A Story To Tell | Book 2

.56.

:::KEIRA:::

I sat against the wall in the bathroom for about twenty minutes before feeling comfortable enough to come out. I heard Chris when he gathered up Yasmin and just left. Ain't no telling where he went. I was just thankful to have the apartment to myself so that I could do some thinking without worrying about being bothered.

    Opening the bathroom door, I walk out and look around the studio apartment and sighed, sliding my feet into Chris's Nike slides and walking outside of the apartment to sit outside to get some fresh air.

    Brushing my hair back, I take a deep breath and inhale some of the outside air and then exhale, releasing my demons.

    Lately, it's just been like people have been taking advantage over my life. From my friends, to my mom. It's like no one wants me to do things on my own. My mom, she's been having so much control over me from where I am, what I say, what I eat, and how I do things. And I mean, I guess, considering that I'm just seventeen and all, she had some right to do that. But she took it to a whole different level. She wouldn't let me breathe. She took advantage of me. She abused me verbally and sometimes physically. If things weren't the way she wanted them to, she took it out on me and my daughter and that wasn't cool. I needed an escape and I'd been looking for my father to be my escape. Just when I thought he was going to rescue me, he up and dies on me.

    A tear falls from left eye for my father. I wipe it away  and look out into the sky before looking away.

    I get that Vanessa wanted to help me out and take me in, but I couldn't live with her. And call me selfish for not wanting to live with a woman that my boyfriend was once "in love" with. She happens to be my aunt, but at the same time, I'm not close to her. I don't see myself being any closer to her in the near future. She's my father's sister and everything, but I rather be her niece from a distance. Besides, it would never workout with me living with her knowing as to why I was there. I just with Chris stands up for himself and demand to stay in Florida with me, at least until I graduate school.

    Honestly, I never thought I'd love anyone else in the way that I once loved Bruce. But for me to be having these feelings for Chris, it was just something different. And if Chris ended up leaving me here, it would just be a slap in my face.

    Chris's car comes through the complex. At the sight of it's midnight black and shiny attire, I stand up and walk back into the apartment and close the door behind me, not quite wanting to see his face. It wasn't like I had a room to go to other than the bathroom, so I walked into the bathroom and closed the door shut.

    After a while of silence, I heard the front door open and then shut. Eventually, I heard Chris's footsteps walking towards the bathroom door followed by a gentle knock. I rolled my eyes and didn't bother to say anything.

    "You still being salty?" Chris asked me.

    Silence.

    "Keira, you're gonna have to talk to me rather you want to or not. I just want to let you know how sorry I am for going behind your back and confiding in Vanessa. I didn't do it to intentionally hurt you. I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. I was thinking about our future."

    Silence.

    "Well, if you're not gonna talk to me, can I at least come into the bathroom so that I can piss, please?"

    As bad as I wanted to object to him coming into the bathroom, I wasn't going to be petty enough to let him stand out there and piss on himself. So I got up from the bathroom floor and opened the door. As I walked past him, he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me into him. I wanted to fight him off, but how could I when I had made the mistake of staring into his eyes?