Our Journey

Friday

Fatima.  Jojo baby where are you?! Fatima searches Lori's master guest suite for Journey but couldn't find her. Just before she was about to look over the house she remembered one more place where she thinks Journey could be..

"Come on baby you don't have to hide anymore we're safe here at auntie Lo Lo's house okay" Fatima says as she bent down on the floor looking at Journey hiding under the California king bed.. journey was balled up again but this time she was sucking on her thumb, a hard habit her and Zay had to break came back...
Fatima pulls her from under the bed and holds her for a minute in silence

Fatima. "Alright baby let's wash up and go downstairs okay". Journey wasn't speaking much she's usually a bubbly morning kid but this morning she was different Fatima died a little inside looking at her baby girl she didn't know what to tell her to make her feel better..
They enter the bathroom in the room and the lights were bright almost bright enough to hurt your eyes... Fatima gets to the mirror and doesn't recognize the woman staring back at her. This was the first time she seen the bruises reminding her of the hell she went through the day prior. She rubbed her neck softly examining the thumb prints that turned black and blue against her fair skin.. she washed her face and brushed her teeth and then does the same for jojo. She tried to hold it together but she felt tears coming so she rushed to the shower and shut the curtain to hide and cry so jojo wouldn't see. Her legs got weak as she falls to the shower floor crying. She's not ready to face the day she's not ready to explain the story behind the marks on her neck...5 minutes later she dries her eyes and gets out to tend to jojo..
when she got out jojo was sitting on the bathroom floor .. Fatima sits next to her on the floor and noticed her holding something... It was the heart necklace Zay got her for Christmas journey pulled it off. "Here mommy I don't want daddy with me anymore". Fatima is defeated she doesn't know what to do her and jojo were both so hurt. Fatima scoops her up and they get back in bed.. Fatima holds her until she falls back to sleep..

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Ti.. Ti.. Lori say's slightly shaking Fatima who dozed off with her daughter

Lori. Come on Ti Liam went to work it's just me in the house let's go downstairs I made some Tea. Fatima looks over at Journey who was sleeping sucking her thumb she looks back at Lori and gets out the bed to follow her to the kitchen...

It's super quiet down there Fatima hasn't spoke and Lori hasn't either. Lori reached into the cabinet to pull out a mug and filled it with hot chamomile tea. Lori scoots the steamy mug over to Fatima who was sitting at the island of the kitchen biting her nails which she hasn't done since she was a kid.

Lori. Try to drink some of that it'll help she says trying to look at her best friends face but Fatima was looking at the ground. Lori goes around the island and embraces Fatima in a hug no words just hugged her best friend and Fatima broke down sobbing in her arms. She didn't hold any tears back and Lori hugged her until Fatima was ready to let go.

Fatima. He hurt me so bad Lori. He hurt me and jojo saw.. Fatima says through her tears.. seeing her best friend so hurt she cried with her before you knew it both ladies were crying hugging each other.

Fatima pulls away and looks at Lori as they both wipe away some of their tears but more kept falling

Fatima. he promised me he wouldn't put his hands on me again he promised he would never hurt me again he lied Lori he chocked me in front of jojo I was so scared I thought he was going to kill me

No one knows that Isaiah has physically hurt Fatima before that was something she never spoke of not even to Lori she tried to forget that night in college when he hit her because he promised it wouldn't happen again. She was young and naive she didn't want to walk away from Zay and be a single mom of a 2 year old. Zay also told her if she ever left he had no reason to live so she stayed because she didn't want him to hurt himself. They worked it out and things were okay up until Thursday