Melissa's heart started racing faster than it ever has in her entire life. It was beating so fast that she was barely able to breathe. She gazed at the pictures as Rodrigo softly slapped the belt against his right hand. In an instant, Rodrigo snatched Melissa up and started whipping her with the belt. The sound of the belt snapping against her skin and back echoed through the room as Melissa's screams of horror and pain filled the room. He held her by her wrist and continue to whip her back, watching as she stumbled onto the floor. Rodrigo continued to hit her as she cradled on the ground, catching Maria's attention as she ran into the room.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Maria asked.
Rodrigo held the photos up, dropping a few.
"The private investigator I hired just caught Melissa having sex with that damn hoodlum who stole from my mother!" Rodrigo barked.
Maria's eyes widened as she rushed over to Melissa, snatching her up by her arm.
"Get up! Get up now!" Maria scowled. "You're out there having sex with these nasty high school boys, Melissa!?!?"
"Boys!" Melissa shouted back as she cradled her hands by her face. "He was the only one I ever had sex with!"
"You aren't married and you sure as hell ain't an adult!" Maria scowled. "What the hell are you doing out there having sex like it's okay!?"
"Do you know the possibilities that come with this, Melissa!?" Rodrigo yelled at her. "Diseases, children, risks, etc-"
"What the heck is beating me gonna do!? We've already done it!" Melissa scowled. "In fact, that isn't even the first time it's happened-"
Maria smacked Melissa before she could fully get her sentence out. Maria shook her head, giving her a disgusted look.
"I don't even know who you are anymore!"
As Maria stormed out of the room, Melissa was panting heavily up at Rodrigo. He glanced down at her, striking her and smacking her so hard that she fell onto her bed. She cradled her face as Rodrigo gripped onto his belt.
"I am taking you tomorrow to the doctor and I'm gonna have them give you a urinary pregnancy test and a test for any diseases." Rodrigo demanded. "I won't be helping out with EITHER if they both come back positive."
As Rodrigo stepped out of the room with Melissa's car keys, Melissa slammed the door and plopped back onto her bed, trying to calm herself down. While panting, she heard Rosa and Rodrigo going at it again. She walked closer to the door, listening to their conversation.
"Mom, we aren't about to have this conversation now!" Rodrigo snapped. "You aren't even supposed to be out of bed!"
"If you didn't shelter her so much maybe she wouldn't be out fucking this boy!" Rosa scowled.
In the middle of the conversation, Melissa heard her fathers phone ring. He answered it and murmured something, placing his phone down.
"I've got an operation I've got to be to so unfortunately I'm gonna have to deal with Melissa later." Rodrigo growled. "She isn't doing anything outside of eating, showering, and studying this weekend. We're not discussing what we're doing with MY child. Goodnight, mother."
After hearing Rodrigo walk down the stairs, Melissa crept out of her room and saw her grandmother standing by the stairs. She turned to Melissa as Melissa cracked a small smile.
"Thank you, grandma." Melissa said in a shaky tone.
Rosa gave Melissa a blank stare, looking down.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Melissa."
Melissa's face went blank as Rosa walked into her room, shutting her door. She didn't expect to hear this from her grandmother at all. And in all honesty, Melissa didn't regret anything she did with Jionni. She did it because she wanted to and because she felt like doing it.
The next Friday, Rodrigo was so pissed that he made Melissa pick up her work from school so that she could stay home. Afterwards, he took her to the doctor so that they could give her a urinary pregnancy test even though they could've just done it at home. Still, he wanted to make sure that he got 100% results from that and from her disease tests. After waiting for 20 minutes, the doctor came back with a smile on her face.
"Congratulations!" The doctor smiled. "She received negative on both tests."
"Both?" Rodrigo asked.
"Both." The doctor grinned. "It was either because she was really lucky, or because she used the old fashioned safety method. A condom."
"Which is what I told him I did..."
Melissa looked at Rodrigo as Rodrigo gave her a furious look. He smiled and got up, shaking the doctors hand.
"That's all we'll need." Rodrigo smiled. "Thank you."
When Rodrigo got home, there was no wiggle room for Melissa. The second they got through the door, Rodrigo grabbed Melissa's arm and tugged her into her room, watching her stumble inside.
"I've got surgery that I need to attend to, but don't think that this means that you're off the hook." Rodrigo demanded. "Your grandmother will be here to keep a fresh eye on you."
"Oh my go-"
"And you're going to swim practice on Monday. ON TIME!" Rodrigo also demanded. "I already told the teacher to let me know when you aren't in there when it's your time."
When Rodrigo left, she glanced out of her window and watched as he pulled out of their large driveway. As soon as his car drove off, Melissa grabbed the cell phone that Louis gave her and called on Trina. She didn't forget about their shopping trip.
"Hello?" Trina answered.
"Hey Trina, we're still on that shopping trip?"
Trina gave Melissa a set time that the girls were going to be there. 3:30pm. Since Melissa didn't have her car keys, she had no choice but to sneak out of the house and go to a local bus. She climbed out of her window and shut it, slowly climbing down and walking to the bus stop that was closest to her destination. Since her mother and father were going to be gone and Rosa usually slept the most during these times, she knew that she could be out and in before they got back. When she arrived, she saw Tiffany and the girls standing in the front.
