Shooting Stars
WOWZERS! Thanks so much for the reviews! You guys are so awesome! Sorry for my stupid delays but you know how exams are. Hopefully they'll be no more delays with the new semester...although I have all the hard subjects:( Anywho, on with the chappie! please review and tellme what you guys think!
Chapter 4: This Is How an Angel Cries
After taking the exam to earn a spot at Cass Tech, Cam was sure she entered hell. Another two days had passed, and things at school seemed to be getting worse for Cam. The kids at school complained saying her 'friends', the Mercers, held up a party with guns and gasoline with the intention of lighting all their asses on fire. Again, everyone else whined about the Mercer's holding up the basketball game and taking everyone hostage with a gun. Sometimes she was ridiculed and insulted for it, or other people would ask for her phone number or address because their break-ins were supposedly 'hot', 'sexy', or 'amusing'.
Cam sat, surprised as her new friend, Lana chattered about the sudden outbreaks. "…….and then he took out his gun and started waving it in the air talking about their mom's death. You can bet your ass there's gonna be more shootings this week because they looked like they wanted revenge……..Be careful." Lana warned, "You might just get caught up in this too."
Slouching inside her friend's car, she shrugged, "Are you sure?"
"Damn sure, girl. You live in that house, don't you know what the hell's going on? Or, are you too bust staring at their asses?" Lana asked, parking on the Mercer's driveway.
Cam sighed, finding a police car on the driveway. "First, must I say, staring at them in any part of their body that is not their head is gross, and second, it looks like I might find out what's going on." She glanced at the police car.
Lana patted Cam on the shoulder, "Take care and remember my door's always open." Cam shook her head in disgust. Lana's door was always open because she was always having sex with random guys. At least now, she had a boyfriend though, even if he was the main leader of the "Torment Princess" group.
"I'll keep that in mind when I get shot." Cam laughed.
Lana playfully punched her, handing her a CD, "Hey, give this to Jack for me."
Cam rolled her eyes, "Sure thing." Hastily grabbing the CD, Cam started to think if the only reason she had friends were because of the Mercer boys. Well, all the Mercer's except for Jerry, who was off the market. Angel had a girlfriend, but that didn't stop the girls from chasing him. Jack was a strong man for his girl, yet showed a soft spot every now and then. And Bobby….well, Bobby was hard as nails, but girls wanted a bad boy to tame. Easy as that.
Cam wasn't that fond of any of them, except for Jerry. She still wasn't great on the whole pranks thing as it would still continue and persist from time to time. Jerry was very cool about everything, and every time he came by, he always defended her.
Running up to the doorstep, she jammed her key in and entered the house. She walked into the den beside Jack and Sofi and found two men, one black, one white, talking to Bobby, who was dressed in Sofi's robes. This looked like one fucked-up dream. The two detectives, Fowler and Green, turned their attention to Cam.
"Go upstairs." Sofi ordered. She shrugged, and made her way up.
"Two women. Are the Mercer's cleaning the streets now?" Green smirked, "Or, are they just getting whipped?"
Bobby shrugged, "Nah, she's barely legal. That's more of Jackie boy's style except our little brother like's the balls to be down south."
Jack rolled his eyes, walking over to the kitchen.
Green started to laugh, "Still on his back? When you gonna quit that shit, Bobby?"
Cam stood up from her position on the stairs, and then began walking to her room. She stayed there, until she knew for sure the cops had left. With that, she descended down the stairs to find Sofi cleaning up Bobby's wounds.
"Don't be such a pussy," She scolded him. For once, he shut up.
Cam took a seat at the dining room table with them.
"What's up kid?" Bobby smirked. It was very unusually for Cam to come up out of no where like this. Again, she was usually cooped up in her room, at school, or with Sofi.
She was about to ask about the cops and the hostages, but decided against it. If it concerned her and she was in danger, they would tell her, right? She didn't want to cut into 'their' business. She stuck to her back up plan, and handed him a letter. It was a form for the basketball team.
