"Yes, Dr. Del Judice," Cammie said sitting in one of the last available seats in the lecture hall. She sat through another lecture on Russian Literature, all the while thinking of why she was late. She had literally bumped into her ex-boyfriend walking out of her apartment that morning and he wouldn't stop staring at her.
**********
They were both shocked to see each other, but his look soon turned smug.
"Well hello, Cammie, you've filled out nicely. If I'd known you'd grow to look like this, we would have stayed together." Cammie chose to ignore the remark and the fact that she'd allowed him to use her body.
"Slumming now, Dave? I never thought I'd see you in this part of the city...college appartments I believe they call them. Did Daddy run out of money too soon? He couldn't pay for you to live uptown?"
"Very funny, Little Girl. Actually, I was just leaving. I spent the night with Gretchen doing the things you used to beg me to do."
"Fuck you, Dave," Cammie said, anger coursing through her veins.
"Ah, but we've already done that, haven't we, Cammie? So how is your love life doing these days?"
"I'm going to class now, Dave. I'll be sure to tell Gretchen what a man whore you are."
**********
"Psst, Cammie, pay attention. Cammie," the girl next to her whispered.
"Ms. Paxton!"
"Damn..."
"I expect to see you at the Slam tonight. Think of it as an apology to the class for your less than stellar attentiveness and participation."
"I'll be there with bells on, Sir." He dismissed the class and Cammie packed her books into her bag and threw it over her shoulder.
"Camilla?"
"Yes," she sighed turning around.
"I know you write some wonderful and powerful stuff. I don't get on your case all the time just to see you do poorly. You have a gift, Ms. Paxton, and that's why I want you at the Slam."
"Thank you, Dr. Del Judice." Cammie's cell phone rang then and looking down at her watch, she cringed.
"I'm late for work. Just wonderful. Where the hell is my T pass?" Being a bike messenger for a local courrier service wasn't glamorous in the least, but it allowed Cammie to stay in shape while paying the bills.
"Paxton! Get on your bike and pedal your ass over to 1515 Broadway. Some big wig needs his official documents like...yesterday."
"Wonderful, I get to deal with Carson staring at my chest. Thanks, Mike, I really needed that today." She took the envelope before sticking out her tongue and walking towards her bike.
"I better get a huge ass tip for this," she said chaining her bike to a nearby street sign and walking through the crowd of teenagers screaming at Carson's ass behind the glass windows. Cammie flashed her id to the huge man standing at the door so she could be allowed inside the studio. It was even more of a hassle to get past the front desk, but she managed to do it without losing her temper.
"Green room one, second floor...it's the third hall on the right, second door on the left."
"Thank you so much for your help." Cammie found the room easily, now she just needed to find the owner of the envelope and she could be on her way. There was a group of people chattering away in the room though.
"Excuse me? Hey, guys?" No response. Cammie decided to force them to notice her, so she climbed up on an empty chair in the room.
"Yo! Guys! One of you needs to sign for this and give me a tip so I can get back to work!" They turned to look at her, startled by her yelling.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Paxton's my name and courrier is my job, but definitely not of choice. Look," she said stepping off the chair.
"Damn, y'all are giants. I need a signature from Mr. Lance Bass so he can have his confidential documents and I can leave. So...who's it gonna be?"
"That would be me," he said holding out his hand. Cammie gave him the envelope and clip board as her cell phone buzzed on her hip.
"Excuse me one second. You have two seconds to tell me what you want before my helmet goes back on, T. Yeah, you heard the rumor right, Del Judice is making me go Slam tonight. Oh don't you dare be harping on my grammar now, boy. I'ma kick your ass when I see you next. Just meet me tonight at Ellington's you ass. I gotta go. Work and shit calls. Later T." Cammie closed the phone and noticed that the group of people was staring at her.
