Miss Opportunity - Ch. 33.1

October

After that trip to Washington, Millsap took Cami to various social events around the Enfield area. This was his way of letting everyone know that she belonged to him. That they belonged to each other. He even took her to meet his parents.

Millsap Sr., otherwise known as Sapp, was just as nerdy as Millsap Jr. said he was. Several shades lighter than his son and rail thin, Sapp even looked like a nerd with his thick black-rimmed glasses, multi-colored cardigan sweater, and high-water pants held up by suspenders. On top of that, he sounded very nasal, although he claimed to have a cold.

Sapp also acted very wimpy. He never quite met Cami’s gaze the whole time she was there. At one point she was convinced that Sapp would probably run and hide if she suddenly said ‘boo’ to him.

After that visit, Cami kept wondering how Millsap’s father had become so fearful. She also wondered where she’d seen Sapp before. Especially with those unique brownish-green eyes of his.

Bonnie Monroe was a different story. She was short, dark-skinned, and stocky. She was also very outgoing and loud.

Bonnie’s mouth ran a mile a minute, as if she was afraid of pausing, lest the listener had time to think for him/herself. It was almost like being in the presence of a pimp, who thrived on indoctrinating weak-minded women with compliments and much talk. Bonnie probably would have been a pimp if she didn’t have a fleet of boosters, complemented by her legal profession of bail bondman/woman.

In the course of all that chatter, Bonnie invited Cami to go to Atlantic City with her. Not in the next month or so after they’d had some time to get to know each other better, but next weekend.

Cami graciously declined that invitation. She could smell the game on Bonnie. Plus, after that stern look Millsap gave her, there was no way she was going out of town with his mother anytime soon.

However, to avoid coming off as too anti-social, Cami extended an invitation of her own to Bonnie. She invited her along on a local shopping spree in order to start early on Christmas gifts for their family and friends. Millsap nodded his approval of that counteroffer, even though it would likely cost him a pretty penny to fund the ladies’ shopping spree. Even so, that expense was nowhere near what a trip to Atlantic City would cost him.

“Why didn’t you want me to go to Atlantic City with your mother?” Cami asked in the car on the way to their next destination.

“Because I don’t want her ways to rub off on you.”

“Trust me, if I spent five years in the joint without becoming a lesbian or bisexual, I seriously doubt your mama is going to turn me out.” Cami frowned, just thinking about some of the fights she’d had with big muscular women intent on taking her body against her will.

Part of the reason she piled on the pounds was to give herself more of an edge in defending her right to stay straight. In the end, Cami gained a lot of respect and the privilege of being left alone in the sexual area. Plus, after being raped once, she wasn’t about to let that happen to her again.

Millsap chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about her rubbing off on you that way. Mama knows not to mess with any of my women, past, present, or future. No, I was talking about her greedy side causing yours to crank back up at some casino. Or worse turn into some kind of addiction like it has for her, though she refuses to admit it. Besides, Mama only invited you to go along, because she’s trying to get me to pay for her latest gambling binge.”

“I sensed the game on her. Didn’t know what it was about at the time though. Now I do,” Cami said, resolving to be more guarded around Bonnie from now on.

“Oh, my mother has much game.” Millsap frowned. “For instance, did you notice how she wasn’t walking with her cane the whole time we were there?”

“Yeah. I wondered about that,” Cami replied, recalling him saying that his mother had had a stroke a few years back and still hadn’t fully recovered from it.

“Did you see how fast she pulled that cane out when she was trying to guilt me into increasing her monthly allowance by two more grand?”

“She sure did. Dang, Bonnie do got game.” Cami couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Yes, she does,” Millsap replied, finding himself laughing, too. “But Mama forgets whose son I am. That I have her street smarts and my father’s book smarts to keep me from being deceived by her even when she is spitting her best game. Which is why she got another no answer tonight.” He turned to give Cami a serious look. “You should keep that in mind if you should ever try to play me again, too.”

Cami’s laughter quelled in her throat. Had Millsap been able to see through her all along?

Cat always told Cami that she was better at keeping her real feelings hidden than her fake ones. That she was a horrible liar. Now Cami wondered if she should have ever taken up lying at all since she obviously wasn’t very good at it. Probably never would be. She also wondered how she was going to respond to Millsap’s last statement.

© 2008 by Suprina Frazier