"So, you did make it. Oh….how'd they take it?" Sofi laughed, knowing how brutal the girls on the team were. From her and Cam's talks, they didn't seem so……inviting.
"Not as bad as my first days here and at school."
It was Bobby's turn to laugh, "You should consider your ass lucky then."
"I guess," Cam shrugged.
"What kind of shit do they do?" Bobby started signing the papers.
"Right now, it's just the taunting, but the rest, which will probably be really bad, will come soon." Cam replied, "I'm ready for it though."
"You sure 'bout that, princess?"
"No, not really, but I have no choice." Cam stood up, walking up to her room.
"Damn straight." Bobby hollered, and she could hear him scream moments later. Most of the yelling was towards Sofi, who had 'accidentally' poured his beer all over the cuts and wounds.
Cam chuckled softly and walked up to her room, pushing herself to do her homework. She had a feeling this is how Friday nights would be for a while.
-------------------------------------------
It was Sunday morning, and Cam got up pretty early. It was only because she hit the hay early on Saturday. She barely did anything in that house, except talk with Sofi, do her homework, cook, and well, that was about it. She walked groggily up stairs and brushed her teeth, washed her face, brushed her hair, and walked back downstairs to the kitchen. Thanks to Angel and Sofi, she didn't get a wink of sleep inside her room, so she had to sleep on the couch. On top of that, there were two condoms, some lingerie and Angel's boxers in her room.
As she entered the kitchen, she found that all, except for Jerry, were at the table, eating breakfast. It was a wonder how they could get up that early.
"Morning, princess." Bobby greeted her as she sat down.
She yawned, taking a seat next to Jack. "Morning," She mumbled, and started to pile on the food.
"So, how's school poppin now? Still hate ya guts?" Angel asked, and Sofi nudged him irritably.
"Obviously," Cam reported, "and catfights will soon be inevitable."
She started to stuff her face as always, and everyone amusingly watched. For a 'princess', she sure didn't eat like one. They expected her to eat like a rabbit, since that's how her cousins were. They remembered visiting the whole family in New York, and all the girls became very concentrated on their etiquette, and most of all, appearance . Cam didn't care much for it, considering she had basketball to tone the muscles and fat down. However, she always had some meat on the bone and like any girl, she had her good share of fat days when the season was over, or when she just felt like being a couch potato for a week.
She averted her attention to everyone around her, while swallowing. She looked back at her plate and began to munch again.
"Breathe." Angel smiled at her
She rolled her eyes, "Since you guys appear to be highly distracted by my eating habits, I'll be in Jack's room. Maybe if you come in, you might turn into a man. Maybe." She patted Jack's shoulder, while Bobby and Angel laughed.
"Why Jack's room?" Sofi smirked, while Angel nudged her this time.
"It appears that there's a little mess in my room courtesy of you and Angel." She grabbed her plate and her tea. "And, I'd appreciate it if you guys could use the floor instead of the bed. Your headboard just might break through the wall one day."
Jack and Bobby laughed openly, while Sofi and Angel blushed. Angel scratched his head "Yeah… uh, we'll just clean that up for ya…."
Bobby widened his eyes, "There sure as hell better not be any of that shit in Ma's room, Jarhead, or I'll kick your ass back to the army and than I'll kick Loco Ono's ass back to her home; the curb."
Cam shook her head as they proceeded to insult each other. However, out of everything, it was still a moment of shock for ther Mercer's and Sofi. Never had Cam ever come down for breakfast…..actually, never had she ever woken up for breakfast, nor had she spoken so much to everyone. Bobby smiled; everything was getting better each day, and they were getting closer to the killer each day as well.
Cam shrugged, and walked upstairs to Jack's room. She peeked into Jerry's room, but quickly left to Jack's room. She would have eaten at Jerry's, but the scent and objects in his room reminded her too much of David when he was younger. It just felt so awkward walking back in time; especially when she wasn't even at home.
