Diamond Tears

Chapter 3

Dear Baby,

I distinctly remember the first day of school, I stared at myself in the exact same mirror, thinking about how pretty and normal I looked. Now? I look like shit. In fact, I look so bad, that if you look shit up in the dictionary, you'd see my face. Yup, thats how bad it is. The left side of my face looks like a blueberry, my lip is so swollen that I could barely talk, and my left eye can't open because it's so puffy. Oh, did I mention, that on top of my shitty appearance, I'm pregnant? Yippee. In fact, I'm so excited, my diary entries are now dedicated to my child, so that one day, my baby will know how real the struggle is. And trust me, it's so damn real.

"ADDIE!" granny hollers. I really don't understand what's up with her and yelling lately.

"COMING!" I scream back. I'm curled in a ball under the covers, and keeping me company is my latest book. Does she really think that I'm getting up? Aunt Tris swings my bedroom door open, and I snarl. "How dare you interrupt the book queen?"

She rolls her eyes. "Your mother is going to be here soon"

"It's okay, the universe doesn't have to stop for her."

"Addison, get up, get dressed, and come downstairs."

"Is Devon here?"

"No, and what do you want with my boyfriend?

I huff. "I had hope that someone could save me the misery of walking down the stairs. All. By. Myself."

She pulls the covers off of my body, revealing black and blue bruises. She sighs and looks at the book in my hands. "God, you are such a nerd."

I stick out my tongue. "And you're just jealous."

My mother looks like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine, while my father reminds me of the homeless guy I saw on the street two weeks ago. Sometimes I wonder how they're still together.

"My God, she looks like shit," my mother gasps with clear disgust. You know, it's funny, because I remember saying the exact same thing this morning.

"Sabra," my grandma hisses, "That's your daughter."

"You know, kiddo," my dad says as he sits across from me, "I never saw you as the violent type."

"Me neither," I tell my dad, and to my mother, I say, "I know how I look, I've been exposed to a mirror."

"I'm surprised it didn't shatter."

Granny clears her throat. "Now is not the time for childish bickering. I asked you both to come today because we have received news that Addie is pregnant."

My mother looks mortified. I can see the disgust in her face. Her eyes narrow, and she stares at me like I'm not worthy of being in her presence. "Who's the father?"

"We don't know. It's your son and five other boys that could possibly be-"

"SHUT-UP!" she yells. "Little girl, if you know what's good for you-"

This woman gets me so angry. Before I can say anything, Aunt Tris speaks out. "You still haven't changed, have you? Chad used to hold me down to rape and beat me and you used to sit right there, drinking and laughing. You have such a dark soul, I don't know how you sleep at night. You are a bitch, Sabra. I hope you rot in hell." There's tears streaming down my aunt's face. I can see the pain that she's hidden so well. Her mask is gone. She sniffles. "You don't love your children, if you loved Zach-"

"-You don't know a damn thing about my son-"

"-You would let him suffer the consequences if you did! You would let him know right from wrong! You wouldn't appease him every friggin time! You wouldn't let him get away with shit!"

A car honks out front, and since no one is paying attention to me, I peep out to see Devon waiting in his car. aunt Tris has the sexiest black guy on Earth as her boyfriend.

"You killed-" my mother starts, but is interrupted when granny yells, "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!"

Aunt Tris gives me a small smile before stomping out the house and slamming the door behind her.

"Can I go back to reading, or..."

"Your such a liar, Addison, Your brother and his friends did not rape you, so stop trying to get those boys in trouble. Stop lying to everyone," my mother snarls, taking out her anger on me now. "Which boy did you screw behind the library?"

I start to rock in my chair. God, forgive me, because I might kill her. "Leave."

My mother gasps at granny, but she doesn't even blink, she simply says, "She's right. Leave."

My mother gives a curt nod and slams the door behind her. Poor door.

Dad stands up, sighing. "Addison, you are my only daughter, and unlike your mother, I believe you. I'll pick you every Wednesday to spend time with you. Zachary's behaviour is reprehensible, and he's lost. I lost him." Tears well in my dad's eyes. I have never seen my dad cry before. LIke, never. "I don't want to lose you too." He turns to granny. "Sabra is crazy, and needs serious help." The car horn goes off, this time from mom, and dad runs his fingers through his hair. There's no point, because it's already messy. "Ladies, I'll keep in touch."

The second he leaves, I turn to my grandmother, who looks like she aged ten years in the last half hour. "Can I read now?"