Just Make Him Beautiful (31 page)

I picked myself up from the floor and wiped my face with my hands.
I took a deep breath, turned the doorknob
,
and walked into Keith’s bedroom. I don’t know who was shocked more, me or them. I caught Keith
butt naked on the
upswing
as he came down; pounding
the shit out of my girl, Ms. Robin Parker.
I was so stunned and surprised that Robin would do that to me
,
m
y body went totally limp
,
and I fainted right there.

*

When I came to, I was lying in my bed
,
and Keith was sitting in a chair next to my bed, talking on his cell phone.

“Hey, let me call you back,” he stated to whoever he was on the phone with. “So, how are you feeling?”
h
e asked me in a genuine tone.

“How am I feeling? Keith, how could you do that to me?” I asked
as
tears
began to form
in my eyes.

“
Look
,
shawty, I’m sorry. I just can’t be totally in a homosexual relationship. I love women too
.
”

“Keith, you really never told me about your relationships with women
,
but even if you do enjoy being with them, why my girl Robin?” I
was
trying to hold back the tears.

“Why not Robin?”
h
e asked
,
a confused expression on his face.

“Because she’s my friend
,” I repl
ied, raising my voice. I wiped my tears away.
“O
r at least she was
.
”

“Yo
,
shawty, we can all make this work. I care a lot for you
,
and I also care for Robin.
Why can’t we all live here and be one happy family?”

He
tried to
hold my hand
, but I snatched it away from him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah
.
W
hy not?”

“Keith
,
I can’t believe you would do something like that and then have the audacity to ask me if we all could live together like one big happy family
.
Naw,
I
can’t do that
.
” I g
ot
out of the bed and
started
putting my clothes on.

He approached me.
“Cameron, where are you going?”

“I don’t know
,
Keith
.
I just have to get out of here and be alone so I can think.”

I slid into some sandals and grabbed my man bag and headed down the stairs. Keith followed right behind me. I picked up my keys
from
the kitchen counter
.

“You can leave if you want
,
but you’re not taking my car.”

I was so numb to everything that had just happened
,
I
threw the keys back on the kitchen counter and walked out the front door.

Fortunately, it was towards the end of August,
so
the weather was
still rather pleasant
.
 
It wasn’t until I got beyond the
i
ron
g
ate that I realized I didn’t have anywhere to go or anyone I could even call on to come
and
get me.
I had walked up to the main highway, and there was a gas station/convenient store on one corner and a Waffle House on the other.

I walked inside the Waffle House and noticed the time on their wall clock
.
A
little after midnight. I took a seat in one of the booths and began looking through the menu.
I hadn’t
eaten since earlier today when Keisha and I were at the mall. So I thought I would order something just to stall for time.

The spunky waitress said,
“Good morning
.
C
an I get you something to drink while you look over our menu?”

“Yes
.
C
an I have an iced tea and a number four
?
” I plac
ed
the menu back in its slot.

“And how would you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled
,
please.”

“Would you like cheese in your eggs?”

“No
,
thank you.”

“
Okay,
that’s an
iced tea
with a number four. I’ll bring your ice
d
tea back in a minute, ok
ay.
”

“Thank you.”

I sat and looked around the restaurant
,
and beside me, there was only
one other customer there. At first I thought he might be a psycho
,
the way
he kept looking at me funny
,
but then I noticed he had a collar on and that he was a priest. He nodded in my direction
,
and to be nice, I nodded back.

The waitress came with my food
,
and I ate every bite.
Chile
, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. The waitress asked if I wanted anything else
,
and I told her I didn’t, so she gave me the bill and continued cleaning off some of the empty tables.

I reached in my man bag to
pull
out my wallet and was furious to find out that my credit card
,
or shall I say, Keith’s credit card
,
wasn’t there.
It had dawned on me that since Keith didn’t want me to drive his
car
,
he obviously had gone in my wallet and took out everything that belonged to him, including his credit card and his money.

I looked around to see where the waitress had gone
,
and fo
r a split second, I thought may
be I should just run out without worrying about paying the nine dollar
s
. However, something stopped me
,
and all of a sudden, the floodgates opened
,
and I began to cry hysterically
,
wailing and sobbing uncontrollably.

“Are you okay?”
t
he waitress asked me.

I boo wooed,
“No, no, no, no, no
.
”

“Are you ill?
Can I call someone for you?”

“I
-
I
-
I
-
I ain’t
-
ain’t got no
-
no
-
no one
.
”

The priest took a seat across from me.
“Young man, look at me
.
”

I looked up at this white priest
,
wondering what he could possibly do to help me and wipe me of my sins.

“Young man, what is your name?” he asked.

“Cam
-
Cam
-
Cameron
.”

“Do you have a pl
ace to stay? Are you homeless?”

“I don’t have anybody
,
and I don’t have any money
!
” I snapped as the tears continued to flow.

“I’m gonna call the police
.
”

“No, it’s okay.
I’ll pay for his meal. Look
,
Cameron, my name is Father Burk
,
and I know of a man who runs a shelter for homeless men. It’s called Yes We Can
,
Incorporated. You can come with me
,
and I can take you down there to see him. He will be able to provide shelter for you
,
so you won’t have to be out here on the streets.
And you won’t have to worry about the police tak
ing
you in
.
”

Father Burk paid for my meal and escorted me out to his car. I was feeling so we
a
k
,
he litera
l
ly had to hold me up. One would have thought I hadn’t eaten in days. I cried the whole time Father Burk drove me to my new home.
I realized my weakness was from having my spirit broken and that God was paying me back for all the wrong I had done.

I slumped down in Father Burk’s car
and thought;
Forty-eight hours ago I lived in a mansion, drove a nice car, wore all the latest fashions, and had money in my pockets. Now I’m homeless and alone.

Chapter 17

Yes We Can
,
Inc.
occupied
a
run-down
two
-
story brick building located
in
what they considered the hood area of town.
If you were giv
en
permission to leave the grounds, you could leave out as early as
seven
a
.
m
.
and had to be back and checked in no later than
ten
p
.
m. The sleeping area was that of an open bay,
with
thirty-five
iron-clad
cots strategically
placed
in this one huge room. There was a bathroom on the first floor and one on the second floor. The bathrooms didn’t have tubs or even a shower. There was one toilet and one sink in each of the bathrooms. Needless to say, the lines were long at times. The walls were covered in graffiti, the paint was peeling
,
and water stains lined the corner of the walls.
They also had a kitchen area in the rear of the first floor
.

M
ost of the food they stored w
as
donat
ed
by
community churches. Two meals were served each day,
b
reakfast and dinner
,
and if you missed either one, you were shit out of luck.

There was a small office located on the right as soon as you entered the building
,
Mr. Webber’s office. Mr. Webber was a big black guy, almost weighing
250 pounds
,
with a scruffy beard. He appeared to be in his early to mid
-forties
and seemed to get along with everyone. He always had a smile on his face, which made me wonder why
.

The second day I spent at Yes
We
Can
,
Inc. was rough for me because
,
being
one of the occupants, I had to participate in all activities, including their workshops. I attended my first NA meeting
,
and even though I wasn’t a drug addict
, I was force
d
to attend. We all sat in a semicircle
.
I was terrified hearing the stories of these men and what they had been through as a result of their addiction. Most
had been
married
with
famil
ies
and nice jobs, but because of their addiction,
had
lost it all.
Some
had been on the streets for years stealing whatever they could and selling their bodies just to get that next fix.

I sat there reading
over
the
principles
of the
twelve-
step program
which stated
:

Step One
:
 
 
We admitted we were powerless
 
over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
 

Step Two: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step Three
:
 
We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.