Just Make Him Beautiful (18 page)

*

After making up Robin
’
s face and posing for pictures that her mom
, who I had now began calling Auntie,
wanted to take of the two of us
.

W
e finally made it to our prom. We sat in the car smoking a blunt and watch
ed
our classmates
walk the red carpet with
their gowns and tuxedos
and
enter the gymnasium
,
where
the celebration
was being held.

“Oooo
,
Cam, I’m ready to get my groove on,” Robin squealed, as she threw her arms in the air
to
the sounds of hip
-
hop blast
ing
from a car that pulled up next to us.

I looked over to see who was in the car
,
and my mouth f
e
ll
wide
open. I couldn’t believe whose face I was staring into. I began to sweat profusely
,
and nausea
quickly set
in.

“
Chile
, what’s wrong with you?” Robin asked
when
she realized I wasn’t looking to
o
well.

Practically hyperventilating, I
said
,
“Don’t you know who the driver is?”

“No
.
S
hould I?”
S
he strain
ed
to get a better look at the driver.

“Ms. Thang, stop staring so hard before he notice us,” I said
,
sliding down in my seat.

“Well, how am I gonna know who it is if I don’t stare
?
H
umph
?
”
She roll
ed
the window down and lean
ed
out
side
.

“Girl, would you put that window up and stop it
.
”

“Well, who is it then?” she spat, rolling the window up.

T
he lump in my throat grew
,
and the tears began to run down my face.
“That’s Junior, the bastard that killed Ray.” 

Robin squealed,
“You lying
.
”

“No, I’m not. I would know his ass from a mile away.”

“But this guy looks like he’s in his late
twenties
or early
thirties
.
Besides, that was only four years ago
,
so Junior would be
in his mid
-
twent
ies
by now
,
and like I said, that guy looks a lot older. So
,
h
ow can you be sure
?
A
nd why would he be coming to a senior prom?”

“I don’t know
,
but I know he killed my brother,” I replied confidently, wip
ing
the tears from my eyes. 

Robin held my hand to comfort me.
“
W
e don’t have to go in if you don’t want to
.
”

“I should call the dayum po-po on his black ass
.
” 

“Why wasn’t he locked up anyway? Isn’t murder a crime?”

“His ass was locked up initially
,
but he made bail and the cops hadn’t been able to find him since. And you know how the cops are
.
T
hey ain’t that interested in black
-
on
-
black crime
.  S
ons of bitches!” I
started
bec
oming
angry
all over again
about my brother’s murder.

“Look
,
Cam
, I know you
’
r
e
upset
,
and I feel your pain
,
sweetie
.
B
ut tonight is our prom night
,
and we need to celebrate.
L
et’s call the police and have his ass locked up
,
so we can enjoy the rest of our evening.”

“Naw
,
s
uga
r
, I got other plans for
mister man
, now that I know he
’s
still here in
Omaha
.”

“What plans
,
Cam
?
W
hat plans you got?”

“Nev
er
mind
,
Robin.
”
I started up the car. “
Let’s just get out of here!”

Chapter 10

We drove around downtown
aimlessly until I remembered hearing about this gay club located in the downtown area. I
eventually
located the club and
parked in front
. The
club
was
called “Roscoe’s
.
”
Neither one of us ha
d
ever been inside the club
,
but I’
d
heard some crazy stories about
the goings-on there.
N
ot to mention the stories I’
d
read online.
Besides, this was my prom night
,
and even though I didn’t wanna go to my prom after seeing Junior there, I still wanted to celebrate and do something different.

“Why you bring me here
,
Cam
?”
Robin folded her arms.
“Y
ou know they not gonna let us in because of our age
.
H
umph
!
”

“You don’t know
.
W
e might get lucky
,
and maybe they’ll let us in
.
” I
look
ed
at all the children going inside with their fierce outfits on.

“Hey, I saw this movie one time where this young brotha slipped the bouncer some money to let him in the club. Maybe we can do the same thing
.
” Robin look
ed
in her purse and count
ed
all the money she had.

“How much you think we need to pay him?” I asked, pulling my money outta my pants pocket.

“I don’t know
.
H
ow much do you have?”

“
One fifty.
Y
ou?”

“Almost
eighty.
” Robin
gave
me all her money. 

“That’s
two hundred thirty
dollars
.
I’m not giving him all this just to get in the club, girl. Hell, I’d suck his dick first before I give him all this
.
” I wav
ed
the money in her face
,
laughing at my own joke.

“Hm
m
…
we’d make ou
t
bett
er
if you just give him the money
,
if you ask me
.
” 

“
Chile
boo, you ain’t even funny.
Let’s go,” I said
,
getting out of the car.

