OTM
4 years earlier
"What is this Onika?" I looked down worriedly at the wrinkled piece of paper that daddy slammed against his desk. The tattered paper showcased my school grades. It was now summer, and this was to be my last graded marks for the year.
I immediately understood why he was angry. I've always been a A student. I graduated highest of any other student for elementary school. So to see for the first time ever, 5 A's.. and two B+'s, I could understand his frustration with me. I felt frustration within myself. How could I let my grades drop so low?
My eyes watered as I sat silently staring at the sheet. I heard him huff and lean back into his chair. "When did I begin to raise such a disappointment." He sighed. It was as if he'd already subjected me to be as stupid as dirt. With these grades.. I guess he isn't wrong to feel that way.
The lump in my throat suddenly felt even heavier. I tried my hardest to swallow it down, mindful that daddy hated tears. He saw them as weakness. Tears were useless. Instead of crying, he says to put that energy into studying and taking care of my siblings. That's what a good older sibling does.
I quickly wiped the stray tear that managed to escape my eye and sniffled quietly.
"Onika. Make this be the last time I see anything other than A's on these goddamn papers. You have many of tutors at your disposal, use them. I don't waste my money sending you to a prestigious school just for you to tarnish my name. I refuse for this behavior to be passed onto my other children. Fix it."
"I'm sorry." I whimpered, still not looking up at him. I heard him scoff and chuckle dryly.
"She's 'sorry', she says." He repeats to himself sarcastically.
I closed my eyes tightly, willing the tears away. 'Stop crying. You're so stupid Onika. You did this to yourself. Now he'll never be proud of you. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Idiot.'
"Get out of my face." He finally dismissed me after what felt like ages of silence.
I took that as my cue to get up, grabbing the grade sheet and making my way to the door swiftly. I mumbled a pathetic goodnight, not getting a response back, per usual, before practically jolting out of the room. As I closed the door, the waterworks began, and they only made me more upset with myself.
I harshly wiped them away, as I dragged myself up to my room. I didn't deserve to cry.
Present Time
OTM
Maraj Household
8:24 PM
"Mari you know better than to come into my room and start making a mess with these damn snacks." I huffed, eyeing the Welch's wrappers littered on my floor and bed. She giggled, popping another one of the gummies into her mouth.
"Why you laughing? I'm not playing with you. Get up and pick up your mess. The garbage is right there." I pointed to the garbage can that was literally 2 feet from my bed.
She groaned, falling back against my bed and began whining. "Nooooo, I comfy Nikaaa."
"Mari get your little ass up now and stop acting like a brat." I dismissed her small tantrum and turned around to put my hair up in a clip so that I could get dressed quickly. I had just finished taking my shower and needed to start looking up information for a group project I had.
It's now Friday and other than school being my safe haven, it's been a week of honest hell for me. Between my parents hurling insults and jabs at me and them trying to force my keys into their possession, I don't know what's worse. But.. they havnt laid hands on me. Yet. And I hope it continues like this. Tia, Daniel, Tyler and Jaylen all made it their mission to have one of them or Mari with me to prevent our parents from trying anything. I opposed the idea at first without thinking, but now that I thought about it, there was no harm in this plan. I tried to find flaw in the idea but after they talked to me and the likelihood of anything happening to them, I was eased into it. The boys all did sports and all somehow stood to height or even taller than Robert. They all also had guns, including Tiana and I, tucked away in their rooms separately. Yes we're all trained. Aunty always took us to firing ranges once we all hit the age of 13. Tyler is still going whenever he can although, with our parents back, it's been halted. But even if Robert tried anything, he wasn't gonna get far whatsoever.
