Work It Out (Dave East)

Chapter 15

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Julian

Saturday

I watched as Rosanna sat on the couch and tucked her legs under her. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"His name was Mark. I knew him from high school. We never really spoke though until the end of senior year. That summer was when we got really close. So we started dating around 4 and a half years ago."

I could tell how uncomfortable she was talking about this. She kept her head down, her eyes fixated on her hands that sat in her lap. She sat playing with her fingers.

"He was really good to me. We would sit around and talk for hours about anything. He cherished me, or I thought he did. He would surprise me with things like flowers, jewelry or chocolates. When he first started spending nights over at my house, he would leave the sweetest little notes when he had to be the work early and would leave before I woke up. Things were great between us, and then he snapped." She shrugged.

"Honestly, looking back now all the signs were there. He would dictate what I wore a lot, kept me from my friends. The only friend that really stuck around was Marci. He never really took me out, majority of our dates were at my place or his. I didn't mind too much honestly, he just told me he wasn't a fan of public places. We went to dinner one night, our one year anniversary.." She laughed dryly.

I glanced down at Skai who laid asleep in my lap.

"I wanted to look beautiful that night. For one it was our one year anniversary and two we were actually going out. I had my hair done all up, make up on and this pretty red dress. The dress was knee length and a bit tight, it hugged my figure just right. Anyway, we were good until we got to the restaurant. There were a few male eyes on me, one guy even approached me when Mark went to use the bathroom. He came back and cussed the guy out. After that we went home, the car ride was silent." She shook her head.

"We got in the house and I was going to tell him thanks for taking me out and he slapped me."

Her voice cracked, she was about to cry.

"He stood there, listened to me thank him and tell him I love him and then he slapped me. He hit me so hard, I almost fell."

She wiped her tears. I shook my head. I could feel the anger rising in my body at the thought and the image of somebody putting their hands on her.

"He was a pussy. A bitch ass nigga for hitting you. That nigga hit you cause you look good." I frowned my face because that was really fucked up and stupid. It made no sense.

"The next day he came to my house with flowers and a bracelet, said he was sorry & it would never happen again. He also told me I better not tell anyone, I looked at him in a whole different light after that. I was more distant with him, more cautious about the things I did and said. A week later he came to my house with a bad attitude, he was on edge. I said one simple little thing and he slapped me again. Cussed me out, called me fat and stupid. He didn't apologize for that one."

Tears continued to stream down her beautiful face. This was my first time seeing her cry and it made me feel some type of way. I wanted to beat Mark's ass, make him cry. I wanted to make sure I never saw Rosanna cry again. I wanted to do everything in my power to ensure that she never cried again.