Seventeen year old Safaya Bennett must navigate young adulthood under the stresses of her sins, her crumbling relationship with her twin sister, Rue, and a crippling mental disorder that makes her very dependent on her relationship with Nate Jacobs...
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"You know I can't be here." Safaya said as soon as the front door opened.
Maddy gave her a small grin, the sight of my sister being too much for her. Tears brimmed her eyes as she saw what my sister had become. Safaya was noticeably losing weight again due to her amplified drug use, there were two small bruises on her neck and arms that could be seen in the sunlight ... no matter how much concealer was covering them. My sister wasn't really sleeping, Nate's big arms around her felt suffocating and scary opposed to the feeling of safety she used to yearn for. Maddy knew my sister was tired, she was in that same spot with Nate not too long ago. His attraction was not only deadly but it was draining as well.
The brunette brought my sister into her house, wrapping her arms around Saf's neck as she pulled her in for a big embrace. "I'm so sorry." Maddy whispered into my sisters ear. "I'm sorry I couldn't have gotten you out of this sooner."
Saf's tough demeanor relaxed into Maddy's arms, taking in her fragrance and immediately jolting away from her as soon as she felt safe. Maddy's brows furrowed in sadness as she wanted to hold onto my sister longer. "He'll know I was here. Your perfume, he'll know I was with you." Safaya said lowly, not allowing her feelings to distract her from the real reason she was doing all of this. She wanted to keep Maddy safe. "What did we need to talk about?"
"I spoke with Jules...and uh, she told me everything." Maddy bit her lip gently. "I know how hard things have been and the situation you've been thrown into isn't ideal. I've been brainstorming ways that I can help. Something I could do that would let Nate leave you alone and I only came up with one thing and it's about Jules' tape." The brunette sighed, her heart beating out of her chest in anxiousness. There was no way that Nate had fully corrupted Safaya again. There was no way that she would walk away from this plan.
Safaya frowned. No matter how hard she tried to push away the thought of Jules on that video, it would still haunt her. She wondered how much Jules told Maddy, did she tell her what she said the night that I was left on the side of the road? What I spewed at her when I tore up our home looking for the suitcase Laurie fronted me. "I don't know what she told you but---"
"Jules wants to go to the police, Saf." Maddy blurted. "She already did, actually, and its only a matter of time before Cal's in custody."
My sister shook her head in disdain. "No, there's no way this will help me. I'm glad she's getting the justice she deserves but in case you forgot, Nate fucking hates his Dad. Cal going to jail is like Christmas morning for him. He's only going to cling onto me harder. He's only going to be rougher." She whispered the last sentence, her future playing out in her head. The amount of physical fights they've gotten into would only increase from here as Nate dealt with the mental aftermath of his father's trauma.
"The police will raid his home, they'll find the tapes in his dad's office, they'll ask if it was consensual and if they were also minors. Cal Jacobs will be exposed for the creep that he is and his family will be ruined. Nate will be ruined." Maddy smiled, the thought of revenge sounding sweet falling from her lips. "This case can be your escape. You can stay clean in all of this and walk away from him. The police will be on his ass just waiting to catch him doing something wrong, you'll finally be safe."
Safaya took a deep breath. Her mind was holding onto every word that Maddy said, dissecting it and thinking of every possible outcome that could emerge from this plan. She felt minor comfort in knowing that the police could possibly protect her. The reality of the situation was that Safaya is a young black woman and Nate is a cis-straight white male with all the power in the world at his hands. The possibility they could protect her was slim. Very slim.
But not slim enough for her to back down.
*play Reminders by Mariah The Scientist*
"O-okay." Safaya stuttered. "I ... fuck, I have to go." Safaya wiped the tears trickling down her cheeks. She took a step to give Maddy a hug but stopped, the hug earlier was already too risky. "I wish you knew how much I wanted to kiss you..." She sniffled, quickly leaving the house and walking to her car.
As if Saf didn't already have enough on her plate, she now had to come up with her own escape plan. A plan that she was 30% sure would actually work. It was all she could think of that night as she laid in Nate's bed. His hands touched her and filled his mind with ecstasy as my sister thought of every possible way she could escape his clutches.
He was so self absorbed and oblivious that something heavy was weighing on her mind. Her moans of displeasure during sex were fake, as they had been the whole duration of their new relationship together. The only thing on her mind was Maddy and how much danger she was putting herself in by helping Saf.
My sister didn't feel as if she was worth it. She wasn't worth all of this trouble and turmoil.
Part of her desperately wanted to be with Maddy again, feeling her soft skin on hers and taking in the scent of her Fenty perfume mixed with her pheromones. The best she would have to settle for right now would be staring at the back of Maddy's head as she watched the beginning of Lexi's play. A play that would surely do more harm to her mental state than good.
Lexi clearly wasn't joking when she said that a focal point of the play would be me and my father's funeral. I gave her permission to tell the truth, she would confirm to everyone that I am an addict ... as if the whole school didn't know that I overdosed last summer. I wondered how my sister was doing during all of this. I sat in an aisle over from her and Nate, a little closer to the stage. I took a slight look back at her to find her face in a stoney expression. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as they stage lights went off to transform into the next scene.
"There were six of us," Lexi said, sitting in front of a school photo backdrop. "There was me, Grace. My sister Hallie, her best friend, Marta. Marta's best friend, Luna. My best friend Jade and Jade's twin sister, Topaz."
I had to give it to her ... this casting was spot on.
I looked around me again to find Cassie, I knew she was in the audience, I just didn't expect her to be sitting directly behind my sister and Nate. The blonde tearing her eyes from the stage to bore holes into the back of my sister's head. Truth is, Cassie wanted revenge since that night at Maddy's house when I snitched. But her anger was very much so displaced because she didn't have an issue with me .. her issue is with Saf. For beating her at the silent game she made the both of them play.
Cassie could feel me looking at her. She turned to meet my gaze, my narrowed eyes telling her so much without speaking a word. If she made a move for my sister ... I'd make a move for her. I get that with me being clean now, I have to change my attitude and demeanor. For the most part I've been more relaxed and focused, but, that doesn't change the fact that my sister has a big target on her back.
And I knew the last thing Cassie Howard wanted was to go toe to toe with me.
