told you you were never gonna be there."
"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll sell it since I come here whenever I'm in New York. But then technically, I'll be homeless. Ehhh, I don't care." He shrugs. "But let me head out now."
Tyler gathers his things which is not much but his phone and wallet. I walk downstairs with him.
"Alright, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. After this I gotta go to a few countries."
"Alright Tyler." I give him a hug.
"And call me everyday, Cameron. Imma always pick up. You don't gotta keep everything bottled up to yourself, you know that right?
"I know, Tyler. I will."
"Okay." We separate from our hug. I wave at Tyler's driver, Claire. "Go upstairs now."
I go back inside and go back up to my apartment. When I'm preparing for bed and I take off my bottoms, a rubber band filled with hundreds falls on the floor from my pocket. I kiss my teeth and sigh knowing it was Tyler. He knows I don't take money from him so he tries to sneak it in every way possible.
I dial his number and he picks up, "Yes?"
"Tyler."
"What?"
"How many times have I told you stop giving me money. Stop giving me money. Stop."
"Shut the fuck up, get yourself something cute, damn. I'm not gonna stop because I'm sneaky like that so you might as well start using it."
"I don't need it Tyler."
"I know you don't need it, but I want you to have it. Please, just let me do me. I'm not gonna stop giving you money as long as I have it so, yeah."
"Goodbye Tyler. Thank you nonetheless."
"Bye CamCam. Love you."
"Yeah love you too." I hang up and shake my head. I put the ridiculous amount of money in my top drawer and continue to get undressed for bed.
Now, I've got to face Giovanni tomorrow and try to find a way to tell him to leave me alone, politely.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry for the long wait! Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I was having a really hard time starting this off but I feel like you kind of get a glimpse of their life from what I mustered up (hopefully) ❤️❤️❤️
Thoughts on...
Aj?
Taleah?
Cameron?
Tyler?
Giovanni?
In general?
‼️IMPORTANT QUESTION ‼️
▪️Who should play Aj? 🙎♂️
▪️Who should play Taleah?🙎
Bye guys 👋🏿 💖