Love Shown, Pain Hidden(Feat. Mindless Behavior*Not Starring*)

Chapter 2

Beep… Beep… Bee- . It’s 5:30. I shut my alarm clock off and got up out of bed. I took a quick look at myself in the mirror. I brushed my hair away from my face & I had a bruise on my face from that sad excuse for a dad. I needed to cover it. In a ton of makeup. I knocked on Devonte’s door. “..Who is it?”, he said in a sleepy tone. “It’s me, Miah.” He got up and opened the door. “Wake up. Gotta go to school.” He yawned and said, “Iight.” I went to De’Von’s room and shook him. “Hmm?”, he mumbled. “Get up. We gotta go to school.” He got up and sat there for awhile. He sighed and said, “Alright.” Our sister Maliyah didn’t get up to go to school until seven o’clock. I left out and went to the bathroom and took a quick wash-up; brushed my teeth and washed my face; put on a ton of makeup; then went back in to my room and got dressed. 

I grabbed my backpack and moved downstairs, into the kitchen, where i saw my father sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. I stopped in my tracks. Plain, black coffee. I shuddered. He’s so disgusting. I walked in and grabbed a Special K Bar. “You can’t speak?”, he said looking up at me. I jumped and turned around. He scared the hell outta me. “Answer me.” I finally made eye contact with him. “G-Good morning Dad.” He put down his newspaper and took a sip of coffee. “Good morning daughter. You look nice.”, he said looking me up and down. I began to grow really uncomfortable around him. “Thanks?”, I said turning back around and eating my Special K Bar. “Where’re your brothers?”, he asked picking up the newspaper and reading it again. “Oh, they’re upstairs getting ready.”, I said getting a cup from the cabinet. I opened the refrigerator and poured myself some orange juice. 

“Do you have to work today?”, i asked taking a sip. “Yes, but not until nine. Why?”, he asked lighting a cigarette and smoking it. “No reason. Where’s Mom?”, I asked throwing my wrapper in the trash. “She’s still sleep right now. Now stop asking all these damn questions.”, he said yelling. “I just wanted to kn-” He got up, shoved me against the wall, and started choking me. “If you say one more word, i’m gonna slap the sh.t out of you.”, he yelled. I couldn’t breath. My face started turning red, and I tried to remove his hand but he’s too strong. “Do you hear me?”, he said shaking me. I managed to force out a quiet, “Yes sir!”. He finally released me and said, “Good. Don’t do it again.” He sat back down and continued smoking and reading the paper. I rubbed my neck when he let go and immediately hurried upstairs to look at my neck in the mirror. It had a hand print half way around it. I cursed aloud and got my makeup back, and right away started putting a lot of foundation on it. “Miah, we gotta go.”, Devonte said coming downstairs with De’Von. “Okay! I’m coming!”, I said putting on the finishing touches. I left out the bathroom and ran downstairs. “De’Von, go wake mama up so she can take us to the bus stop.”, I told De’Von. “Fine.”, he said walking into her room. I quickly ran upstairs and into Maliyah’s room. “Liyah.”, I said waking her up a little. “Hmm?”, she mumbled. “I’m about to leave to go to school. I love you. Be a good girl for me, alright?”, I said kissing her forehead. “Okay. Love you too.”, she said giving me a half hug. “Kay, bye sweetie.”, I said walking towards the door and blowing her a kiss. “Bye sissy.”, she said blowing one back. I caught it and smiled. 

I left out her room and went back downstairs. “Y’all ready to go?”, mom said grabbing her keys. “Yes ma’am.”, we replied. We left without saying by to our dad and rode to the bus stop. When we reached the bus stop, I saw a few other kids there too. “Bye ma, love you.”, we all said, and each gave her a peck on the cheek. “Bye my babies, love you too. be good.”, she said hugging us. We got out the car and walked the rest of the way. Which wasn’t long at all, actually really short. 

As soon as we got to the actual stop, the bus arrived. We got on the bus and rode to school. The bus made a couple of other stops. I sat with my brother Devonte, and laid my head on his shoulder until we arrived at the school. We went to Baton Rouge High. The three of us got our schedules and walked the halls. I spotted Jacob with three other guys and told Vonte and De that I’d catch up with them later. “I’ll catch y’all later.”, i said walking off. “Iight.”, they said continuing walking. I walked up to them and spoke. “Hey Jacob.”, I said giving him a big hug. “Hey Miah.”, he said hugging me and picking me up and spinning me around. I laughed and said, “Put me down!”. He put me down and laughed.