We approached the bouncer
,
a huge white dude that stood about
six four
,
with tattoos going up one side of his arm
and
down to the other.

“Now
,
where
are
you two going?”
he
asked
.

Robin stuttered,
“
Ah
-
ah
-
ah
…
”

“Oooo
,
Robin
,
isn’t he a fine specimen of a man
?
” I rubb
ed
my hand up and down his muscled arm
,
and trying to flatter this big ol
’
Olga. “We just try
i
n
’-
a have a li
’
l bit of fun
,
daddy
.
” I
was
smiling at him from ear to ear a
s I
slipp
ed
him a crisp fifty
-
dollar bill.

Mr. Bouncer took the money, smiled at me
,
and held the door open for us as we entered.

“See
,
b
itch
?
T
hat’s how it’s done,” I said
,
snapp
ing
my fingers.

“You
p
unks sure do stick together, h
mm
.”

“Don’t hate
,
Ms. Thang
.
Y
ou know you love us.”

We laughed as we stroll
ed
in and walked over to the dance floor.

I d
id
n’t know about Robin
,
but I stood there in awe as I watched men dance with men and wom
e
n dance with wom
e
n. This was the first time I had ever seen
people just being themselves and having a good time.
And even though this was a primarily white club, there were several brothas and sistas scattered amongst the crowd.

Robin yelled over the loud music that was bumping,
“I need to go to the bathroom
,
Cam
.
C
an you come with me?”

“
Chile
boo, I ain’t
following you to no bathroom. Don’t be scared
.
G
o ahead.”

“Humph, fine then
.
”

Robin went through the crowd
,
searching for the restroom.

With t
he music pumping,
and
lights flashing
,
I was getting sucked right into all the excitement that filled the room. The children were hollering and shouting and moving to the beat
.
O
r at least my brothas and sistas were
, c
onsidering we
’
re the ones with all the rhythm.

The music sound
ed
so good to my ears, I couldn’t help but join in on the fun
.
I started dancing right
where
I stood. 

V
ogu
ing
from one side of the room to the other
,
I suddenly stood in my tracks
when
I noticed this
fine
brotha on the other side of the dance floor, just standing there, drinking his beer.

Wow
!
W
as it who I really thought it was?
Naw, it can’t be,
I
thought
.

“Thanks for nothing,
p
unk,” Robin shouted in my ear
.

“Oh
,
girl
,
please
,
get over it.” I yelled back
,
still staring at the brotha.

“
Ms. Thang
.”
Robin hit me on my shoulder.  “W
ho you staring
at
?
”

“You see that brotha over there with the wifebeater on and jeans, drinking his beer?”
             

“Oh my God
!
T
hat ain’t who I think it is, is it?”
S
he again hit me on the shoulder.

“
Bitch, if you hit me one more time
.
” I turn
ed
around and fac
ed
her
,
my hands on my hips.

“Oh
,
stop being a baby,” she scuffed, waving her hand at me. “But
,
for real though, is that who I think it is?”

“Mr. Jamison is the flesh.”

Robin squealed,
“Oooo, I knew he was gay. I just knew it
,
e
specially when he started teaching gym
.
” 

“Oh
,
g
irl
,
hush
.
Y
ou didn’t know nothing
.”

“So.”

“So what?”

“Aren’t you going over and speak to him?”

“
Chile
, I don’t know. What am I supposed to say?”

“Say hello, silly.”

“And then what?”

“Oooo, you better think of something quick because
he must have noticed you staring at him
.
A
nd
he’s on his way over here
.
B
ye!” she said
,
walking away.

“Robin
,
come back here
.
” I
turned
to grab her arm
,
but it was too late. She had
already
disappeared into the crowd.

“Hey
,
little man
.
H
ow you doing this evening?” I heard him ask.

“I
-
I
-
I
-
I’m good
.
” I almost tripp
ed
over my own feet as I turned around.

“Whoa
!
Y
ou ok
ay
?”

“Yeah, I am
.
S
orry about that. I think maybe I’ve had a little too much to drink,” I said
,
lying through my teeth.

“Oh, I see.
You know, I might be wrong
,
but I noticed you when you first walked in
,
and I ha
ve
n’t seen you drink anything as of yet. Am I wrong?”

I don’t know what it
was
about this man
,
but he still ma
de
me weak in the knees. And
,
honey, I hadn’t seen this man in over three years
,
and I was getting goose bumps
.

“
Hello
? A
m I wrong?”

“I’m sorry
.
N
o
,
you’re
not
wrong
.
” I star
ed
into his beautiful bedroom eyes.