Shady's obsession

12.

I woke up to the sound of Justin yelling at me.

"Hazel? You know we can't afford to keep buying alcohol like this!" he shouted, his eyes filled with anger, as he scrunch the receipt up in his hand.

"I'm sorry, Justin. I didn't mean to spend so much," I replied, trying to calm him down.

"That's not good enough! You need to stop drinking so much and start being responsible for once!" he snapped back.

I felt my heart racing as his words sunk in. I knew I had messed up, but his tone was making me feel small and worthless.

"I'll try harder, I promise," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You better," he warned me, his eyes still fixed on mine.

As the days went on, Justin's behavior only got worse. He would snap at me for small things, like not cleaning up properly or forgetting to buy something at the store. Each time, his words would cut me like a knife.

"You're so useless. You fucking dumb Bitch,Why can't you do anything right?" he would say.

I felt trapped in our tiny apartment, afraid to say or do anything that might set him off. It was like walking on eggshells all the time. Everytime I actually thought things were going good his anger would slowly creep back, we'd been in this yo-yo of emotions for years.

......

One night, as Justin was working on his music in our bedroom, and my dumb ass dared to ask him about his plans for finding a job.

"Can we talk about that job search? I'm kinda worried about money," I said, trying to keep my tone gentle.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to face me.

"What the fuck, Hazel? You know I'm trying to make it with my music, you're no fucking help, you have a connection, probably the biggest connection in the world and you won't let me use him. I'm trying to pursue this, I can't just go back to some dead-end job," he spat.

"I know, I just thought maybe you could do something part-time in the meantime," I suggested.

"That's not good enough. You don't understand  what I'm trying to do for us. You're just holding me back," he said, his voice rising.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I tried to defend myself.

"I'm not holding you back, Justin. I just want to make sure we can pay the rent and buy food," I said.

"That's bullshit. You're always trying to control me and tell me what to do. I'm sick of it!" he yelled.

I felt like I was going to be sick as he stood over me, his eyes full of rage. I was controlling? I didn't know what to do or say to make him stop fucking with my head like this. It was like he had a hold over me that I couldn't break free from.

.........

I finally managed to get out of the house and meet up with Hailie for lunch after weeks of avoiding her. It was so good to see her and catch up on everything that had happened in our lives. We were having a great time until my phone started buzzing non-stop, pulling my attention away from the conversation.

I checked my phone and saw that Justin had sent me several abusive texts. He was angry that I had left the house without his permission, and he was demanding that I come back home immediately. I could feel the knot in my stomach tightening as I read the messages.

"What's wrong, Hazel?" Hailie asked, noticing the change in my demeanor.

"It's Justin," I sighed, putting my phone down on the table. "He's angry that I left the house without his permission."

Hailie's eyes widened in shock. "What the fuck!? You should be able to leave the house whenever you want without his permission."

"I know," I said, tears welling up in my eyes. "But he gets so angry, and I don't know what to do."

"Hazel, this is not okay," Hailie said firmly. "You don't deserve to be treated like this. You deserve better than this."

"I know," I said, wiping away my tears. "But it's not that easy to leave. We're low on money, and Justin quit his job to follow his fucking dreams of being a rapper. He hasn't had a big break yet, and he's always stressed about money."

"That's still not an excuse for him to treat you this way," Hailie said. "You need to think about your own safety. You can't keep living like this, Hazel."

.........

As soon as I got home from dinner with Hailie, I knew I was in trouble. Justin was sitting on the couch, his arms crossed and his face twisted into an angry scowl. I knew that look all too well.

"Where have you been?" he demanded as soon as I walked in the door.

"I told you, I was going out to dinner with Hailie," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You were out all night!" he yelled. "I've been trying to get hold of you for hours."

"I didn't hear my phone," I lied. The truth was, I had heard it ringing constantly, but I had been too afraid to answer it.

Justin didn't believe me. He stood up and started to pace back and forth in front of me, his fists clenched.

"You're lying to me, you fucking bitch. I can tell. You were probably out with some other guy, you fucking whore, you were cheating weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't," I said, shaking my head.

"You sure? Cos I will fucking set fire to his ass.  I'll choke your ass out so fucking hard- it won't take me more than a few minutes. Shiittt I'll kill you right now."  He shrugged and chuckled a little.

"I'm sure."

Justin didn't seem to hear me. He was already in my face, I could feel his warm breath practically fanning my face as he screamed at me. I tried to back away, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me up against the wall.

"You're a lying, cheating whore!" he spat. "I knew it! You're always trying to make me look like a fool!"

"Don't make me Kill you. I'll fucking kill you Hazel!"

Tears streamed down my face as Justin continued to berate me. I felt trapped and helpless, like a mouse caught in a cat's jaws. I knew there was no reasoning with him when he was like this. The only thing to do was to weather the storm and hope it passed quickly.

But the abuse didn't stop there.

It took a few hours of constant ranting and bullying before I snapped.

I pushed Justin back and he stumbled into the table, he pushed me right back and I fell onto the floor.

"Don't fucking touch me." Justin hissed.

"I can't listen to you anymore Justin! You're angry, I can't fucking do anything about what's already happened." I sighed.

"I don't know what to do, it's been hours, please." A tear rolled down my cheek.

"Are you for real?" Justin burst out laughing.

"Bitch, how have you not figured it out, I want you to stop doing shit." He shook his head.

"Stop making me act like this! You know how to make me hate you, so fucking stop."

"We don't even talk to our fuck up families, the only thing I can have is friends, I'm sorry that she happens to be your idols daughter, you realise Marshall thinks you're a joke?" I rolled my eyes.

"Fuck you." He hissed as he slapped me around the face.

"Fuck you too." I hissed back, and slapped him.

He socked me right in the face me then in the stomach causing me to stumble back. I went for the door but he grabbed me by my braids.

"I'm sorry!" I cried out.

He threw me to the floor and I scrambled backwards , unable to get away from him, he didn't even look like himself as he loomed over me with a bitter look on his face...