Page 40 of Southie
“I don’t discriminate,” I said, chuckling.
“Shit, I know. But that lady right there,” he pointed toward the metal staircase, “is not the typical woman you surround yourself with. Just by looks alone, I can tell she’s not a one-night stand type of girl. So, spill it and leave nothing out.”
I pulled my barstool out and sat down. “She’s the other problem I’ve got.”
His brows furrowed. “And what problem is that, man? From the way you were smiling like an idiot when she came down the stairs, and the way she smiled at you, looks like everything is good. Let’s not forget that she’s fine as hell.” Gerald laughed. “So fucking out of your league.”
“Hey! Fuck you, man.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying.”
“Shit, she is out of my league.”
A humorless laugh filled the kitchen at Gerald’s observation of my situation with Camilla. He was telling the truth; she was so out of my league. She came from money. I came from the housing projects. She had loving parents from what I gathered, and mine were total pieces of shit. She was in school, and I was in the goddamn Irish Mob. We came from two different worlds, the textbook definition of opposites attract.
“And that’s the problem. Everything is too perfect. Camilla’s perfect, gorgeous, caring, and she doesn’t put up with my shit. But I’m the Enforcer for the goddamn Irish Mob, Gerald. Under Paddy’s thumb for the foreseeable future. No matter how much we click, she can’t be a part of this life.”
“Wait. Hold up. Are you talking about Camilla Jennings? As in Roland Jennings’ daughter? The prize fighter Paddy sent you to get payment from?”
I nodded and his eyes widened.
“Well, they forced you into becoming a part of the mob, and you’re looking for a way out. If this girl has opened you up to the prospect of love, my man, I’d run with it.”
“Who said anything about love, Gerald?” I asked, raking my hand through my hair.
Love wasn’t in the cards for me. Love had never been in the cards for me, but I had to confess that there was something about Camilla that changed my perspective on the prospect of love and marriage. If I were to fall in love, I’d like it to be with her. I wouldn’t admit that to Gerald, though. Camilla and I just met. Enough time hadn’t passed for me to love her. Really like her, yes. Love, no.
“The look I just saw you two share, Southie, if it isn’t love, it sure as hell is close to it. Y’all are falling quick for each other. Shit like that don’t happen every day.”
“I haven’t known her long enough, Gerald. We’ve been around each other, counting today, three times.” I held up three fingers.
He shrugged. “So?”
“What do you mean, so? So, you’re already talking about me being in love with the girl. It’s been three days, man, not years.”
“There’s no timeframe on that shit, man. You could’ve met that girl tonight and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Believe me when I say this, if she’s the one, let nothing and I meannothingget in the way. You move heaven and earth to make it work.”
“You sound like you’ve experienced it.”
His shoulders slumped. While he smiled, his eyes held heartache.
He turned away from me and gazed out the window above the kitchen sink. “Let’s just say it’s better to have that special someone in your life showing you that love than her sharing it with someone else and you on the sidelines watching that shit,” he confessed, head shaking. “Watching her move on with her life and have those things with someone else when it should’ve been with you. It’s not good and it’ll eat at your heart and soul every day, leaving just a shell of yourself.”
“Hold on, man. What the hell? What’s up?”
As long as I’d known Gerald, the one part of his personal life he’d kept secret was his relationships. He’d hooked up with a few ladies, like me, but when it came to settling down, he never did. However, sitting there listening, he’d had someone very special at one time.
He slouched on the barstool and propped his head on his hand. “That’s a story for another day. Just be careful. She comes with some baggage.”
“And how in the hell would you know that? How do you know Camilla?”
Mouth slackening, he gawked at me like I’d missed something. “Have you not watched ESPN this past year?”
“ESPN?” I asked, confused as to what ESPN had to do with Camilla.
He nodded, but before I could ask any more questions, Camilla’s footsteps on the stairs pulled my attention away from Gerald’s statement. I motioned for her to come to me, and her smile made my heart pump faster. She was captivating.
She reached and wrapped her arm around my waist. I wrapped mine around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me.
