Forced Out of the Darkness (5 page)

Chapter Eight

t
he
P
layer
G
ets
P
layed

“Montague Burroughs,
what is going on with you? You are the player…you don’t settle down. You know
what happened last time you tried to give your heart to someone. It left you in
jail with a felony. What are you doing?” Monti asked himself.

            Almost two
years ago, Monti had been dating a thick corn-fed South Carolina boy named
David Knight. David was just the kind of man that Monti liked. He turned Monti
on sexually, but at that time, Monti was conflicted between his familial
obligations and his sexual urges. He was never able to give himself totally to
David but their sex life was phenomenal. David loved being with this alpha man.
He also knew that there was something that kept the two of them from connecting
deeper, enabling them to forge a partnership. David knew that Monti was not
being completely honest with him.

            Monti would
get phone calls and would immediately send the call to voicemail. When David
would ask what was going on, Monti would get angry and say something came up. He
would leave abruptly. David knew that he wanted a true relationship where there
were mutual feelings. He didn’t want a ‘friends with benefits’ situation. After
a year of dating exclusively, he was unable to forge that deeper connection
with Monti. David knew that he had to move on. After a conversation that David
and Monti had prior to the fourth of July, Monti promised that they would spend
the holiday together. David felt that there was someone else in Monti’s life
but was unable to prove his feeling. The fourth of July came and David called
Monti early that morning. He wanted to know when they were going to get
together. Monti didn’t answer his calls. At about 4:00 pm, David received a
text from Monti saying that he could not get away from his family because his
brother was in town from the military.

            David was
upset at being stood up again. The following day, David went to the Eastland
mall to catch some Independence Day sales. He was walking through the mall and
saw Monti walking holding hands with a woman. Walking with them were two kids, one
of which resembled Monti. David thought about confronting him but opted not to.
He texted Monti and told him he was upset about being stood up. Monti asked him
if he could make it up to him on Saturday. David accepted the invite to lunch.

            On the
Saturday after Independence Day 2004, Monti was trying to make it up to David.
They met at Joe’s Crab Shack in Sterling Heights, Michigan for lunch. Monti
ordered a Long Island Ice Tea and David had a Top Shelf Margarita. Conversation
was labored as they ate the perfectly seasoned seafood feast. After they had
finished eating, David told Monti that he had been doing some soul searching
lately. Monti said he had been doing the same thing. As Monti was getting ready
to tell David that he wanted to get closer and make this more of a tight
relationship, David said something that caught Monti off guard.

            “I’ve
started searching for someone who is not living a double life. I am worth more
than the dollar bill you are trying to buy me for. I want an honest man that
doesn’t try to play me for a fool while he is a gay man trying to play house. I
saw you and your ‘family’ at the mall the other day and I realized that if you
are not going to be honest with the ones you are supposed to love, you’d never
be honest with me. I never want to see you again you cheating fuck. Please lose
my number. I hope you have enough money to pay for the bill.” With that
statement, David stood up and walked out the restaurant, hoping to never see or
hear from Monti again.

            David’s
hopes were the furthest thing from the truth. Within minutes of David getting in
his car, his phone started ringing. He declined the call after he saw that it
was Monti. After the fifth call, David powered his phone off. David cried as he
drove the 25 minutes to his apartment. He cried because he allowed himself to
be in a relationship with a person who was not able to give him what he needed
emotionally. He cried because he was back to the single side of life. He cried
because he knew that the relationship was a dead end but yet he tried to see
the good in it.

            Once he got
to his apartment, he got his bag that he packed for this weekend. The previous
night, he made reservations at the Southfield Westin. He knew he would need
that Heavenly Bed for the weekend to gather his thoughts together after the
break-up. He left his apartment and headed towards Southfield. He took the
Lodge north which took him right to the Evergreen exit so he could get to the
hotel.

            David
checked into his hotel room and turned on the radio to V98.7 smooth jazz. He
wanted to have everything he needed in his room so he went to get ice so he
could pour himself a stiff drink or two, without having to interrupt the pity
party by leaving the room. Once back in his room, he poured himself a drink and
laid down to take a much-needed break from reality.