She retrieved some parchment and pens from her room, and then began to eat and write at Jack's. She and her brothers decided to write letters back and forth to each other as a way of communication. If it was a big emergency, they would call on the phone or, if it was a worse case, they'd come over to Detroit. But, letters would be their signature form of contacting each other. It was weird, but they found it amusing this way, since no one ever got any real mail. The mail always turned out to be bills, fake greeting cards, business letters, etc.
After a good twenty minutes she was stuffed. She continued writing, when Jack entered the room, already taking off his shirt to change his clothing.
"I'll be out soon," Cam said without looking up.
He shrugged, "Its okay. You can stay." But, Cam wasn't looking forward to sticking around seeing Jack change. It may give her nightmares and Lana and just about the whole female population at school would want the details, if she spilled. She grimaced.
He walked over to his closet and picked out a t-shirt, putting it on. He pulled out a pair of jeans to put over his boxers, slipping them on.
She sighed, finishing the rest of the letter and folding it up. She left the room silently about to change into more suitable clothing as well. She was planning on taking Jerry's car out for a ride to buy some food and school supplies. She grabbed a long sleeved shirt, a pair of jeans, and her leather jacket. She finished changing, slacked her messenger bag over her shoulder, and walked downstairs.
Just as she was descending down the steps, Jerry walked in. "Hey kid."
"Hey Jerry," she smiled, "……..keys."
He sighed, "Don't go messing up my car and shit."
"By the looks of the dent on Bobby's car, I think I'm above average in the driving department." She shoved her feet into her boots.
Jerry patted some snow off his shoulder laughing. Jack started down the steps, and Jerry smiled, "Yo Jack, take this girl out. I don't trust her with my car."
Jack smirked, catching the keys from Jerry. However, just as Jerry entered the den, there was a huge smash and Jerry was sent to the floor. Pretty soon they were all babbling about something and Jerry started punching the shit out of Bobby and Angel.
Jack sighed, "Let's go."
Cam broke her gaze on the situation, "Uh, sure."
Suddenly, the door bell rang, and Cam answered it first, Jack behind her. A guy wearing a sweatshirt flipped them off as he was walking away.
"What a shit head." Jack muttered. "C'mon."
Suddenly, a snowball was thrown, but hitting Jack's face as he turned around.
Cam tried not to laugh at Jack's sudden expression, and just breathed out heavily. "Let it go."
Jack shrugged it off as they were walking over to the car. However, that is until he saw he pistol the man was pointing at them. Jack's heart stopped as Cam jumped in front of him. She was crazy to think that she could do that and just let him watch her. Jack pushed her to the ground just as the pistol fired. At that moment Bobby, Angel and Jeremiah bolted out the door with Sofi in toe. Sofi's scream pierced through the air as her hand made it way, resting over her lips. Her hand began to shake and quiver uncontrollably. Her scream was horrifying; a one that you'd never hear or expected from her. Pain and torture resonated in her voice as it echoed across the neighborhood. Just as fast as they entered the deadly atmosphere, the three Mercer's and Sofi left, falling back into the house. A van turned in shooting with various pistols, shotguns and rifles.
Jack and Cam were still on the ground. The snow below Jack's shoulder started to turn into a crimson red and he tried not to wince. Cam crawled over to him with a pained expression. Her side and foot ached from the sudden fall, but all of that seemed like nothing once she took one look at Jack's shoulder. She began to apply pressure to the wound, and he closed his eyes. Cam could only imagine the pain he must have felt.
"Stay low," he whispered faintly.
She clutched onto the keys in Jack's hands tightly, "Can you run?"
He widened his eyes, knowing exactly what she was thinking, "No, you might get shot. St-stay here." He closed his eyes, wincing in pain.
"Shut up, and answer me….please."
"Yes…" he sighed.
She pressed a button on the key chain, and the doors of the Volvo unlocked. "When I say so, run with me to the car."