"Sorry about that, he woulda talked my ear off given the chance. Anyway, thanks for the signature and the...hundred dollar tip. Nice, now I can actually pay rent. Have a nice day." She walked out and no one noticed the set of eyes that followed her every move.
"Okay, guys, you're up. Leave all your cell phones and pagers back here, please."
"Excuse me, but what and where is Ellington's?"
"It's a new jazz bar/coffee house run by students at NYU. I don't know where it is, but information should be able to help you."
"Thanks, that's more than I knew a few seconds ago."
*****
"Hey, Coop, get your ass in here and help me pick out something to wear!"
"Why is it always my job to dress you?"
"Cause who better to pick out clothes than my gay best friend? You're always dressed better than I am."
"That's because I actually have color in my closet. Okay, let's find you something that you never wear but look absolutely stunning in. Perfect, the halter top I brought back from China for you. Now, what do we put on your bottom half? Oh wait, it has a wrap around skirt that goes with it...imagine that...I bought you something that matches."
"Shut up, Cooper. I swear, between you and T, I get shit up to my ears. Coop, I, uh...I ran into him this morning. He's with Gretchen now."
"I take it he didn't have anything nice to say to you?"
"He threw our relationship and my level of sexual experience back in my face."
"Cammie, sweetheart, look at me. If he truly cared about you, experience wouldn't mean a thing. I bet his first fourty times were horrible. The point is, if he loved you, he wouldn't care if you had the experience of a nun or of a whore on the corner. You'd be with him and that alone is what would make it special. And judging by what I heard from you, he sucks as a lover. I mean come on now, you and I both know you'd be a screamer and I didn't hear a peep out of you," he said making her smile slightly.
"I hate that he still get's to me after all these years, ya know?"
"It's gonna take a while. He was the first of a lot of things for you, honey."
"Damn it, we're gonna be late!"
The college crowd was out in full force at Ellington's that night having heard that Del Judice was making a student attend the Slam. No one had defied the professor yet, but if it were to happen, Cammie would be the one to do it. The young man sat down at a table near the back of the room with a latte and waited for the girl he'd met earlier in the day. When she walked through the door with a man's arm around her waist, he felt slightly disappointed.
"Well, look at this crowd! Welcome to Ellington's monthly Poetry Slam. I might as well just kick this off with our guest of honor tonight. Cammie, get your fine ass up here and give us a taste." He sipped his latte and moved up closer to the table she'd been sitting at as he watched her walk up to the mic.
"Hey guys, I guess you all heard about Del Judice. I brought this piece..." She looked up and saw Dave walk in the door with Gretchen falling all over his arm.
"Actually, I haven't free styled in a while. Here's something off the top of my head."
***************
Will you stop staring at me?!
I'm not the one with the problem.
Can't remember?
You fucked it up.
Bastard!
You beat me down.
If not by hand
by tongue.
That tongue that would spew words of love,
that would lick the salt from my skin.
Bodies entwined,
covered by a quilt of bliss.
That's when it happened.
So why the hell are you staring at me?!
You brought this on, Cold Eyes.
Ice blue eyes not warmed by love,
merely warmed by knowledge,
knowledge that you could use me.
Abuse me.
Fuck me over like always.
But I called you on it.
So stop staring at me, Bastard!
Your wicked game is up.
And guess what, babe?
I took the God damned prize away from you.
And all you can do is stare at me.
***************
Dave simply looked down at Gretchen and turned and walked out the door, pulling her along. Cammie then read from the piece she'd originally brought with her before sitting back down with Cooper. The applause was phenomenal.
"He was here, wasn't he," the soft voice behind her asked. Cammie turned around and was extremely surprised.
"You're..."
"Call me Josh, please. Would you like to go get a bite to eat?" Cammie looked at Cooper and he just kissed her on the cheek.
"Go on babe, my work here is done. I'll go find Tom and see what kind of trouble we can get into." Cammie thanked him and stood up to go to dinner with JC.
(**Freestyled vignette used is my own work and can be found on my poetry page**)
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