Between A Rock And A Hard Place Ch 01

Author's Note: This is another short story that I've written. With this story, I wrote this one back in 2010 and I pretty much left it alone. Today, during a session of "spring cleaning", I had found this story on one of my old, unused floppy disks. Rather than let the story go to waste, I decided to submit it.

If you like to leave a comment, please do. I really appreciate it.

This story has heavy adult language and sexual language, as well as, strong sexual content. There was also a derogatory term that was used in this story as well.

---------------------------------------------------- ~oMRo~ -----------------------------------------------------

"SSSLLAAMMM!!!"

"Sssshhhmmmmmgggrrrrrrrmmmm..."

Camilla Darling didn't know which noise was the culprit for yanking her from out of her slumber. She figured that it had to be either the sound of her bedroom's door slamming shut or the growl of contentment that was emitted from Elias as he settled into her bed. The faint but pungent odors of liquor and tobacco still clung to his clothes.

'That's great,' she sarcastically said to herself as she stared into the blanket of darkness that covered her bedroom.

Camilla turned her attention to the only source of electricity that was running her room. Her eyes glanced at the alarm clock that was six inches away from her bedside, on her nightstand. With a bright green font, the numbers read 3:23am. Her brain reminded her that the alarm clock was set to wake her up at 5:00am. Knowing that she had less than two hours of sleep made her sense of irritation rise quickly. She released a grunt into her toned, left forearm and then gently bit in her flesh, an act to display her annoyance. Her jaw loosened its grip on her appendage and she rolled onto her back. She gazed into the darkened air for a few seconds before she turned her focus to the bedroom's sole window. As she stared at the wool curtain, she realized that she was no longer tired.

'That's just fucking great,' her mind grumbled.

~oMRo~

"You look like shit," her co-worker and best friend, Laney, complained.

"Why thank you for noticing and here I thought it would go totally unnoticed today," Camilla said in a low mumble, as she accepted her mug of steaming hot Sanka coffee. The two women were hanging out in their workplace's canteen area. Both women had arrived to work an hour prior to their shifts.

"Rough night?" her friend inquired.

"Mmm-hmm," Camilla groaned, "well, it was more like it was a rough morning."

Camilla, then, proceeded to explain the events that occurred during the prior evening. She started her tale with the explanation about the unexpected party that occurred, by the time she had arrived home from work. It was a "pre-party function", a "small" gathering of twenty people that was thrown by her two housemates, Elias and his live-in girlfriend Katerina. The pre-party was a typical thing to 'get them in the mood' for the night's festivities, which was club-hopping. Sixteen minutes later, she ended her story with an explanation about her early morning visit from her house-mate.

As a response, Laney just groaned and shook her head, in disapproval while she sipped from her cup of coffee.

"Cammy, sweetie, I am going to repeat the same shit that I told you before: that motherfucker thinks he's slick with his shit! I don't care how much liquor he drinks, a man cannot be that drunk enough to go into another person's room and lay up in their bed while the person is still in it! And then, he does this shit repeatedly? Come on, girl, don't fall for it! God, he is just trying to get into your panties! He's probably tired of sampling that skinny, Pixie Stick that he's fucking and now wants to get a taste of the big clump of brown sugar that's sleeping in the room that's a few doors down!"

At the unexpected crack, Camilla snorted and had to spit her sample of coffee out of her mouth, before going into a fit of giggles.

Once her laughter had died down, she said "Girl, please, Elias is not interested in me! From what I've seen, he is just like every other white man that I know. He likes his women to be white, skinny like a pre-teen boy, big tits, no ass and blonde hair. He, pretty much, is dating that prototype right now."

"Speaking of whom, what does the ole' lady has to say about her boyfriend's lack of sense of direction? Cuz, if it was my man, that nigga would be gone, especially with that lame ass routine—

"It is not a routine," Camilla squealed in a whine.

"Whatever and answer my question, heifer!"

"She...does...not know," Camilla confessed, reluctantly.

Laney's eyes bulged while her lips formed an 'O' shape. Her oblong-shaped face developed a blush that made her toffee-colored skin turned into a deep shade of pink. "Oooh, I knew it..." Laney clapped her hands once and then pointed her left index finger at her friend. "... Ole' Boy is definitely trying to get a taste of your chocolate-chip cookie!"