"Hey guys!" Melissa waved.
When the girls saw what Melissa had on, they paused and burst into laughter. Melissa looked at her skirt and dress shirt, slouching her shoulders.
"I know, I know...." Melissa groaned. "It's all that I have."
"Girl, we gone make dis' shit quick so we ain't gotta look like we shoppin' wit a nun." Mercedes laughed. "Come on!"
As Melissa was walking, she stopped when she noticed that one of the girls were very familiar with her. One of the girls was the girl that she fought at school.
The girl that she fought on the first day.
"Why you stop walking?" Trina asked as she turned around.
"Ain't you that bitch that I fought on school the first day?" Melissa asked as she looked at the girl, unintentionally talking like Jionni again. "The one that pushed me?"
Britt Bratt turned around, rolling her eyes.
"Girl, that was almost 6 months ago-"
"Yeah but it still happened." Melissa snarked at the girl.
"LOOK, y'all bitches ain't 'bout to ruin my shoppin' trip wit' allat fightin' shit." Trina scoffed as she walked up to the two. "Now shake hands."
Melissa and Britt Bratt gazed blankly at each other, sighing as they shook each other's hands.
"Thank you." Trina scoffed again. "Now let's go."
During the hour long shopping trip, Trina and the girls picked out clothes that Melissa couldn't imagine wearing since she was so used to skirts and dress shirts. Even if they were just a simple pair of pants and a short sleeved top, she was terrified of picking that out as well. Melissa picked out a skirt and a long sleeved top, also picking out some stockings as well.
"So, what do ya' think?" Melissa asked as she showed them.
They all gave her a funny look as Trina placed her arm around her.
"Melissa, let us pick out somethin' for you." Trina smiled as they walked with her. "We gone all pick out some cute shit to wear when we go back to school."
And on Monday, everyone saw them.
Melissa walked into school with Trina, Mercedes, and Britt Bratt with an outfit that her parents would more than likely strip off of her in front of everyone if they caught her wearing it. While Melissa changed clothes at Trina's house since it was in walking distance, Trina also curled Melissa's hair into many large curls to match. Melissa was wearing a black spaghetti top with some blue jean shorts and some black heels. She also changed her grandma purse that she always wore into a black and pink juicy couture purse that she bought. As they walked through school, Melissa heard people [Mostly boys] murmuring in the distance.
"Gaahhdamn."
"Aye Mrs. Trina, when y'all gone let us fuck?" A group of boys chanted.
"Psh. Please." Trina scoffed, laughing as she placed her hand up.
"He couldn't afford to fuck if he wanted to." Melissa laughed as she placed her shades on and continued to walk with them.
"I know that's right, girl." Mercedes chuckled as she popped her gum, smacking Melissa's hand. "Thirst ass niggas."
As Jionni and the boys talked around the corner, Ross smacked his palm on Jionni's chest. His eyes widened and his mouth creaked open as Chevy and the boys gave him a weird look.
"What the hell, nigga?" D'juan scoffed as he gave him a funny look.
"LOOK!"
The boys glanced from the distance as Trina and the girls walked down the long hall, catching the attention from a majority of the hall. All of their mouths dropped as they gazed at Melissa.
"Who the hell is dat' new girl?" Chevy said in disbelief. "She lookiiiinnn.."
Chevy paused as Jay folded her arms, giving him a serious look.
"Ner'mind..." Chevy groaned.
"Ion' know but I wanna hit so bad." D'juan said, biting his bottom lip.
Trina walked up to them, smiling and winking.
"Hay y'all." Trina smiled as the girls flaunted their outfits. "We came early to show off how fly we look."
"Yeah y'all straight, but wassup with y'all friend?" Ross said as he winked at Melissa.
Melissa took off her black shades and gave him a fierce look as she popped her gum.
"MELISSA!?" All five of them gasped in disbelief.
"Duh?" Melissa scoffed, giving them a funny look. "Who the fuck else would it be?"
"We hooked her up dis' weekend." Britt Bratt laughed. "And we got cool so don't ask 'bout the fight."
The first bell rang inside of the school as Melissa smiled at the girls.
"Come on, girls." Melissa chuckled as she placed her shades on. "We've got some more showing off to do before class."
Melissa and the girls walked off as Jionni gave her a disturbed look.
"I can't........wait a minute, is dat'...I can't really brace wit' da fact that Melissa is the one looking that good!"
"I ain't eva' know she had an ass!" D'juan scoffed. "You been fuckin' her that good, Jionni?"
Jionni gave D'juan a disturbed look as he rushed over to Melissa, grabbing her arm and snatching her over by the gym doors.
"What the hell, Jionni?" Melissa scoffed at him.
"Melissa Rodriguez what da' hell is wrong wit' you?" Jionni scowled at her, giving her a serious look. "Why you dressed like this-"
"Since when does how I dress concern you?" Melissa scowled back at him.
