"What did you just say??" Keisha asks with an angry expression on her face. She walks close to me and looks straight into my eyes. "Why are you yelling at me, Jordyn?!"
"Be-Because you're mean! . . stop talking about Michael like that, it's disrespectful to him!" Keisha lets out a laugh. "I can talk about him the way I want to because he's MY man, ok?!"
"Yes, you can talk about whatever you want but stop talking about Michael like that! it's just not right! he's at home, SICK, and instead of calling him or visiting him at home, you're standing here with your girlfriends talking about Michael's private parts and how he is in bed!!"
Keisha pushes me. I fall down. "Listen to me, ELEPHANT!! you better keep your mouth shut before I kick your ass!! how dare you talk to me like that?! Michael is MY baby, I talk about whatever the hall I want! . . now get the hell out of my face!"
All the girls are looking at me in shock. Fine, I'll leave . . I'm glad I gave Keisha a piece of my mind. How dare she talk about Michael that way? . . I know this is none of my business but I care about Michael . . it hurt me, hearing Keisha talk about Michael like that.
If Michael were my boyfriend, I'd be sitting on his bed next to him, taking care of him! . . instead of talking about his private parts . . does she even love him? . . I don't think so. Poor Michael. If I could only be with him right now. Keisha is an absolute joke. Michael deserves better. Much better.
Lunch break is over.
Everybody going to back inside.
~ Michael's point of view ~
I'm home, watching TV in my room, thinking about Keisha. I haven't gotten a phone call or a text message back from her yet . . we're back together . . I wonder why she doesn't care where I am and why I didn't come to school today.
I'm a little confused . . she was so angry about the baby and everything and now that we're back together she's like giving me the cold shoulder and she acting like I don't even exist.
Why is she doing that? I could use a little love and comfort from her right now . . to forget about the pain my father caused inside of me and on my face last night. I get up and decide to go to school after all. Fuck the bruises. I need to see Keisha.
I take a quick shower, put on my clothes and walk downstairs. Mom is on the phone. She hears me walk into the kitchen. She turns around and drops the phone. "BABY?!" she picks it up again. "I'll call you right back!" She puts the phone on the table and slowly walks up to me, taking a closer look at my face.
"Michael what happened?! who gave you all these bruises?!" She takes me in her arms and kisses my cheek. "It's ok, mom . . I'm alright . . I wanna go to school, I'm feeling ok"
"No! look at yourself! your eye is completely black and blue and the bruise on your cheekbone looks horrible! . . so, this is why you didn't want me to turn on the lights in your room this morning??"
"Sorry, mom . . ."
She sits down and looks at me with tears in her eyes. "Who did this, Michael? when did this happen?? did you get beaten up at school? did this happen at school??"
"No, mom . . it's ok . . I'm ok . . really"
I can't tell mom the truth . . she would be heartbroken if she knew dad did it. She has enough problems in her life already. I much rather get beaten by my father than telling my mom about it . . she'd be crushed . . and lord knows she can't take any more pain . . my sister's death was hard on all of us.
"Michael . . I will stay home from work and take care of you. If you want, we can see a doctor!"
"Mom, that's not necessary . . I really want go to school . . you can go to work, really . . don't worry about me" She takes me in her arms and kisses my forehead.
"Ok . . take care of yourself, honey . . the world out there is dangerous sometimes . . I don't wanna get a phone call from a cop saying that you're injured . . I worry about that day in, day out . . you know . . you're the only child I have left" Mom says, starting to cry.
We sit down on the couch for a while. She cries her heart out on my shoulder. We don't even need to communicate right now . . we're both crying about the same thing. Monica. We miss her so much. She took everything with her when she passed away . . all the love in this family.
My father started getting really mad shortly after Monica passed away. He was always the angry type and he was always very strict . . which is why my mother is not surprised when he's yelling at me or following me upstairs . . the only thing that has changed is . . he started hitting me. He never did that before.
But I don't wanna tell my mother about it. I can't. I love my dad . . I love him more than anything in this world . . I don't want my parents to separate. This will be the end of our family and the end of ME. Mother can't live alone . . she's too weak for that.
She would not be able to get through it all on her own. She loves my dad . . and I know he loves her. I much rather take the pain and have peace between the two of them. I'm young, I can take the pain . . but my mother can't . . and she means the world to me.
"Bye, mom . . I see you after school, please don't worry about me. . I'll be fine, ok?"
"Alright, baby . . take care . . call me whenever you need me . . and don't get into fights, you know I don't like that"
"I promise, mom . . I'll be good"
"And please come home right after school . . you know how your father is . . you're already grounded . . please come home right away, ok?"
"Yes, mom . . I will"
I close the door and walk to school. I'm ashamed of how I look right now but the need to see Keisha is so strong. I just have to see her. I walk to school feeling uneasy about the way I look . . but I guess I just have to suck it up. I walk inside and take a seat at my desk. Everybody is staring at me in shock.
Even Mrs.Johnson.
She's sitting at her desk with her mouth wide open. "Mi-Michael . . I would like to speak to you in private . . please wait in my office for me, ok?"
"Umm . . alright"
I take a seat in Mrs.Johnson's office. She comes in a minute later. "Michael, what happened? you look horrible!"
"I know . . but I'm alright . . really . . I am"
"Did this happen in school or . . at home?"
"Umm . . it happened . . on my way home. . ."
"Do you remember who did it?" She asks. I shake my head. "No, but it's ok . . I'm sure I will never see that guy again" Mrs.Johnson can't stop staring at my face. "I'm sorry, Michael . . I just . . I'm so shocked that this happened to you . . you look terrible . . do your parents know about this?"
