CAMILLE NEXT DOOR

CHAPTER SIX: HAPPY FEELINGS

"Unique cheated?"

Diamond was shocked.

"Yeah, girl. I couldn't believe it either. I thought we really had something."

Camille and U's relationship got serious very quickly, to the point where she never questioned his motives. There was not a doubt in her mind that he was in love with her, at the time. But it just turned out to be a bad case of rose tinted glasses, everything seeming beautiful and perfect.

"With who?"

Yazan stumbled over to the couch, getting up on the sofa to crawl into Camille's lap. She played with his baby dreads, the smell of children's shampoo soft and powdery.

"His baby mother."

Diamond's eyes were nearly bugged out her head, dropping a Dorito on the floor. Yazan was about to pick it up, but Camille's grip on him was solid.

"What? Uh-uh. You need to get payback! I say we beat her ass."

Camille shrugged.

"I already got it."

Diamond was shocked, not knowing her friend had a side like that to her. Aggression and fighting was never Camille's thing, unless she was pushed. She wondered if the baby mother had approached her somewhere after blowing up Unique's phone.

"What you mean? You fucked that bitch up? Damn, you changing, girl. I like it!"

Camille laughed, her tone incredulous.

"No, Diamond. I met somebody."

The vibe had changed from something Yazan could hear to grown folks' business. Diamond quickly took her baby to his room, telling him to play with his toys and not come out until she told him to. She got him a pudding with a juice box to keep him busy before closing the door and sitting back down, her smile big and silly.

"You had sex?"

Even though Camille was brown skinned, it was obvious that she was blushing. A recent issue of Jet magazine caught her eye, Melba Moore on the cover as she flipped through with feigned interest.

"Not exactly."

Diamond put some Doritos in her mouth before brushing off the cheese dust.

"Explain."

Camille looked everywhere but in her friend's eyes, thinking about Meech and what they did together. She suddenly needed something to drink, so she got up and went to the kitchen to get a fresh can of Pepsi. The white packaging with the bright red strip and dark blue font contrasted starkly against her toffee skin.

She sipped loudly for dramatic effect.

"Girl, just spit it out before I get mad. You know Yazan don't like to listen sometimes, there's only so many minutes before he comes back out here. Now, spill."

Camille just stood there with the soda in her hand before sitting back down.

"He took me out for breakfast. Then, he took me to his place. We drank some fancy ass wine with Tease Me Tonite in the background."

Diamond smiled big, her gold tooth gleaming proudly as she felt joy for her friend.

"Guy was on? And y'all was sipping wine? Yeah, okay. Mmhm. Tell me more."

Camille thought about it and it got her going again. She needed to call him.

"He kissed me slow, slid his fingers down my jeans, and played with it until I came."

Diamond was so happy for Camille. Unique cheated, but instead of moping around, she got revenge and a nut out of it. It was a genius plan, actually.

"You like him?"