Camilla shook her head, as a reply. "No, he's not. And if he would try to do anything to me, I'll beat his ass so bad that I'll beat the white off of him," Camilla warned.

"Well, he's trying to tap your ass, so you should consider it even," Laney joked.

Camilla rolled up a napkin that was on the table and threw it at her friend. The duo laughed. Once the laughter died down, Laney asked, "So how many times has Drunk Boy come into your room?"

"Today would make it the seventh time."

"Boy thinks he is so slick," Laney mumbled, after she had taken a sip of coffee. "Did you wake him up this morning or did you leave him alone, so he can cuddle up to your Teddy Ruxpin?" she joked.

Camilla's full lips formed a wide smile as she gently shook her head. "No, I woke his ass up before I left this morning."

"What was his reaction from this morning?"

~oMRo~

"Come on, E, get your ass up," Camilla said to him, as she nudged his knee with her foot. She didn't have enough time this morning to waste. The time was 6:03am and she had to be gone by 6:15am. She would've woken up at 5:00am, but she kept hitting the 'snooze' button that was a part of her clock. It was 5:39am, when she decided to get up and prepare for the day. After taking a ten-minute shower, washing her face and then brushing her teeth, she had resumed her morning rituals. Fourteen minutes later, she was already dressed in her business attire and her hair was already styled to perfection. All she had to figure out was what type of shoes that she was going to wear today.

"Uuugggghhh," she heard growled into the goose feathered-down pillow that her housemate was resting his head on. "Leave me alone," he growled in a raspy voice. The seriousness in his baritone voice would've made Freddy Kruger and Michael Meyers quake in their boots. Camilla, however, was far from being afraid, especially when the person kept her from showing up to her job on time.

"No, I won't leave you alone! Now, get up and take your drunk ass back to your room! I need to make my bed and I can't do it with you laying in it! Now, get up!"

Then, she gave him a harsh slap on the ass with her hand. Elias lifted his head off of the pillow and set his eyes upon Camilla, who stood at the side of the bed. The five feet-eight inched tall beauty noticed the look of animosity that he gave her. She knew that if he was capable of murdering her just by staring at her, she would've dropped dead right there. If she wasn't threatened by the possibility of being late to work, Camilla would've gave a damn.

"Good, you're awake. Now, get up," she said sweetly and with a smile. She went back to the task at hand: trying to figure out which pair of shoes to wear with her outfit.

"Go with the heels. The black, leather ones that are real high," Elias suggested, a few minutes after he woke up.

'Mmm?' she thought, after she heard his suggestion.

She turned away from her closet and its contents to stare at her landlord. He sat at the foot of her bed as he slipped his sock-adorned feet into his black sneakers. She noticed that there was a menthol cigarette perched in between his lips. She felt her facial features form a grimace.

"Why the heels?" she asked him.

"Cuz, they make your ass and tits stick out more," he reasoned, with a smirk on his lips and the cigarette still hanging from out of his mouth.

Camilla gave a snort in disgust. Despite finding his reasoning disgusting, she had taken his advice. She stepped into her walk-in closet to fetch the suggested shoes.

"Ugh, men..." she groaned as she walked out of the small room. She entered her bedroom and stared at Elias, who tossed a metal lighter between his hands. She pointed her finger at him. "...and do not even dare light up that cigarette in my room," she said as she dropped her shoes on the polished, hardwood floor. She arranged the items in a neat formation before she slipped her right foot into the right shoe. When a part of the shoe had folded into the heel, she bent over to fix it.

"Well, that is why you women love us," she heard Elias say to her.

Then she heard the springs in her bed groaned a second before she felt a bomb of pain erupt in her round ass, as well as, heard the harsh sound of skin slapping skin.

"OH-AAAHH!" she loudly squealed as she stumbled towards the closet's door. Before the crown of her head could slam into the wooden plank, her hands blocked the collision. 'What-the-fuck...?' she thought as she stood upright. 'He. Just. Slapped. Me. On the ass!' She made a glance around her bedroom in hopes of seeing the man-child that she called her house-mate. But she was alone in her bedroom. 'Asshole,' her brain muttered.

~oMRo~

Camilla didn't tell Laney about Elias' ass-slap as he exited the room, but told her the rest of the event.

