Maid For You

Almost Doesn't Count

Arbrenae POV

*Beep* *Beep*

"Shutup"

*Beep* *Beep*

"5 more mins"

*Beep* *Beep*

"Ugh!!" I opened my eyes and that seemed to be the worst possible thing I could have ever done. The lights were so bright I thought it was God calling me home. Wait. Where am I? I tried opening my eyes again, but slowly and the lights weren't as bad as they were before. I looked around trying to get a feel of my surrondings only to come to the realization that I'm in a hospital. How did I get here? I tried so hard to remember, but nothing was coming towards my brain and all this thinking was making my head hurt. I heard the door open and I pretended to be asleep in case it was my father, I didn't want  to get in trouble, but i'm pretty sure 9 times outta 10 he was the reason I was in here. I heard footsteps coming towards me and stood over me for a good bit until I heard sniffling, I waited to see if they were going to say anything, but they didn't instead they just walked out. I tried to catch a glimspe of who it was, but the only thing I could catch was a Black heel. 'Maybe it was one of my nurses' I thought, I sat up in the hospital bed and just looked around, was I all alone? Did anyone come to visit me? While I was sitting feeling sorry for myself I heard a ear pitching scream turning my head to where it was, I looked to see Shanta standing there with tears in her eyes "Zuriii! OMG!" She ran to me and hugged me careful not to squeeze me too tight considering the condition I was in. "I've missed you so much! I couldn't function without you, I thought I lost you.. the doctors said it wasn't looking good a-a-and that y-you wouldn't make it and I damn near almost got kicked out because I was picking fights because they wouldn't lemme see you I-"

"Shanta calm down. I'm here, I'm all right" I said to her smiling, it really hurt me to smile, but I wouldn't tell her that. She finally got up to go get a nurse and the doctor came back in telling me I was lucky and that I almost lost my life, I had a nasty hit to the head and my lungs were fracured, but luckily none of my bones were actually broken and I was free to go as long as I took breathing treatments on a regular to get my breathing back right. About 45 mins later I signed my discharge papers and I was on the way to Shanta's house. Unlike me, Shanta had her mother in her life and Mrs. Brielle always treated me like I was her own. I went in the bathroom connected to Shanta's room and started to prepare for a bubble bath, while taking off my clothes I seen all the bruises that were on my body and tears immediately threatened to fall ' What type of father would do this to his daughter? His princess, What did I do to deserve this?' "Hey girl, I got you some tow-" Shanta stopped in the middle of her sentence when she seen what I was looking at. She just came over and hugged me while I cried. Me and Shanta has seen each other naked plenty of times and it isn't even weird anymore. After awhile I was just laying there on her chest staring off into space, I didn't want to cry anymore. I was tired of crying.

"Hey you know what. Moms working late again tonight. We can have a girls night, just the two of us, we can go to the store and get all the snacks and junk food we want and come back here and watch romantic comedies and pig out till we're fat." The thought of the idea made me smile as I nodded my head. After my bath I put on my pajamas since we were most likely gonna fall asleep watching movies anyway, We drove to Quick-stop and we threw everything that was bad for us in the buggy, As we was walking down an aisle I saw the person that caused all my pain. The person who was supposed to love and protect me, but instead beat and neglected me. My FATHER. I turned to walk around quickly, but as soon as I did the buggy knocked down all the chips making a big ruckus and causing everyones attention, including my fathers. As soon as he saw me he wasted no time getting to me, It's like I couldn't move, I was stuck. "Well, Well, Well. Look who's out of the hospital." I was shaking like it was 0 degrees outside and I only had on a scarf and no panties. "Babe I got you this- Oh hello who are you?" It took me a few mins to grasp that this lady was talking to my father. Babe? "Oh she's no one. Just a little girl who made the chips fall. I was helping her." How? How could he sit here and lie to her face so easily and why would I just stand there like a dummy. I looked at the woman and I couldn't lie, she was very beautiful she reminded me of a darkskin Lynn whitfield and when I got to her stomach she couldn't have been less then 7 months pregnant, she was huge how did I even miss this. "Oh how sweet of you honey." She said kissing him, she seemed so nice, I bet if she knew all the things he did to me, she wouldn't even step foot near him. "Yea, listen imma finish helping her, you go ahead and pay for the items so we can get back home before our son gets home" She nodded and smiled at me before telling me her name and walking away "Cynthia". "I have a brother?" I asked confusedly "He's not nowhere kin to your hoe ass. He's much better than you. He's the child I actually wanted instead of your ungrateful ass. And me and Cynthia are having another one." I can't say what he said didn't hurt me because it did. It damn near tore me apart "But listen. I came to tell ya, you're on your own. I sold the house and moved in with Cynthia and our kids. I dont want no outsiders peeking in trying to mooch off of us. I put all your stuff out on the curb. You can have whatevers left, if the crack heads didn't take any. Bye" He turned around just like that without a care in the world, Tears were falling down my face as I tried to muster up the courage to say something to him "Y-You're a monster" he stopped walking and turned around "What did you just say to me?!"

"I- I said you're a monster. Thats-That's why mom left. She didn't want to have to put up with your abusive ways. You're the devil and you deserve to get every bad thing that's coming to you!" In a matter of mins, Monroe snatched me up by my arm, trying to get loose from him seemed to make him even angrier. Apart of me wished Cynthia would come back and see this, so she could see him for the asshole he really was. "LET..ME..GO!" I said through gritted teeth, As soon as my father drew his hand back to slap me, I closed my eyes preparing for the pain that was going to come, but never did. I opened my eyes to see Dave East holding my fathers hand blocking it from hitting me, "Now. I know I'm hard of hearing my dude, but I'm pretty sure she said to let her go." Dave East was the meanest drug lord there was, he was absolutely ruthless, He would kill you, send your head to your mother and give her money for the funeral. To say he was crazy was an understatement, or at least that's what I heard in school.  Monroe let me go and looked like he was about to say something to Dave, but Dave's bestfriend Travis was already cocking a gun aiming it at my father, instead of doing anything he looked at me and scoffed "This ain't over." he stated as he walked by me bumping me at the same time. I looked at Dave scared but mesmorized because he was handsome as'f, but I didn't want to seem ungrateful "Thank you so much I-" he didn't even give me a chance to finish before he walked off, I felt absolutely stupid, I looked over at Travis and he gave me a smile and said "No problem Ma." At least he wasn't an asshole like his friend.

After finding Shanta flirting in the midde of the store I told her all that happened and she said she felt bad about chasing dick while her friend was dealing with a crisis. I just laughed and shrugged it off because I know if she was there, then hell would have actually broke loose. Her father was a policemen before he died, Shanta knew everything about the law, and how to get away with murder. No doubt she would have finished my father off. "What are you going to do though? You can always stay with us." It was a nice gesture, but Mama Brielle was already struggling while it was just her and Shanta in the house, I couldn't do that to them and add to their stress. "It's fine. I'll find something. Just trust me." I said very unsure and she knew it too because she stared at me with a worried face. "Nzuri, I just-" As she was talking some kids ran by pushing me into a pole by accident, hurting my side that was already bruised. As I stood up I glanced at the pole to see a paper stapled to it that read "IN-HOUSE MAID NEEDED" I seen that it paid 500 dollars a week and I just knew I had to take a shot at this. I wanted to prove Monroe wrong that I wouldn't be out on the streets, or dead without his help. I wanted to prove to him that I will do twice as better without him and that I didn't need him for anything. I wanted to show him that I could provide for myself and I will. I was no longer going to allow him to control my life, I was in charge of me, and he was going to catch hell if he thought he was going to bring me down. He almost did, but almost doesn't count.