            In all
this, he did not notice that Monti was tailing him from the restaurant to his
apartment and then to the hotel. He did not know that Monti took seven flights
of stairs when he saw the elevator stop at the seventh floor and then return to
the lobby. He did not see that Monti had hid in the stairwell at the end of the
hallway and watched David return to his room with the bucket of ice.

            About
twenty minutes later, when he thought that David was settled in the room, Monti
walked up to the hotel room door and knocked on the door. David’s eyes opened
not knowing who would be knocking at his door. He got out of the bed and walked
to the door. He looked through the peephole to see Monti’s face.

            “Hold on a
second, I’m in the restroom.” David said.

            David went
in the bathroom, turned on his phone and called 911 to report a stalker. He
then called the hotel operator and let them know that there was an uninvited
guest at his door and he needed help.

            “Monti,
what are you doing here? How did you know where I was?” David asked.

            “I just
want to talk to you. I am willing to let everything go to be with you 100
percent.” Monti said.

            “I am not
interested in being involved with a cheating married man. You should leave.” David
replied.

            “I am just
going to stay here until you take me back. Remember, David, I know where you
work and I can come there if I need. Don’t make this difficult for me.” Monti
got angry because he was not making any progress.

            Just as he
said that two Southfield police officers came around the corner, having
listened to Monti’s conversation. They swiftly arrested Monti for stalking and
trespassing. The 75 voice messages and text messages Monti left for David were
all that the judge needed to give David a Personal Protection Order baring
Monti from contacting David in any manner.

            When David
ran into Monti at the MGM casino for Friday Seafood night three months later,
Monti tried to speak to David. David said, “I am going to tell your wife and
Pastor that you are a homosexual and that you are living a homosexual
lifestyle.” as he walked out of the buffet and into the casino.

            Monti
panicked and took out his phone and called David repeatedly. That next Monday,
David made his way to the 36
^th
District court to show the court this
PPO violation. A bench warrant was issued immediately for Monti’s arrest and a
show cause trial date was set. At the trial, Monti plead guilty to felonious
stalking and was given $1,000.00 fine, six-month probation, and ninety days in
jail. With a felony on his record and no remorse for what he did, Monti set out
to continue to live his life without making any changes to his behavior.

Chapter Nine

O
ne
G
ood
O
le
’ L
augh

“Hey Shaine. Thanks for
meeting me. You know I love the ribs here at Chili’s. What is going on with
you?” Cameron asked.

“I am good here honey. Just
working extra hours at this store, you know I have to stay up on the latest
fashion. I am working my way up to one day having my own store. What is going
on in your world?”

“I met this guy.”
Shaine rolled her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes. I think he is a cool guy. I mean
we have been talking for about a month. We just met and had dinner last night.”

“I hope that is all you
had was dinner”

“I had dinner and dessert,
but not the dessert you are talking about.”

“What happened?”

            Cameron
told her the events of the night. She was happy that her best friend did not
succumb to temptation. She had witnessed her best friend go through some
terrible moments in his spiritual walk. Cameron was brought up in the black church.
He knew early on that he felt some kind of way around guys. He knew that when a
beautiful woman walked past him it did nothing for him; however when a fine man
did the same, he could not keep his eyes off of him. He loved everything there
was to love about a man. This attraction caused him a lot of conflict though. His
religious convictions came head to head with his physical attractions. Cameron
attended church as much as he could with his job as a flight attendant. Shaine
used to fly the friendly skies but grew to know there was more to life than
serving peanuts and pretzels at 35,000 feet.

