Juanita: And then there’s also the fact that Jade had no idea you were experiencing money problems.

Cam: [sighs] And then there’s that. The point is, I had no choice but to keep trying to dig myself out of the hole.

Juanita: What made you decide to keep your money issues from her?

Cam: God, I don’t know. A million and one reasons. Because her father never liked me. Because her sister would have never let us hear the end of it. But I guess it all goes back to the fact that I was too proud, am too proud. I mean, all that time I told myself I kept going because of her, but that’s a lie. It was because of me. Because I couldn’t admit I was a failure, because I couldn’t stand the thought of ending up just like...

Juanita: Like your father?

Cam: Yeah, like him. I remember what it was like after he lost all his money, the way Mom and I went from this giant mansion to a seedy hotel, all the whispers that would start up the second she left a room. Do you know that’s the reason I chose steaks as part of the Lasky brand? Because to me it was the ultimate status symbol, being able to afford a hundred-dollar meal on a regular old Tuesday.

Juanita: So your ambition stemmed from not wanting to make his mistakes.

Cam: If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d say it was because I didn’t want to put Jade and the kids through what I went through as a kid, but that’s not the truth. It was about me. I didn’t want to go through that again. So okay, maybe I was an asshole to my employees, but it was because I was drowning, trying to keep my business afloat while taking on water.

Juanita: Even more reason for calling 9-1-1. The Atlanta Police Department has a Special Weapons and Tactics unit. They have officers specialized in hostage negotiation, ones with specific skills and decades of experience. They know what to do in hostage situations, because they respond to more reports of home invasions in a month than many other cities do in a year.

Cam: [sarcastic laugh] Doesn’t say much for our fair city, does it?

Juanita: My point is, the police would have known what to do.

Cam: Or they would have come in, sirens wailing, busted down my front door and started shooting until somebody was dead. Which as you know, they did.

Juanita: You could have told them not to use the sirens.

Cam: I did what I had to do, what I thought was the best thing at the time.

Juanita: But police officers are trained for this exact situation. They know how to respond in order to save lives.