September 18th: 1 month, 1 week, 4 days
Omniscient
Brooklyn sat impatient as her and Mrs.Wright waited for him. She was tempted to call and tell him not to even show, but Ms.Wright denied that thought immediately. Brooklyn felt that it wasn't necessary for him to be here being that they weren't together anymore and Brooklyn wasn't planing on getting back with him. She really just wanted to leave that piece of her life out of the puzzle. Especially after the way he disrespected her on social media.
"Sorry I'm late." Brooklyn heard that all too familiar voice speak after the door opened. She could hear him sit down and she refused to look up until she was instructed to.
"Hello, I'm Valarie Wright. You can call me Valarie or Ms.Wright, whichever you prefer."
"Chris." He spoke after. The two shook hands in a friendly manner before Valarie began to speak. Brooklyn felt that it would be rude to not look up at this time. As soon as her eyes left the wood floor, Chris was the first thing in view.
He was fidgeting with his fingers, something that he only did when he was nervous. Brooklyn didn't understand why he would be nervous.
"Alright so, we are going to start off with some basic things. Chris, I'm sure you know that Brooklyn and I have had a total of 2 sessions together. Besides that, we do stay in contact and speak with each other so it's really not even 2. It's only been 2 in the office which doesn't really matter at the moment. Brooklyn told me some things that it would be great to talk about." Chris immediately shot his head up to look at Brooklyn. A nervous wave fell over her body because she could feel his stare.
"What did she tell you." Brooklyn could hear that his teeth were clenched and the tension level rose to an all time high.
"What didn't she tell me." Chris knew that that could only mean one thing. He knew that meant she told Valarie about the side of their relationship that nobody was supposed to find out about. Everything in that light was terrible. His eyes were burning holes all over Brooklyn's face. She could feel his glare but she refused to entertain it.
"Before we get to that, I'm sure you know that Brooklyn is in a new relationship." Brooklyn smirked after hearing those words. She was hoping to see hurt fall all over his face, but she was disappointed when she wasn't met with that.
"I'm aware." He spoke and Brooklyn raised an eyebrow at his behavior. He acted out and embarrassed both of them to the world, but he's acting like nothing happened today.
"I've seen that you and Brooklyn had a heated back and forth over social media a couple days ago. Can you explain why they happened?" Chris sighed and Brooklyn mimicked his actions.
"I was hurt, I'm not gon lie. I never expected her to go find a new man honestly." Brooklyn couldn't help herself, she had to laugh at that statement. Both Valarie and Chris looked over at her confused, but she kept laughing.
"That's so crazy to me. I don't know why you would expect for me not to go out and find someone else. Someone who would show me that they actually give a fuck because quite frankly, you didn't." Valarie was going to intervene, but she wanted to hear this discussion. Hearing the way they talk to each other would be a great start on how to help them.
"Cut the bullshit Brooklyn, I've been nothing but good to you. Yeah we've had our moments but other than that, I treated your ass like a fucking queen. So don't sit up here and act like I was the worst nigga in the world."
"You're fucking sick! You tore me down and broke me not only physically, but also mentally. You abused me physically, verbally, and mentally. You couldn't even fucking commit to me. You treated me like I was a damn trash bag and not your fucking GIRL!" Chris knew that Brooklyn had valid points, but he wasn't going to back down to that argument. He had a point to make and he wasn't going to allow Brooklyn to talk like he was terrible.
"It's crazy how you can say all this now but you stayed with me. Was it to get yourself a bigger name or some shit Brook?" Brooklyn was shocked that he basically accused her of being a clout chaser or a greedy woman. She quickly stood up and walked over to him pointing a finger in his face.
"Don't you ever accuse me of some shit like that again! I've been nothing but good to your sorry ass! You're mad cause I left and found someone new that could actually treat me like I'm somebody. You didn't care Chris and you never did. You kept me around so that we could push this whole ride or die narrative when that wasn't at all the case. Behind closed doors...you know what we didn't show." Her eyes kept an intense hold on his. He wasn't going to back down from her, his jaw only clenched which added fuel to the fire.
Brooklyn raises her hand, ready to hit him. But he caught it and twisted it backwards which made her yelp. Valarie jumped up and rushed to move Brooklyn back. Everything happened so fast and she wasn't ready for any physical interactions.
"That's enough, both of you stay on your sides and keep your damn hands to yourself. Let's start with the night everything came crashing down for the worst. She told me that you put your hands on her. She told me this was the first time but it wasn't the last. Explain to me that incident." Chris took a deep breathe before starting. He never wanted to relive these events because they reminded him of his past. If the world found out about any of this, he would be that monster that everyone pinned him out to be once again.
3 years earlier
"Chris what the fuck is this?!" Brooklyn screamed as soon as he entered the house. He was high off of whatever drug and didn't want to hear his girlfriend yelling in his face.
"Move man." He groaned as he lightly pushed her to the side. Brooklyn was fuming at what she had found in their closet. She was ready to black out, ready to see red and beat his ass.
