Into the Fire

I Am One

"I will not have my daughter be with this.. menace, this imbecile, this sorry excuse of a man, this disgrace to the male population, unfaithful piece of shit!!" My father screams in Ben's face.

"Father!! You will not talk about Ben that way!" I raise my voice, standing up and giving him a glare.

"I will talk about this boy any way I want to! He hurt you! In many different ways! I will not allow him to hurt you again," My father looks at me.

"Mom!" I look over to her, praying she'll side with me.

"I'm gonna have to agree with your father in this one hun.. Ben did unbelievably terrible things to you Roni," My mom just gives me a sympathetic look.

"Sir, I love your daughter-"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it!" My father cuts Ben off.

"I know there's nothing I can do-"

"You're right! There is nothing you can do, so get out of my house!" My father points to the door.

I squeeze Ben's hand and bring him closer to me.

"Veronica, you are forbidden from seeing this boy!" My father scowls.

"You can't tell me what to do when it comes to Ben. Father I love him, he's already made it up to me," I plead with him.

"I can tell you what to do, especially when it comes to him!"

"But-"

"No buts! Get the fuck out of my house," My father seeths through his teeth.

"Roni I think I should go," Ben looks at me.

"No, don't go," I pull his arm.

"I don't want him hating me more than he already does," Ben gives me a look.

"Okay.." I kiss his cheek.

Ben walks out of the house. I glare at them.

"Look Roni baby, this is for the best, all he did was hurt you-"

"I fucking hate you!!" I scream at my father, cutting him off.

I run up to my room and slam my door extra hard. I lay on my bed and feel the tears fall down my face.

"She's just a little girl! She doesn't know what she wants! That little fuck of a boy hurt my little girl! She is not allowed to see him ever again!" I hear my father shout.

"Josh, he loves her, I can tell he loves her, and she loves him, this is almost just like the time when you hurt me when we were in high school, but I forgave you, can't you try to empathize for them?" My mom defends Ben and I. "I don't agree with what Ben has done to her, but Roni isn't a little girl anymore, she can handle stuff on her own,"

"Don't you hear yourself?! Defending the person who tore our daughters heart into pieces!"

I don't hear a response. I hear a knock on my door.

"Go away!" I sniff.

The door opens anyway. I feel someone sit beside me, placing their hand on my shoulder.

"Look baby, I don't agree with what your father called Ben but-"

"You didn't defend Ben when Ben was over here! You hate Ben too! But mom I love him!! Fuck I really do!" I cry, sitting up.

"I know you do honey, but I just think that you and Ben need to take a break for now, until he figures out what he wants, and give you space for you figure out what you want," My mom sympathetically looks like me.

"Don't patronize me," I spit.

"I'm not, I'm just asking for you to think about this, I like Ben, I truly, truly do, I know he loves you, I can see it in his eyes when he looks at you, but what he did to you, I can't even forgive him for,"

"But you don't have to forgive him! He didn't hurt you!"

"He didn't hurt me.. But he hurt my daughter, he hurt you, I can't explain it but it's like hurting a part of myself when someone hurts you,"

"I'm not breaking up with Ben, he proved to me he loves me, I forgave him, you nor dad can keep me from him," I cross my arms.

My mom closes her eyes and sighs. She kisses my forehead and exits my room.

I need to see Ben.

I open my window and climb out of it, walking over to Ben's house.

I climb up his window and into his room.

"Ben I'm so sorry about my father," I see him drink from a bottle.

"Roni, I don't blame the guy for hating me," Ben runs his fingers through his hair, sighing.

"But they wouldn't let us explain, it isn't fair for them to just jump to conclusions," I sit down next to Ben.

"Life isn't fair, but I will do whatever it takes to prove to your dad that I love you," Ben looks at me.

"Thank you," I take the bottle from him, taking a drink.

Ben and I climb into his bed, he brings me close to him as we watch a movie together.

I hope things will get better again for Ben and my parents.