            Cameron
would sometimes come home from church really weighted. When this happened
Shaine knew that the sermon was talking about gay people. It didn’t matter that
the church administrator was lurking on the Internet hooking up with guys all
around the Detroit Metro area. It didn’t matter that half of the male ministerial
staff were experimenting with each other. Even the legendary “Gay row” at the
church would praise God in their own way, like only the children could do, even
though they would experience verbal hazing from Sunday to Sunday. Cameron would
endure this because of his love for God not because he loved it. He would go on
celibate binges where he would fast and pray, attend revivals, and go to the
prayer line for some Divine intervention only to be let down when the preacher
put his number in Cameron’s coat pocket while he was praying for him. Yet,
Cameron would not let go of his faith in God, even though the messengers on
earth did not resemble God in any way shape or form.

Cameron stopped telling
his story about Monti after he called Shaine twice without a response.

“Shaine…”

“Yes, honey.” Shaine
responded after being snapped out of her daydream.

“You aren’t even listening
to me.”

“I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

“He got caught lying
about his name by the server.”

Shaine let out one good
laugh and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No Shaine, he said he
didn’t tell me because he didn’t know me and wanted to make sure I was cool
before he let me know.”

            Shaine was
not about to buy any of this down low garbage that obviously Cameron had
purchased. Shaine was a church going lady who was very in tuned with her inner
voice and she knew that there was something about this Monti that her best
friend met that she didn’t like. She could not put her finger on it but she knew
that something was not right.

“That’s it? He kissed
you when he left and that’s it?” Shaine wanted to know every little detail.

“Yes that is it.”
Cameron said omitting the aftermath of the kiss because that was something that
he needed to remain a secret. Not that Shaine was a gossiper or anything but
Cameron wanted to keep some things sacred…plus she did not want to hear about
his intimate personal moments.

“Well, honey bunny,”
that was Shaine’s pet name for Cameron, “you just take your time and really get
to know him. You don’t have to rush into anything you have the rest of your
life to form a relationship.”

“I know…I know.”
Cameron said dismissively. “Shaine, what is going on in your world? Who are you
seeing now? Any new prospects?”

            Shaine was
a shopper and knew fashion inside and out. She was a master of understanding
what fashion was emerging and what was fading. She was a trendsetter and an
icon in the making. This also was a curse for her…she only wanted to find love.
She had the career and the material things. The only thing that was missing was
a man of her own, who would be her strength, her equal, and her soul mate. She
prayed daily to ask God to send him to her. She refused to find him on her own
because she knew the bible and knew that she had to wait until her husband
found her…she always wanted to remain in the perfect will of God and never be
in the permissive will of God. She wanted her husband to be the one that was
created for her.

            “No, I
don’t have anything to report on that front. I know I had to let this greasy
mechanic go. He was very good to me and treated me like the Princess that I am,
but he had a lot of baby momma drama going on. I need a man who checked his
baggage under the plane and didn’t bring it in the cabin with us on this ride.”

            Shaine
always had a way with words and the expressions on her face showed that she was
getting tired of waiting on Mister Right. She was willing to do what must be
done to stay prepared for him when he arrived. She did not know just how soon
her Prince would show up, but she wanted him to arrive sooner than later.

“What do you have
planned for the rest of the day, Shaine?”

“Not much, I might go
shopping they are having a sale at Macy’s over at Twelve Oaks Mall, and I need
some new boots. You know how I love shoes. What about you?”

“I am just going to go
home and chill. I am off till Thursday so I am going to take it easy.”

“Alright, honey bunny,
I am going to head out and we will meet at our normal spot for Sunday dinner
tomorrow right?

“You know it.”

“Drive safely.” Cameron
said.

“You too.”

“Bye.”

            Cameron and
Shaine always ate at this great restaurant called J. Alexander. It is a
decently priced restaurant that has the best salads and their croissants are
drizzled with a glaze that is out of this world. It is interesting to see how
crisp their server’s uniforms are because rumor has it that they have a shift
meeting and the manager looks at the shirts and if there are any bubbles in the
stitching they get sent home. What a stressful job but they enjoyed the service.
The company that cleaned the restaurants did an outstanding job. There was no dust
or dirt anywhere. The company’s name was something like Marshall and Daughters.
Cameron wanted to have them come through his place weekly to keep it spotless.