Chapter Two Taylor, Cam, & Kiara

Chapter 2
Taylor, Cam, and Kiara

Taylor tossed and turned in his bed. What the hell is going on, he thought to himself. No girl had ever made him behave that way. Come on, she’s not that pretty. Besides, I can’t do that to Cam. He’s my best friend. That would devastate him. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn’t have her number or her screen name. He couldn’t ask Cam for it, and there was no other way he could get it. He hoped that Cam would call him on her birthday so he could see her again. “I have got to get to sleep. This broad isn’t worth me losin’ sleep.” He tossed and turned and dreamt of her.
         The next day, he woke up with Roxana on his mind. He looked at the clock. 1:46 p.m. His cell phone rang all of a sudden. Without a doubt he knew it was Cam. “Wake up you lazy son of a bitch. We got work to do today.”
“What…the… fuck…are you talking about, moron?” he said groggily. He wasn’t being mean. It was just how they spoke to each other.
“We gotta pick up that ounce, dude. We gotta sell it so we can take that fly honey out on her birthday. You have to come. What was that shit about if you don’t have plans? Who are these other friends that I don’t know about? Anyway, what’d you think of her little friend. She had a hot ass.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t really care for her that much. I mean she’s definitely a cutie, but nothing I would take seriously. She looks like she likes to get fucked a lot.”
“Dude you are harsh, but I trust in what you say. You are always right with girls.” The conversation continued, and Taylor went upstairs to get some food. His kitchen was plain, pink Formica counters and teak cabinets. There were glass sliding doors leading to a faded wooden deck, and a light wood dining table with four chairs and a radio were in the nook. The tiled floor was cold under his feet as he walked to the fridge to get some orange juice. “Listen man, let me eat and shower, you can come over in like forty-five minutes and we’ll go get that ounce.”
“No doubt, man. I’ll see you then.” He tossed his cell on the table and took out the toaster. He sat at the table the dream he had the night before coming back to him in pieces.

He was on his way to get a dutch when a strange black car cut him off. He flipped him the bird and walked around. He walked into the deli and said hello to the Indian man at the counter. He didn’t acknowledge Taylor. He was fast asleep. He went behind the counter and grabbed the cigar, put a dollar on the counter and left. He started heading back to his house when he noticed the same black car creeping behind him. There was a broad driving this time. He turned to continue walking, and then everything went black.

