“Sho’ she does,” Elvira put in. “I heard the reports. I know the names of your girls. Camille. She works dispatch. Dispatch is at the Station. Cops, they don’t mind gossipin’ so she knows the shit went down today.”
I was leaning against the back counter but at this, I moved to the horseshoe, positioning myself beside Elvira to get a closer look at Cam.
“What shit went down today?” I asked.
“You didn’t tell me about any shit in the car,” Tracy put in, her eyes on Cam.
Camille poured vodka but Camille did not speak.
“Cam,” I prompted.
Cam put down the bottle of vodka and looked at me.
Then she declared, “I don’t want to like him.”
I felt a flutter in my belly.
Elvira reared back, her eyebrows shooting up. “Why not?”
“He’s…” she trailed off and reached for the cranberry juice.
“Cam,” I repeated.
She put down the cranberry juice and looked at me. “Okay, well, Leo called, told me what happened. He told me what happened right after it happened because he was there. In fact, he couldn’t wait to call.”
“What happened?” Tracy asked.
“Hawk Delgado went psycho badass, that’s what happened,” Elvira answered.
“He what?” I whispered.
Cam nodded. “On Jerry Travers.”
“Who’s Jerry Travers?” Tracy asked.
Cam looked at her. “As far as Cabe Delgado could trace it, he’s the guy who started the shit about Gwen being filler.”
Oh boy, I said in my head but in my belly there was another flutter.
“Oh boy,” Tracy whispered out loud.
“Oh boy is right,” Elvira confirmed.
“What happened?” I asked Camille.
“Well, Leo says Delgado isn’t stupid enough to walk into a police station and assault a police officer. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t make his displeasure clear and he did, crystal, and he did this public.”
“I love this,” Tracy breathed. “How did it go down?”
“Leo says he got in his space, got in his face and tore him a new one right in front of everyone,” Cam answered and my belly graduated from flutter and started getting squishy. “And that new one he tore him is wide and gaping. Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Really?” Tracy whispered.
Cam nodded then looked at me and her expression was embattled. She didn’t know what to make of this. “Leo was overjoyed. He even used that word, overjoyed. That man has never used the word overjoyed. Firstly, he’s not a big fan of Jerry Travers because Jerry Travers talks trash about you and because he’s an ass. I know Jerry. This is true. He is an ass and he didn’t say that shit to me because he knows we’re tight. I just know he’s an ass. Secondly, Leo thinks you’re the shit, you know that, girl, and Delgado walkin’ in there to lay down the law about trash-talkin’ you, well, he thought that was a little bit of all right.”
I thought it was a little bit of all right too.
I looked down at the boards.