I was about five years old the last time I saw him, I remember it being really late and I was supposed to be in bed but there was a lot of yelling that was going on downstairs that kept me up. I remember getting out of bed and walking down the long hallway into the living room where my mom, my dad and her father all stood arguing about something... but the words became extremely blurry I was still young then and I really didn't understand Spanish well but I could see the anger in my mother's face, she rarely got mad so I knew it was bad then I looked at my dad and I saw something I've never seen in his eyes.... fear. He could barely hold the intense gaze of my five foot nothing grandfather, they finally noticed me standing there and my grandpa yelled something at me in Spanish the look in his eyes scared me half to death and I quickly turned around and ran back to my room. That man scared the fuck outta me, later I remember asking my mother what happened to him and all she would say was he was dead until I finally started to believe it. I woke up looking for my wife before remembering she was back in Texas and I was in Dubai..... I really should call her because I needed her right now. I got out of bed and walked out to the balcony in my room and climbed over the rail.... don't ask me why it just felt like the smart thing to do, just one step and all my problems would be over. My palms became sweaty as I looked down and could barely make out the shapes of the people far below the next second I was being pulled over the rail and thrown on the ground roughly.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU CAM?!?! ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!?!?" Khalil said standing over me, how the fuck did he get into my room? I forced myself into a sitting position and looked up at him, my big brother and smirked.
"I wasn't going to jump if that's what you're thinking so relax." I said and he got even more pissed.
"WHAT IF YOU WOULD'VE SLIPPED?! THEN WHAT CAM?! WHAT ABOUT CAMMY?! WHAT ABOUT CORI?! WHAT ABOUT LAUREN?! WHAT ABOUT YOUR WIFE, LIBERTY?!" Khalil said and I finally stood up.
"Okay I admit it was stupid but......" Khalil hit me so hard in my chest yellow spots danced in from of my eyes, I crumbled to the ground and tried to keep the three different Khalil's in focus.
"I'm going to be honest I was ready to let Enzo handle this because he's better at this emotional shyt than I am and I was afraid of saying something stupid but you know what fuck it. Get you shyt together Cam! I can't stand here and pretend to know what you've gone through this past year but you need to fuckin suck it up and focus on what's important your KIDS, your WIFE, YOUR FAMILY!!!! ALL THAT OTHER SHYT IS IRRELEVANT!!!" Khalil yelled, I brushed the few tears out of my eyes and turned away from him.
"You don't know shyt....." I said quietly. "You don't know what it's like watching people you consider family die in an the worse possible.... to stand by helpless and watch..... watch knowing there's nothing you can do.... You don't know what it's like to go to sleep and still hear their screams and see the flames every time you close your eyes." I said biting down on my lip because it was trembling so bad. "You don't know what it's like finding out the person you looked up to has been hiding not one but two kids from you then coming home and losing the one person who loves you unconditionally, then to have someone who you know wants to cause you nothing but pain come back into your life and...... man move...." I said as Khalil sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulder.
"Cam you don't think I've been through shyt? I've been through as much as you probably more... I've been in a car accident, watched my little brother get shot and stabbed, almost died, found out my 'dad' wanted me dead, almost lost the love of my life, had hella stalkers try to fuck up my relationship and I killed someone though technically he stabbed himself but I still blame myself and now I have to watch my little brother go through some shyt. But the reason I've been able to keep going is because of you.... Devin..... Sa'vion...... Dominique.... Cadence.... Carly...... Noah..... Cori..... Marquise..... Marcus..... Enzo....."
"Okay I get it, if you keep naming people we'll be out here for the rest of our trip." I said managing a weak smile. "You're stronger because of our family, but I'm not as strong as you or even Devin..... I don't have that kind of strength to keep going no matter how bad things get."
"You have it Cam.... more than any of us, you just have to find it. Look I'm always going to be here to pull you off the edge and if for some reason you slip trust and believe I'm coming over to caught you..... let's go back inside." He said helping me up, we walked back into my room and Khalil grabbed an extra pillow and blanket and sat on the couch. "I'm staying in here tonight and if you start snoring I'll throw water on you." Khalil said laying down, I shook my head and tried to go back to sleep but everything me and Khalil talked about bounced around in my head.
The next morning after tossing and turning all night, I got up and tried to stop the shaking in my hands, last night was a wake up call. I needed to really start focusing on myself so I could get back to how I used to, so I called the therapist that Enzo has been talking to during his rough patch, before heading down to breakfast with Marcus, Marsean, Enzo and Tion.
"It's about time you got down here, so here's the plan for the day; first we're going Ski Dubai, I've never been skiing before and I'm looking to try something new. After that we're going to Wild Wadi Water Park so whenever Khalil and Lafayette get there asses up we're going to head out." Tion said.
"Aight coo I'll go...... wait where's Zyshaun?" I asked looking at everyone.
"He had to take care of something but he'll be back later tonight." Enzo said as if there was an inside joke I was missing something funny. "Okay so last night he got a call from Yuri and then all of a sudden Zyshaun had to fly to Japan." Enzo said.
"International Booty Call." Marcus said cutting up his sausage. "He should be back tomorrow morning at the latest, but if he's not then well I'll leave y'all to search for him because Khalil has something planned though I'm not sure what it is yet. Aight we should really get going."
Pro-tip never... EVER go skiing, I've never been so damn sore in my entire life. Who's bright idea was it to have an indoor ski-resort, that shyt didn't make any sense to me in the slightest, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves for the most part though which was all that matter. Once we left and got something to eat we ended up at Wild Wadi Water Park, something that was a lot more my speed; Khalil kept looking at me as if he was waiting for me to crack but honestly I was good, as long as I had something to do that didn't give me a lot of time to think about everything that was going on in my life I didn't have any problems.
"Ayy I'm about to take a nap, wake me up when it's time to eat." I said walking away from Enzo, once we got back to the hotel. Khalil looked like he was about to follow behind me but I shook my head, I didn't need a babysitter and after the day I just had I was to tired to even think about doing anything stupid. When I walked into my room, I recognized the scent of expensive cigars immediately. I walked out to the balcony and my grandpa was sitting there smoking a cigar watching the sun. "What are you doing here?" I asked trying to keep my tone respectful.
"What I can't come and see my ONLY grandson?" He said pointing to the chair next to him and I sat down quietly. "You left Miami so damn fast we didn't get a chance to really talk, then you ended up leaving Texas before I got there so I came here..... I swear I haven't chased anyone this much since my beloved wife... your grandmother." He said sadly.
"The last time I remember seeing you.... you were arguing with my mom." I said quietly.
"Me and Carmen were always arguing, she had always been a little firecracker just like her mother. But if you wanna know why it's because of your father, I never believed he was good enough for her and I was right after the shyt he put her through, a busload of other kids two of which he tried to hurt, one who he completely ignored, and the other he had masquerading around as his nephew....asqueroso (disgusting) a man is supposed to protect his children." He said spitting on the ground.
"No disrespect but why are you so determined to talk to me and why did you go to Grandma Mary if you had such a problem with my dad?" I asked.
"Because I'm dying Camden and you being my only male heir I had a business proposition for you, just hear me out nieto (grandson) and if you agree I promise you that your children's great-grandkid will never want for anything and before you ask every cent I've ever made is completely legal, so are you going to listen or not?" He said looking into my eyes and I felt my heart stop, he had the same exact eyes as my mom, which brought a tear to my eye. I nodded once and sat back to listen to what he had to say, I mean there was no harm in hearing him out, I hope.............................
