Blessings

Chapter 14

April 24, 2016.
Flashback will be in italics.

Aaliyah.

After brushing my teeth in the bathroom with Davie, I washed my face and tied my hair back up on the top of my head. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to tell this story yet again. I felt myself start to choke up and it seemed as if I couldn't see myself in the mirror that stood in the front of me, or maybe it was just that the tears that threatened to cascade down my face was blocking my vision. I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate so I took a few deep breaths. In the middle of me doing so, David had walked back into the bathroom. I turned towards him with my back leaning against the counter behind me.

"Babygirl..." I shook my head and lifted my head towards the ceiling trying to stop the tears. I felt him wrap his arms around me and I leaned into him more. He placed small kisses on my forehead and instantly I relaxed. The effect of his touch was starting to do something to me and I was sort of scared.

"You could tell me another time, I'm not tryna pressure you love."

I shook my head, I was in a whole relationship and my partner had no idea why the hell I jumped when he wrapped his arms around me or why I'm always so alert when we're out in public or why I don't allow him to use certain slang around me.

He led me over to his bed and he laid in the middle with his back against the headboard. With me between his legs, his arms wrapped around me.

"Where the hell do I start?" I said looking up at him.

"How'd y'all meet?"

"Ahhh, it was my freshman year of college at Clark and I was so interested in everything  that college had to offer. I always wanted to attend an HBCU, it was a dream yinno? Both my parents were graduates from HBCU's and I wanted to carry on the legacy just as my brother did. He went to FAMU." I took a deep breath and continued.

"His name is Justice and he was my R.A. I was fascinated with him. He pledged in a fraternity, had dark skin and perfect white teeth. At that point in time, he was my cup of tea. He would always flirt with me and made sure every time he seen me I'd leave with a smile on my face, that alone made me fall head over heels for the guy. Now, first semester had come and gone and for some reason he wasn't my R.A. anymore. I didn't see him on campus or anything, it was like he fell off of the face of the Earth until one day at like 1 a.m. there was a knock on my dorm door. Taylor had gone home to visit family for the weekend so I was there by myself. I answered the door and there he stood drenched in water. I invited him and we sat on my floor and he vented to me about how things were going awry at home and I immediately just wanted to help him."

"You're too nice Aaliyah." He interjected rubbing his thumb across my cheek.

"I know, I couldn't help it though. I was naive and curious. So anyway, months later I'm in a whole relationship with this dude, my family loved him and so did I. Everyone but Taylor loved us together she always told me that something was up with him but I didn't listen, I just brushed her off. So it's Spring Break and he invites me to his family's Beach house that was fairly close to Panama City Beach. So I'm down, I'm going to be spending a week and a half with my boyfriend in a normal sized bed with privacy.

That weekend was when I seen his true colors. We were in a club and he had left me by the bar by myself. A few minutes later I seen him dancing with a bunch of girls on the dance floor. So I went on the dance floor myself and began dancing with other guys. Eventually he noticed I guess, so he dragged me out of the club and back to the house and I'm thinking he can't be that mad, he was doing the same thing. We arrived at home & everything was good. I come out of the bathroom after taking a shower and he's staring at me in a weird way. He had a grin on his face so I kind of brushed him off. I too was a little pissed at what happened in the club, so I called myself having a little attitude.