She looked around, hearing Bobby's shot gun blare loudly through the air. "Now."
She straddled Jack's arm around her shoulder as they ran, bullets shooting this way and that. The shooters were more concentrated on Angel, Bobby, and Jerry. However, they did take notice after Cam shoved Jack into the passenger seat of the car. One guy started to shoot furiously at Cam as she hid behind the side of the car. A few bullets nicked her arm and stomach as she crawled back distortedly. She continued to crawl back slowly, her leg in pain.Bad move. He shot all the beer bottles in front of her, giving her various scratches on her hands, arms, and face. She screamed, quickly reopening the door of the passenger seat again and sliding over Jack to the driver's seat. Punching the keys into the ignition, she drove away to the hospital.
Jack's eyes became dreary, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and drift. And he would have slept, but Cam wouldn't have it that way, "Do not close your eyes. Stay awake….just for a little longer…….My god, you're such a crazy bitch."
He tried to laugh, but it hurt like hell. "Y-you're a du-umbass if you think-"
"Shut up and give me the directions." She ordered. He almost laughed again with a smile. This was a side of her he's never seen……..and he only got to see it because he was shot.
"Turn left," he mumbled. His eyes started drooping again.
"C'mon, I need you to stay with me here." She looked over to him for a second. Her eyes started water, but she was trying her very hardest not to cry. She passed signs pointing to the direction of the hospital, and she was sure she was speeding like a whore.
As soon as Jack addressed the next turn, they were at the hospital. "Jesus…" His voice was hoarser than usual. If the bullet wasn't going to kill him, he was sure her driving would.
She got out of the car and started to yell frantically at the paramedics about to enter the hospital "I need help! PLEASE!" She brought Jack out of the car, and he was quickly rushed to the EMERGENCY room ASAP.
Cam's heart started to race as she tapped her foot nervously. This time it was faster than usual, and she was biting her finger nails. She couldn't believe Jack actually would do something like that…….she was pissed, but she couldn't figure out why she was. She just felt angry at him. He was stupid to do that. She sighed, about to take out a cigarette, when she saw the No Smoking sign on the wall. She never usually smoked, only when she was nervous. In her whole life, she only bought one pack, and she still kept it. There were about fourteen sticks still left in the package.
She looked up to meet the secretary's eyes who gave a concerned smile, and then a look of horror, "Miss, I think you need to go to-"
Cam tuned her out, she just kept looking at the doors Jack had entered in before. The nurse began to dial worriedly while staring at Cam, and Cam started to get suspicious……It was easy to say that she hated hospitals, and she tried her hardest to forget the last time she was at one. It was with her parents. They were brought to the emergency room, but…She shook the thought out. Perhaps it was the feeling that hospitals gave you that made her hate it so much. Although it was winter, a hospital managed to feel colder and bare. There was nothing to hold onto in a hospital. Nothing at all.
Finally, she could hear and see them. The stomping and running. The yelling. The violent exchange with the secretary. The pointing. The appearance.
Sofi quickly came up and hugged Cam tightly, "Oh my gosh, we're so glad you're okay………where's Jack? What happened to you!"
Cam couldn't speak; the insane tapping of her foot continued and the biting of the nails proceeded. She pointed to the Emergency Room sign, and they all winced a bit.
She finally noticed a salty taste in her mouth. She looked down at her hands and found blood all over them. There were various cuts and scrapes from when they shot the beer bottles in front of her, and she was sure her stomach, arm and face didn't look too good either.
"Jesus, Cam, what the fuck happened to you?" Bobby asked, staring at her hands. She finally looked up, and they were shocked. How could she have not been in care? She was bleeding terribly, especially her leg.
Bobby held her up, as Angel, Jerry and Sofi spoke with the secretary who had just called up a nurse. It was then Cam started to feel the poundingin her leg, butshe didn'tcare. All she could do was stare at that Emergency Room…….. like Evelyn and her parents, she was pretty sure Jack wasn't coming back.