"This ain't 'eem like you, Lissa! Dressin' like you one of dese ghetto ass girls at dis' school?!" Jionni snapped. "You is you tryna impress?!"
"And how would you know what I'm like?" Melissa said, giving him an attitude. "This is me dressing and acting like I've been wanting to act since I've been under my parents unescaping shadow!"
"You ain't EVA' told me that dis' is how you want to dress, Lissa!"
"Maybe I don't have to report and tell you shit that goes on in my life every 24 seconds!" Melissa scoffed. "We've fucked, smoked drugs, drank, and drove an unlicensed car and that wasn't an issue! Now you're 'concerned' about how I'm dressed and how I'm acting?"
Jionni glanced at Melissa's left arm and could see a fairly large purple bruise from when her father whipped her a few times with a belt. He scrunched his eyebrows at it, looking back up at her.
"What the hell happened to yo' arm?"
"I bruised myself, remember?" Melissa scoffed.
"Melissa?"
Melissa turned around and saw Sway rubbing his hands, smiling at her.
"You lookin' good as fuck, girl!" Sway smiled.
"Aww! Thanks, Sway." Melissa smiled as she held her arm out. "Wanna walk to class?"
"Hell yeah, guh!"
Melissa locked arms with Sway and walked off with him, leaving Jionni by himself. Jionni knew that Melissa wasn't anything like this at all. Something else is that he knew what 95% of the boys at his school wanted. Sex. If they saw Melissa dressing like this on a regular basis, she was an easy target for them to smooth talk her into making her way into their beds. Even though they weren't together, he wasn't going to let anyone take advantage of her, even if it means keeping an eye on her.
And based on her behavior, this told him that something drastic had recently happened.
After school, Melissa was going to skip swim class again. In fact, she wasn't going to come home at all. The only reason Rodrigo gave her the car is because him and Maria were going to be spending the whole time at their jobs. Of course, Rodrigo contacted Mrs. M and Rosa to let them know if Melissa was at swim practice and at home on time.
Still, in Jionni's words, "that didn't stop shit."
When Melissa walked to her car and drove to the front, she saw Sway walking down the sidewalk. She grinned, pulling beside him and rolling her window down.
"Where you goin'?" Melissa smiled as she looked at him.
"Oh, I'm goin' to my nigga Elroy house!" Sway smiled.
Melissa smiled, tapping her fingers on her steering wheel.
"How about I come with you?"
Sway shrugged, puckering his bottom lip.
"Fuck it, why not?"
At Sway's friends house, Melissa sat in the living room with Elroy and two twin girls. Sway and two other boys were there as well. The whole time everyone smoked blunts and drank. Everyone, accept for Melissa. At this point, she was in some sort of trans. She didn't touch a single blunt, drink, or drug. Her mind suddenly started asking her what she was doing and where she was in life. The main thing that Melissa could barely get off of her mind, was Jionni. The way that Jionni looked at her made her stomach tighten up, and her grandmother telling her that she was disappointed in her was even worse. But Rodrigo and Maria's over controlling ways were making her start to care less. As Melissa spent almost 10 minutes gazing blankly at the wall inside of the room, Elroy, Sway, and the twin girls got up to head outside.
"You comin' outside, Lissa?"
Melissa continued to stare off into space, speaking in a daze.
"I'll be out later, Jionni...." Melissa murmured.
Sway's face flushed as he tucked in his lips.
"It's Sway."
"What?" Melissa said in an agitated tone, snapping out of her daze.
"You called me Jionni, Melissa."
"OH! My fault...." Melissa sighed as she leaned forward, closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "I-I'll be out there in a second......."
Sway shook his head and stepped out, leaving Melissa inside of the home by herself. She leaned forward and placed her hand in a prayer like form, closing her eyes and having a thought to herself. Her grades were slipping, her parents were tightening their grip on her, her grandmother has cancer, and she's going back and forth with Jionni. She felt that she needed some sort of escape that'll get her from all four of these situations. When Melissa opened her eyes, she looked at what was on the table.
Cocaine. Four lines of it.
Melissa's eyes widened as she looked out of the window, making sure that nobody was near. She closed her eyes and got up from the far chair in the corner of the room, sitting on the couch in front of the table. She grabbed the small straw and placed it on the end of the line, shaking as she started having second thoughts.
"Melissa, weed is one thing. But cocaine?"
Melissa took a deep breath and snorted the line within 2 seconds. Melissa snorted a few times and lied back on the couch, rubbing her nose. Suddenly, she felt a small rush of euphoria surge through her body from her first drug inhalation. It seemed as if Melissa was starting to get worse when it comes to stress. She wiped her nose, sniffing the little bit of cocaine she had on her index finger and smiling as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the couch.
"Yeah...." Melissa giggled, half high and half dazed.
Melissa didn't need her family since they were the main cause of stress. She didn't need swimming. She didn't need grades, Shakespeare, or even Lil Snupe's music. She needed an advisor. She needed a counselor. She needed a getaway.
And no matter how much she wanted to deny it, her getaway was Jionni.