"Why don't you put a lock on your door? I'm sure having one there will keep him out of there," Laney suggested.

Camilla let out a grunt and briefly pointed at her best friend, as if she said 'You have a point'. "I've thought of that already, Laney. In fact, I had bought a deadbolt for my room, four weeks ago. I had called my brother to put the lock on the door and he was going to do it, but Elias' bitchy girlfriend told me that I couldn't do it. Then she proceeded to threaten me with an eviction notice, if I did put a lock on the door..."

Camilla remembered the conversation very well. In fact, she felt as if she had re-lived the moment as she spoke. She even felt the same amount of anger that she experienced on that day.

"...She said it would be on the grounds of destroying her property! Her property, as if that house belongs to her! Can you believe that shit? I was tempted to tell her right then and there that I wanted to use the lock to keep her fucking boyfriend out of my bedroom!"

Laney giggled. "And then your ass would've definitely been out of that house!" Laney joked. "Did she tell you why she doesn't want a lock on your bedroom door?" she asked before she took another sip of her coffee. "You would think that she wouldn't disagree with the idea, especially since they love to throw house parties. What would happen if one her guest decides to walk up into your room and steal some of your shit? What would she say then?"

Camilla shrugged her shoulders. "Chances are, the bitch would probably tell me that I am lying and then try to evict me from the house..." Her nimble fingers picked up the thin, red drinking straw that lain on the table. Her fingers fiddled with the plastic straw. She proceeded to recall the moment of when she had the conversation with Katerina. "She told me that she doesn't want a lock on the door because the door is very valuable..." Camilla tilted her face towards the ceiling and she fluttered her eyelids. In a soft, but over-exaggerated voice, she stated, "... She claims that the doors in the house was made in Morocco and it was carved from trees that were planted on a king's property..." Her face formed a grimaced while her shoulders performed a brusque shrug. "...or some shit like that. I don't know. Plus, she said that the door knobs were once used in the Romanov palace, back when they had czars and shit. So she doesn't want the doors scratched up by the nails and whatnot. Can you believe that shit?" Camilla explained.

Laney laughed. "Tell her to take one of those door knobs and shove it up her ass. I couldn't have been in your situation, Camilla. If I was you, I would've been like, 'Bitch please, you know you got that shit from fucking Home Depot!' What is wrong with your roommate's girl? Is she trying to be another Martha Stewart or something?" Laney chuckled, before placing a sympathetic pat on Camilla's playful fingers. "Girl, you are in a tough spot. Your landlord, who happens to be one of your housemates, wants to fuck you and his girlfriend doesn't know about it. You can easily solve this problem by placing a lock on your door, but you can't, because your ass will get evicted. You can also solve your problem by telling his girlfriend the truth. But then, you will definitely be thrown out of the house, if you do. Damn girl, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place," Laney concluded.

"Yeah," grumbled Camilla, feeling more like a pile of shit.

"Girl, I really wish that I could help you out right now. But that apartment over the old carriage house is not habitable because of some mold. I wish that I could find someone to remove it A.S.A.P., but every place that I've called cannot send someone until next January," explained Laney.

"It's alright, Laney. I'll be fine."

"Aww," Laney groaned. "What about moving back in with your parents? I'm pretty sure that your parents would allow you to move back in and save..." Laney's voice had come to an abrupt halt, when she noticed the expression of disbelief that was on her Camilla's face. "What?" she asked.

"If I were to move into my parents' house, I wouldn't be able to leave," explained Camilla. "You know that my parents are very religious. But what you don't know is that they are also very money-hungry as well. They would expect me to turn over more than half of every paycheck to them. If I do that, I won't be able to save up money for an apartment. And then, they would expect me to take care of my grandparents and my sister, whenever and wherever. And don't forget about the three foster kids—

"I thought that they only had one kid this time?"

Camilla shook her head. "This time ACS has given them a three siblings: two girls and one boy to take care of. My parents are thrilled about that because it means that their monthly checks will be more money."

Laney shook her head while her face held a mask of contempt. "It's a damn shame that they are using those kids like that."