"Umm . . yea . . they know . . and it's ok . . I'm fine, really!"
"Ok . . umm . . Michael, please come to me after school again, ok?"
I force a smile. "Ok . . I will"
I walk back inside the class room and take a seat. Mrs.Johnson closes the door and walks over to her desk. Everybody keeps staring at me. EVERYBODY . . including Justin. He has a stupid smirk that I would love to punch off of his face. I'm sure he's about to say something to me.
And he will go DOWN if he does.
I couldn't take anything right now.
"Wooah . . Jackson . . what happened to your face? you look terrible!"
"Then don't look at me, Justin and turn back around!"
"I can't . . it's like I have to look . . you look terrible! HAHA!"
"Turn around, Justin!" I yell.
He lets out a laugh. "I can't, you look too funny!"
"If you don't stop looking, I'm gonna make you!!"
"What are you gonna do, Jackson? punch me and give me a black eye, too?"
"I will not only give you a black eye, I will punch you so hard that your eyeballs fall out!!" Justin slowly turns around. I hate this guy . . he has no respect for no one.
The time literally flies by. Thank god. I'm not in the mood for school today. Keisha keeps ignoring me. She doesn't even look at me . . it seems to me that she's disgusted by what she sees. In her text message she said she loved me . . but this doesn't look like love to me. What happened to her? . . what happened to US?
Why is she ignoring me like that? We're back together! we talked this through on the phone. I told her, I'm ready for the baby and all she does now is ignore me.
*school bell rings*
We all pack out stuff and walk out of the class room. I grab Keisha around her waist but she pushes me away. "Umm, honey . . I'm very late . . for something . . I call you tonight before, bed!"
"Umm . . alright"
I watch her walk down the hallway to the entrance of the school building. Ok, that was weird. She didn't even want me to hold her. Jordyn shyly walks up to me. "Hi, Michael . . are you ok?"
I give her a smile.
"Yea, I'm alright . . I guess . . thanks for asking . . how are you?"
"I'm . . I'm good"
I make my way outside. Jordyn doesn't leave my side . . . it's cute. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble with your father last night" She says, avoiding eye contact with me. Then she slowly looks up at me, waiting for my answer.
"I did get in a little trouble . . but it's ok . . I'm fine"
"It doesn't look like you're fine, Michael . . we're friends now . . you can talk to me about anything, ok?"
This girl is so incredibly sweet.
She truly cares about me. I can feel that.
We walk home together. I wish I could stay outside with her a little longer but I really should go home. I don't wanna get into more trouble with my father. "I'm really glad you came to school, Michael . . I hope your bruises are going away soon . . they don't look so good on you . . your face is too handsome for bruises"
I chuckle. "Thank you, Jordyn"
"You're welcome, Michael . . have a wonderful night and I see you tomorrow"
I walk inside and throw my stuff on the kitchen table. "What's that doing on the kitchen table, Michael? you have a room, take this stuff up to your room . . will ya?!"
"Yes, dad . ."
I grab my stuff and walk upstairs to my room. I can feel it in my throat that I'm close to crying. Not because of my bruises or my dad . . but because of Keisha. She's acting so weird towards me. She used to be so crazy about me, calling me all the time, sending tons of text messages . . almost getting on my nerves . . but now there's nothing anymore.
Ever since she told me about the baby, she's not the same person anymore. She broke up with me then but we're back together now. I don't get it why she's so distant . . I call her phone but she doesn't pick up.
I wanna know what she's up to. I try calling her a few more times . . but she never picks up once. Maybe she will call before bed . . she said she will . . I'll just wait and see if she calls. I hope she does. I could really use the LOVE right now.
It's 11:30pm right now and she still hasn't called.
I'm sitting on my bed, staring at my phone. I want her to call. I wanna hear her voice, I wanna hear from her that everything's ok. I throw my bedside lamp across the room in anger and frustration. Then I start punching into the wall until my hand starts bleeding.
What have I done to her?! I wanna tell her what she means to me.
The door opens. It's my dad. "What's going on in here?!"
"Nothing, dad . . I'm just . . umm . . never mind"
I walk over to the window and take a deep breath. "Do you wanna go outside, Michael?" I look at my father and shake my head. "No, I can't . . I'm grounded for life, remember? . . . please leave me alone, dad"
"You can go outside if you want, Michael" Dad says, leaving the room. I hesitate for a few seconds but then I take my jacket and rush downstairs. I'm going to Keisha's house. I couldn't fall asleep without hearing her voice before bed anyway.
I want to hear her say that she loves me.
I want to hear her say it . . I will not rest until I heard it.
I wanna know why she's ignoring me. I run all the way to her house. There is no bus driving anymore. It's already 11:45. I'm surprised why my father lets me go out at this time of the night. I arrive in front of her house completely exhausted and out of breath. I don't care, she is worth every drop of sweat and every beat of my heart.
I walk up the doorstep and knock on the door. No one is answering. That's weird. Her parents are usually up very late at night, watching TV. I knock a little louder and harder. Still nothing.
The door just opened on it's own. I must've opened it by knocking a little too hard. It's dark in here. They must've forgotten to lock the door when they all left the house. Thank god, I came by! I will look for a spare key and lock it for them when I leave. I walk inside and look for a key in all the drawers.
Damn.
I can't find a key. Suddenly I hear something coming from upstairs. That sound came from Keisha's room. That must be her. She's home! I slowly make my way upstairs . . YES! . . she's home . . I can see a candle burning through the crack of her door.
I open the door and walk inside.
. . . . .
. . . . .
"WHAT THE FUCK, KEISHA??!!"
To be continued . . .