---------------------CAMILLE
I sighed, tossing my mail onto the coffee table positioned in my living room. I'd been working at the salon for the past two weeks, and even though Val made sure the pay was good, it wasn't enough to maintain everything I needed to take care of. I'd even gotten rid of a lot of unnecessary shit, but it wasn't enough. My rent alone was enough to make me wanna scream, and that wasn't even including other neccesities like groceries and gas money. I was finally feeling the struggle, and it was hitting me hard.
I hadn't even spoken to my parents ever since they'd found out about my lying about school. Well, my mother called every couple of days in secrecy to make sure I was okay. But my father wouldn't even listen to my voicemails, and it hurt. My bills were beginning to accumulate as the days wore on, and it was becoming more and more difficult to stretch my earnings.
I'd considered taking up Gio on her offer, but I didn't wanna intrude on her and Trim. They had their own problems, and i'd only be a burden by bringing my own into their home. I looked up at the sound of Gio walking through my door. She regularly invited herself into my home. I'd probably do the same if I didn't feel like it was intruding on Trim.
"Where's TJ?" I spoke without glancing up, still filming through my stack of bills.
"With my mama."
She opened my fridge and looked around for a minute before shutting it and coming back empty handed. There was little to nothing that could substitute for a meal. I tossed the stack of bills back onto the table and sat back, closing my eyes. There was honestly no way I could keep this up.
"Come on."
I opened my eyes and watched Gio while she grabbed her keys from the couch. "What? Where?"
She kept walking to the door, not turning around. "I'm treatin you to dinner."
"No, I-"
She walked out of the door, ignoring my refusal to let her pay for my dinner. I shook my head and stood, putting my shoes on before grabbing my keys.
Gio was my rock. Alongside TJ, and Trim. They never hesitated to invite me over for dinner, or just to sit around and talk when they could. Gio was the closest thing i'd ever had to a sister. And with all the shit I was going through, I needed someone like her to support me. Val and Lonzo were never more than a phone call away, either. But despite their efforts, it was beginning to seem like nothing that I did was enough.
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I sipped my water while Gio continued to eat.
"How's Trim? I haven't talked to him in a while."
She put her fork down before wiping her mouth. "Trust me, you ain't missin out on nothin. He still the same, no good, work oriented ass nigga he was last week."
I chuckled and we both started to eat again. There was silence for a couple of minutes before she spoke again, not looking up from her plate.
"I'm leaving him."
My head shot up and my eyes widened. Trim and Gio went through a lot of shit, and did a lot of arguing, but no one would ever expect them to split up. They were damn near bound at the hip. It was true that his entire life revolved around the game. He worked hard to provide his family with anything they wanted and needed. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of August. I sighed at the thought of him.
I hadn't spoken to him since the night I found out about Mack's death. I wanted to contact him, but decided against it. I knew there was no need in apologizing. He'd made it pretty clear that if he'd ever found out I had been with someone else, it'd be my ass. I was past surprised at the fact that he hadn't kicked my ass yet to be honest.
