Page 51 of Catching Camila

Camila

Thursday 10:32 p.m.

Aknock tore Camila out of sleep. She sat up, wiping drool from her chin. The late-night news flickered from the TV. She blinked and shook the sleep from her head. The knock sounded again, a quiet tapping on her bedroom window. Was it John? She pulled herself off the couch and stumbled down the hallway, nearly tripping on some junk splayed across the floor. When she got to her bedroom, she could see Fer’s face pressed onto the window.

“Come to the front!” Camila yelled, miming to the front door. “My mom’s not here.”

Fer nodded and disappeared. Moments later she was letting herself in. Camila slumped on the couch and Fer joined her.

“Why is your phone never on? And where’s your mamacita?” Fer asked, scanning the trailer. “She run out again?”

Camila nodded. She muted the TV and dropped her head back on the tattered cushion.

“Sorry, dude. I know she is acting all crazy-like right now.” Fer offered a sympathetic shrug.

“You have no idea.”

Fer’s eyes flicked to the news. Then she straightened, her eyebrows popping up. “Oh, man, did the cops come here, too?”

“Yeah. I kinda freaked on Mama because of it.” She pressed her palms to her forehead. “I can't take this anymore, Fer. Maybe I should move out.” She squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears. She'd driven Mama out into the night with a killer on the loose for Christ's sake.

Fer rubbed a hand on Camila's back. “Sorry, dude. She'll be back. She always comes back, right?” Camila nodded, her head down. They sat in silence for a minute. Fer leaned back and propped her feet on the cigarette-strewn coffee table. “You wanna hear something funny? Shaun freaked when the cops showed up. He flushed two dime bags before he heard why they were there. He was so pissed. He should be happy they weren't there to cart his ass back to lock-up.”

Camila lifted her head, her eyes straying to the muted TV. She stiffened and sat up. There was the sketch of John on the screen, with a number to call if he was spotted. He was officially a wanted criminal. Again doubt gnawed at her. What if he was the one? All the lame excuses about why the cops were looking for him. But he’d slept in her home and hadn’t laid a finger on her. She shook her head, remembering his kind eyes.

Fer glanced at the screen. “Whoever that dude is, he’s in for a world of hurt. They're gonna give his ass life in prison for sure.”

“Why?” A cold chill ran up Camila's arms. Everyone would know his face by morning.

Fer gave her a sarcastic look. “Why permanent lockdown when this dude viciously murdered three people in cold blood? Hmm, let me think.”

Camila shook her head and snapped the TV off. “How do they know they have the right guy?”

Fer shrugged, her eyes on her phone. “Of course it's the right guy. I just want him caught pronto so nobody I know ends up shredded.” Fer lifted her eyes. “Don’t you?”

Camila suddenly became interested in the cigarette pack stuffed in between two couch cushions. “I don't want anybody else killed.”

There was no way he was the killer it. It all had to be a misunderstanding.

Fer put down her phone and turned to Camila. “Listen, I know everything’s pretty shitty right now, so I arranged us a little something.” Fer smiled at her expectantly, took a big breath and blurted, “Shaun got tickets to Avenged Sevenfold tomorrow night!” She squeezed Camila’s arm excitedly. “Isn't that frickin’ sweet? I convinced him to swing two tickets. I even talked Lizzy into scheduling us both off work.” Fer bounced on the couch like a five-year-old and waited for Camila's reaction.

Camila attempted a smile. How could she tell Fer that she couldn’t go to a concert right now? Mama was gone. John was a murder suspect.

“Thanks, Fer. I just don’t know—”

“Don’t worry about the price. Shaun took care of it.”

“With his drug money?”

Fer stiffened. “Since when did you care about that?”

Camila crossed her arms over her chest. “I care, okay? I don’t want to go to some concert on dope money.”

Fer frowned, shifting away from Camila. “I do something nice, and this is how you act?”

Camila dropped her arms, exhausted. “Oh, Fer, you don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Fer clenched her phone in her fist. “Do you know how hard it is to be your friend?”

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