Crossroads

Ch. 24: Almost There

Cameron

I opened the door to Stephanie's dorm room with my spare keys. Ever since she got pregnant she had given me an extra set of keys so I would always have access to check on her. It was a good thing she had no roommate. She was attending USC studying paralegals. I didn't know how she managed to stay in school being pregnant but I was glad. My son needed both parents financially stable enough to provide for him. I wasn't, but I was surely gonna get my shit together.

I stepped into the dark room and locked the door behind me. I slipped off my air Jordan's and tossed my jacket on the back of her study chair and quietly walked over to her bed. I climbed into the bed behind her and placed an arm around her waist, rubbing her swollen belly. She whimpered and stirred lightly in her sleep. I kissed the back of her neck and shoulder as I closed my eyes to finally get some rest from the long day I had. Being arrested and going through all that processing was no joke. I really needed to go home and take a shower. But for some reason I felt compelled to come to Stephanie. Even though we weren't together, she was pretty much a safe space for me. I knew she'd always accept me with open arms. I definitely had a lot of options but it was obvious she was riding for me harder than any of the other girls I was fucking with.

"Cam?" I heard her soft voice.

"Yeah?" I answered sleepily.

"Where were you?"

"It's a long story, Steph. I'll tell you tomorrow. Just go back to sleep."

"Cameron, where the hell have you been?! I've been calling your stupid ass all damn day and not one of my calls did you answer!" She screamed at me. "What if it was an emergency?!"

I groaned and removed my arm from around her. I turned my back to her and pulled her covers over my head. "Damn, Stephanie. Chill with that shit. I'm not in the mood for your crazy ass mood swings right now. A nigga had a long day. You should be lucky I even came here to lay up with you."

I felt her shift and sit up in the bed. "It's 10:30, Cameron, and I haven't heard from you all day. Just be honest. Were you with another girl?" I heard her voice crack and I sighed.

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see. She was always worried about other girls. I was tired of hearing her moan about that. She knew what it was when she started fucking with me.

I pulled the covers from over my head. "No, bae, I wasn't. I just got into some shit with Daniel."

"No, you didn't," she cried and punched my back as I was facing away from her towards the door.

I hissed at the pain from the sudden impact. "Damnit, Steph." I sat up in the bed facing her angrily. "I'm not gonna tell you again to stop putting your fucking hands on me!"

"Cameron, why are you always cheating on me with all these girls? Why am I not enough?" The way tears rolled down her cheeks you would think I actually did something to her.

"I don't cheat on you, Stephanie. I never did. Simply because we're not together and we never were! Stop coming at me with the same shit everyday!" I yelled at her. I was pissed already and I really wasn't in the mood to be arguing about some shit I've said repeatedly. Yet, a part of me did feel instant regret of the words I just spurred because it made it seem like I didn't care about her at all which was far from true.