164 - Spring Semester
*I’ve already made one career change, the biggest change about this would be the location. And I won’t have to take more tests to prove that I know what I’m doing. - Darkness*
The large group arrived back at Shack with the three deer in the back of the pickup. All three kids still had the first blood marks on their dark cheeks. Cheers went up all around the bottom floor.
Camille called her dad and found out that he was still at Pops Place. After confirming that it was safe for the kids to come over, they all loaded up in Priscilla’s borrowed baby blue Chevy Bel Air. Walking into the Place, they received another round of cheers.
Early the following morning, the deer carcasses were taken in for processing. Since the meat was not back before they were leaving for the airport, Sid promised to ship the meat down to them. Vin drove them to the airport in Boston in one of Sid’s Jeeps. He hugged his brother and sister and then his adoptive parents.
“I’m proud of you,” Darkness told him just before they boarded the plane. “I’m sure your parents would be too.”
“Thanks,” the teen said as they both slapped each other on the back.
A few hours later, Swamp Thang picked them up at the airport and as usual, asked about Priscilla. Camille told him once again that she was married and had a baby. He grinned and shrugged.
“What can I say, she has a special place in my heart,” Swamp Thang admitted. “I just want to know that she’s happy.”
“I promise, she’s very happy.”
“Good, she deserves it.”
There was something about her best friend that made men go stupid over her pussy. Swamp Thang was not immune to this. It amused Camille every time.
Classes started up again and life carried on. In late January, after a weekend tournament, Nicki moved up to the second chair for trombone in marching band. Mitch started practicing for the spring play, his first in high school. Camille prepared for spring competitions and her pending graduation.
While they were in Massachusetts, Darkness had talked to Cookie and Sticks. Having spent so much time working with furniture lately, he wanted to continue that career. The smell of wood shavings was much more pleasant than that of busted or backed up sewage lines.
In March, Darkness and Camille took Nicki and Mitch back up to Hot Springs to see their family and friends. After the three-day weekend, both kids were ready to leave and never see Arkansas, or most of the people that they knew there, ever again.
A few days after they were back from their trip, Camille got a text message with Vin’s class schedule and free time around tutoring sessions and athletic workouts. She was standing in the locker room looking at it a little confused. Although she did not know his schedule by heart, it seemed to be the same as it had been in January.
Just a moment later, she received a text message that explained it all. *Call me when you get a chance. Issue with Arkansas*
She compared her schedule with his and adjusted it for the time difference. That was a mistake that she made a lot when she had first moved to Louisiana. Although the time difference was only an hour, more than once she had called her parents closer to midnight than eleven that she believed it to be. They had had the same problem when Vin moved a few months back with him calling early in the morning. Only rarely was she actually asleep whenever he called.
With a quick text, she sent a time that she could call him. She then sent a second text reflecting both Eastern and Central time. He replied with a cry laughing emoji and then a thumbs up. The call was set and Camille headed to her business accounting class.
The fifty-minute class drug on and on for way longer than any math class should. With a study packet for the upcoming mid-term tucked into her backpack, she and Tink headed home. She returned her mom’s call on the way home, and it did not leave her with a warm fuzzy feeling for the upcoming phone call with her adopted son.
In fact, the message from Sid left a heavy weight in Camille’s stomach.
“Hey, it’s mom. Vin came by late last night and left early this morning to get back to Cambridge before morning practice. Keisha’s mother was at the school yesterday. He said that he’s coming back here tonight and will continue the hour commute until he knows she’s gone. Call me when you get a chance. Love you.”
Letting out a deep sigh, she connected her phone to the blue tooth in her car and headed to the coffee shop just off campus. She was under the impression that a stop at Darla’s Daquiri Drive-Thru for one of Momma Dee’s special fruit smoothies would be better than a decaf iced mocha. Sitting in line at the coffee shop, she sent Darkness a message requesting a fruit smoothie as her mom picked up.
“Hey, baby girl,” came Sid’s happy voice from the other end of the line.
“Hey, mom. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Gadget! Damn it, girl! Hang on, Camille.” Sid continued to swear in Dutch as she chased after the preschooler.
Camille was smiling as she pulled up to the order board. The teen working the drive-thru took her order for two iced mochas and a pup cup. She was just handing over her credit card when her mother came back on the line.
“That girl is going to drive me insane,” Sid admitted. “Her mother is supposed to be here in about an hour. I don’t see how Alana does this. No, ma’am! You are not getting the remotes.”
The little girl started crying in the background.
“Mom, give her the calculator that Chris used for nursing school,” Camille suggested as she pulled up to the second window. “Come on, Tink, come get your cup.”
Her Doberman Pinscher hopped between the front seats and into her lap. Tink waited patiently for the barista to come back to the window with the paper cup of whipped cream and a coffee themed dog biscuit. After quick pats and simple praise, he took his pup cup and returned to the back seat. Camille thanked the blonde working the window as she took the two drinks before driving off.
Somewhere in the background of her mom’s house, the little girl laughed happily. Sipping on her ice coffee, Camille aimed the Jeep towards the high school. Mitch would be out front waiting on her by the time she got there. There was no rehearsal today, but Nicki would get a ride home when the band was done with practice for the upcoming state competition.
“Okay, the calculator worked,” Sid laughed. “Why the hell is this child so obsessed with electronics?”
“Who knows,” Camille laughed. “What’s going on with Vin and his grandmother?”
“She showed up here a few hours after Vin left. Don't worry, I introduced her to Hein.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