He didn’t recognize the person who hit him. The woman driving the car had a strange resemblance to his ex-girlfriend, Kiara. He brushed the thought aside, ate the rest of his toast in one gulp and went upstairs.
         He was about to take a shower, when his house phone rang. He wrapped a towel around his waist, as he headed towards his mother’s room. It had a queen sized four-post bed, with faded quilts. The dog’s bed was near the floor-length mirrored closets, and the shaggy carpet was patched with gray and beige. No one in the house could remember what color it once was.  “Hello?”
“May I speak to Taylor please?” Taylor thought that it was Roxana, and he didn’t know if he should be freaked out or touched.
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“Kiara,” she responded innocently. 
“Oh Lord, what the hell do you want?” he retorted furiously. “Don’t act like you didn’t know it was me that picked up the phone.”
“I just wanted to see what you were doing tonight. I miss you.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you played me for a fuckin’ idiot. I don’t have tie for you right now Kiki. I’m busy, and I don’t wanna see you. Just stop calling me.” He slammed the receiver onto the base. He didn’t associate the phone call with the dream. He was seething at having this girl call him. Kiara was a good-looking girl. If she wasn’t, Taylor would have never gone out with her. She was tall and blond with honey colored eyes and killer legs. They went out for almost two years, but the relationship ended sour when Taylor found out that she had cheated on him with some guy from their high school.  When he dumped her, he found out what an obsessive personality she had. She would call incessantly, leaving obscene messages on his machine, threatening to kill herself if he didn’t go back to her. He ignored her and the calls had stopped. He hadn’t thought of her at all until her phone call. He decided to ignore the feeling of hatred welling inside of him, ran the water and hopped into the shower. A short while later, he heard the door slam, so he got out. He knew it was Cam, so he took his time getting ready. He admired his baggy acid washed blue jeans draping over his gray, black and white skateboard shoes. His white and gray t-shirt framed his broad shoulders nicely. His tussled hair fell over his forehead, covering his eyebrows. He flexed his muscles one last time and sighed with satisfaction.  “Stop looking at porn on my mother’s computer, man. You got me into trouble last time you stooge. Let’s go, I wanna get this over with.”
“What’s your hurry man? We got time.”
“Not if you want to sell that shit in time for this girl’s birthday. We have less than two days.”
“Fine, fine. Let’s be out. But first and foremost, my kind sir, I wanna get some chow. I’m starved.”
The day was beautiful and sunny as they headed towards King Panda for some Chinese food. All the high school kids had just gotten out, and they hung around T & R’s deli smoking cigarettes, laughing loudly.
“We got that piff!” Cam yelled into the crowd.  Taylor jabbed him in the ribcage with his elbow. “Don’t announce to the fucking world that we have weed for sale you idiot.  You can be such a dumb ass sometimes.” Cam disregarded what he said and continued to voice his advertisement. Two girls in Catholic school uniforms came up to them. “Hey, got any dime bags?” Taylor rolled his eyes.
“At the present moment, beautiful ladies, we don’t have the merchandise on us. We are actually about to go get it. So if you would like to take our number down, we’ll, uh…gladly accommodate you.” The girls giggled, and the one in pigtails took out her cell phone.
“Cut the shit, Cam. That’s so annoying.”
“Lighten up dude.”
“Yea lighten up,” the one with the hiked up skirt repeated.
“Listen, if I wanted your opinion I would have asked for it. So, why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” Taylor snapped.  The two girls looked shocked, took Cam’s number and ran in the other direction.
“Now why’d you go and scare ‘em away man?”
“You’re so naïve, Cam. Catholic schoolgirls are all the same. They use their charms and sexual expertise to scheme free shit out of you. You gotta let ‘em know you mean business. Pleasure comes after the cash. Besides, I thought you wanted to get with Roxana?”
“I do, but I like to have a fall back. Just in case this broad doesn’t work out. Besides, I’m too young to be a one woman guy.” Taylor scoffed, and placed his order. The restaurant wasn’t exactly a restaurant. It was more of a hole in the wall with four tables and sixteen chairs. There were framed maps of China and a painting of the Great Wall. There were licenses for the establishment and CPR how to’s strewn everywhere. The dingy neon menus had faded pictures of their dishes. The wind blew in through the open door but was offset by the heat coming from the kitchen. The smell of fried chicken mingled with the scent of garlic and shrimp, a pungent yet savory aroma. As they sat down to eat their meal, Taylor’s father walked in.
“Taylor! How are ya, kiddo?”
“Hey, dad.” He greeted his father flatly.
“I’m glad I caught you here. I called your mother’s but no one picked up. Your car will be ready by the 16th so be home early so we can go and pick it up.”
“Sweet, around what time? I got something to do with Cam later in the day.”
“Oh, around eleven-ish or so. Is that cool?”
“Yea, that’s actually perfect. I’ll see ya then dad.”
“All right, make sure you answer the phone, I don’t wanna talk to that hag mother of yours or her lapdog.” He let out a loud guffaw, and walked up to the counter.
“Sweet, dude. Now we have a car for the ladies.”
“Yea, so we need that cash fast, we’re gonna need some gas.” As if the day couldn’t get any worse for Taylor, Kiara walked in through the door. She was wearing dark blue jeans with tan suede boots trimmed with faux fur, and a white jacket with fur of the same hue on the hood.
“Taylor! Cameron. I didn’t expect to see you here. What are you guys doing?”
“What the fuck does it look like we’re doing? Are you stalking me now? If I remember correctly, you hated coming here when we used to date. Or was it because you were scared that Jared would blow up your spot if he saw us here together?”
“Ugh, you’re so vile Taylor.”
“Look who’s talkin’ the venom queen herself. Just leave me alone. You’re poisoning my food just by looking at it.”
“Fine, I just came here because I happen to like their egg rolls, if you must know.”
“You’re a fucking whore, get out of my Chinese food joint,” shot Cam.
“No one was talking to you, moron.”
“Don’t talk to him like that. Just leave.”
“Fine!” She stormed out of the restaurant and flipped them both the finger. They laughed hysterically for a while. “Man did you see her face when I said that to her? All she could call me was a moron. She’s had wittier comebacks than that when it comes to me.”
“Yea you guys always used to battle with that.” They threw out the garbage on their trays, paid for their food, and walked out into the waning daylight.  There were still a few kids lingering about, but most of them had gone home. They rambled down the street to the supermarket parking lot where they’d meet their dealer. He worked as a milk truck driver, and they all finished at 5. They loitered around the gates and smoked a few cigarettes. After what seemed forever, Izzy sauntered to the gates. “You guys can’t just fuckin’ hang out around the gates like that man.”
“ What? It’s not like they know we’re copping from you man.”
“Still, It looks shady.” Izzy was a paranoid mess. He was skinny, and had thinning hair. He appeared older than he really was, and he was a virgin. Surprising for a guy who sold all the drugs known to man. “Yo, you guys know someone who wants the pills? I gotta get rid of them, they’re too many and they’re gonna go bad.”
“Nah man, no one does ex so hardcore anymore. Summertime is the season for it anyway.”
“So I’m stuck with them bitches. Shit.”
“Where are we doing this?” Taylor was growing impatient, Roxana was on his mind all day and he wanted to go home and see if he could find her on ChatSpace.
“Just behind this building. Remember, it’s $375. If you sell it fast enough, I’ll give it to you cheaper next time.”
“No doubt, we’ gotta get rid of this soon, I got a really special lady’s birthday the 16th.”
“Cool, cool, she got any friends?”
“Not any pretty ones,” Cam lied. Cam didn’t really like Izzy, he wasn’t the kind of guy you can bring to a bar and pick girls up with. They traded money for pot, and headed towards the front of the supermarket. “Izzy, my man, thanks a lot. We’ll see you in a few days for more.”
“Sure, sure. Just throw me a call, you know where to find me.” As Izzy walked away, Taylor couldn’t help but feel sorry for the pathetic loser. He figured that the next time they met; he’d ask him to come out and party.