"I know," Camilla softly said to her friend. "Like I said before, if I was going to stay there, I am going to be taken care of my sister, those kids and looking after my grandparents, when my parents don't feel like it. I know for a fact that I will be their home health aide on the weekends and whenever I have a day off. So, yeah, I am not moving back into my parents' house."

Laney groaned and then became quiet, as well as, Camilla. Each woman was wading through their thoughts while the canteen was filled with the soft humming that came from the soda machine.

A few minutes had flew by before Laney had spoken again. "Shit, if I was in your shoes, you know what I would do, right?"

Camilla smirked and then scoffed. "What: fuck him, tell his girlfriend about it with graphic details and then chuck the deuces and move out?"

"Damn girl, you really do know me!" Laney said to her, feeling genuinely pleased and impressed. Camilla laughed. Then, Laney said to her, "I would definitely fuck him, in a heartbeat. You know, if I wasn't gay... and the idea of having a man touch me didn't repulse me."

"Really? You think Elias is cute?" Camilla asked her friend, with her cute face scrunched up. "I think he looks like a buffed-up version of Napoleon Dynamite."

Laney gave her home-girl a pat on the shoulder. "No, he doesn't," Laney chuckled. "He's a cutie pie. I think Penny knows that I think he is cute because the entire time she and the rest of the Super Dykes were moving your furniture in the house, she would occasionally make sure that I was with you at all times." They laughed. "Girl, Elias is fine! You just don't see it yet..."

Camilla tossed her best friend a nasty look. Laney simply smiled in response.

"...I think you're going to come to your senses when he's eating out your cootchie like it is a free buffet meal---

Camilla's face formed a grimace. "Ewww, shut up Laney!"

Laney cackled. Her boisterous chuckle bounced off of the nearly-empty, cafeteria's walls in the form of echoes. "I bet you that you won't be thinking of his ass as being Napoleon Dynamite then. Plus, he has money, girl!" her co-worker reasoned. "However..." she said before taking a sip of coffee, "... he ain't doing shit with his life and that money will run out eventually. Can you imagine what's going to happen to him then? Oh, it's going to be terrible, the poor thing."

Camilla laughed once again.

~oMRo~

"I really have to move out of this place," Camilla said to her reflection.

She was finger-combing at her short, straightened hair while making sure it didn't lose its luster. She just showered and was preparing for her bedtime. She just moisturized her 5'8 frame with lotion, slipped into a pair of lace French-cut bikini briefs and into lilac-colored cotton, baby-doll nightgown. Now, she was busy talking to herself as she stared into the floor-length mirror that stood tall in front of her bed. Under normal circumstances, Camilla would consider herself to be crazy for talking to herself, but these weren't normal circumstances. Hell, she couldn't even hear her voice, thanks to the loud music that was playing on the first level of the house.

A few hours after leaving her job, where she worked as a 911 operator, Camilla was a yard away from her house, when she noticed the signs of a house party: people loitering around the property, random cars parked in the driveway and in front of the house. Every light inside of the house was lit. Then there was the music; it was loud and it was abrasive to her sense of hearing. Standing outside, she felt like making a U-turn and going back to her office, where she would make a pallet on the floor and make it work for her.

After pushing her way through crowds of people, in order to get into her home, she had to trudge through another mob of guests. A simple, ten-minute trip to her bedroom lasted an arduous, twenty-eight minutes. Once inside of her bedroom, she had to kick some of Elias' and Katerina's guests out of her bedroom. Afterwards, she had spent several minutes surveying her bedroom to make sure that the interlopers didn't steal anything. Once her investigation was over, she prepared for bed. She had to finagle her way into the second floor's only bathroom, in order to take a ten-minute shower. After her shower was over, she made a quick voyage to her bedroom. She was now ready for bed.

Camilla was about to turn off her nightstand lamp, when a reminder had popped into her head. She leapt out of her king-sized bed and made her way over to her walk-in closet, where she produced a large wooden trunk. She dragged the trunk to the back of her door and pushed it against the door, so it can serve as a temporary barricade.

"Now, let's see if he can get in here now," she said to herself.

Once Camilla settled back in her bed, her mind wondered about Laney's theory. She knew that it was Laney's lascivious theory that served as the inspiration behind her recent action of placing a barricade in front of her bedroom's door. Minutes had gone by, when the inquiry of 'Does he really want to have sex with me?' popped up in her mind.