"Christopher, what the fuck is this! You have pictures of naked bitches in your closet?! In OUR closet?!" Chris sobered up immediately from what Brooklyn was accusing him of. They weren't really accusations because she was saying true statements, but it was the fact that he got caught.
"Chill out, it ain't even like that." He calmly spoke, but Brooklyn wasn't having it. Her arms ran wild an she swung on her boyfriend. She knew that she should keep her hands to herself but she couldn't help it.
What she didn't know was that instantly brought back memories. Those memories that Chris wasn't trying to revisit any time in his life. All he could see was his ex girlfriend with him in that lambo. All he could see was her almost killing them in that car. So without being aware, he punched Brooklyn. A closed fist punch that caused blood to fly out of her mouth.
He didn't stop there, he continued to pound her face and all over her body. She tried to fight back but suddenly gave up which resulted in her being in a a cradle position.
"Stop!" One would think she was getting killed from the way her piercing scream came out. Whatever trance Chris was in, he was knocked out from her voice. He looked down at his knuckles, seeing them decorated in a dark red color, the warm feel of Brooklyn's fresh blood.
She looked up at him, terrified of the man who she was looking at. Even after he stopped, it looked like he didn't even care. He just stood up and stormed out of the house without another word.
"How many times were you guys physical with each other after that. Then give me a brief descriptions why each of those times happened."
"It was 4 times after that." Brooklyn softly spoke. Chris had no words because he felt there wasn't anything he could say or do in that moment.
"4 times...tell me why and tell me who was the aggressor in each." Brooklyn looked at Chris, not knowing if she should continue or not. He shrugged which was basically telling her that she should be the one to explain the situations.
"The second time, I was the aggressor and it was because I found out he was cheating again. The third time, he was the aggressor and it's because he was drunk and one of his hoes basically told him I was cheating on him. The fourth time, he was the aggressor and it's because I lied to him. The fifth and last time, I was the aggressor because I found out he cheated on me." Listening to what was coming out of her mouth, Brooklyn began to feel sick. She couldn't believe the words that were really coming out of her mouth. It really clicked to her that she was a victim in a domestic violence relationship.
She always told herself that she wouldn't be that girl. She wouldn't be the girl to let a man hit on her and she get back to him and ignore it. But it happened, and it happened a total of 5 times. It made her feel weak and weak minded.
"Chris how do you feel about all of that? Then Brooklyn, I want you to tell me how you feel."
"I honestly don't know what to feel. I always knew that we would be abusive to each other at times, but I never thought too much into it. It was always a thought in the back of my mind but I tried to always shut it out. It always brought me back to my past and those moments I wanted to forget." Brooklyn scoffed at his response, feeling that it was truly pathetic. That was no excuse for anything in her mind. Valarie motioned for Brooklyn to start on explaining and she did.
"I don't feel anything honestly. I don't feel any self pity and I don't feel anything for him. I'm not gonna act like I was the only victim because he was too, but I'm not gonna act like I wasn't left the worse in each situation. He didn't need to beat me the way he did any of those times. I would hit him once or twice and he would over do it. He would leave me bloody and bruised when all he would have is a scratch or a little scar." Chris scrunched his face up at those words. He hadn't heard something so selfish in a while.
"What the fuck are you talking about? You started with me most of the damn time and I finished what you couldn't. It sounds bad saying this now, but it's fucking true. How you gonna put your hands on me then get mad when I defend myself?" Brooklyn was shocked at that response. She didn't know if he was dumb or plain disrespectful.
"Do you see yourself and do you hear what the hell you're saying to me?! One little ass punch or slap from me doesn't compare to what you did to me. You're much bigger and stronger than me and we both know that. So why the fuck- you know what, I don't even wanna talk about that right now." Brooklyn fidgeted in her seat, beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"You know, we're just gonna end this here. Why did you leave out the house?" Brooklyn sat on edge, this was the question that she was dying to have an answer to for the past years.
"Honestly, I left because I didn't care. I also knew that if I stayed, I would have put my hands on her again." Brooklyn's heart dropped after hearing those words. Hearing that he didn't even care that he beat her.
"Y- you didn't care?" Brooklyn whispered, more to herself than anyone else. Chris was now looking at her, her red race breaking his heart.
"I didn't because I felt that you did it on purpose in a way. This may not make sense to you but I felt you knew what it would do to me. I felt that you knew it would break my image so you provoked me until I snapped. I told you so many times that one thing you should not do is put your hands on me and you did." In that moment, Brooklyn felt like putting her hands on him again from what he was telling her.
"You fucking cheated on me! I was acting out of anger and you know that! I didn't give a shit about your image and I damn sure wasn't trying to wreck it! If I wanted to wreck your image, I could think of a million ways to do that!" Valarie sat and thought about those last words. Those words replayed in her head and she carefully thought of her next approach.
"What does that mean?"
"Oh baby, you know exactly what that means."
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