One Mississippi

Chapter Twenty✔️

Chapter Twenty: I'll Be Back

AALIYAH sat on the couch, her head resting on her knees, hands shaking wildly as she took in deep, heavy breaths. Kolson sat next to her, gently rubbing her back as her head rested on her best friend's shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure how to comfort her friend, but all she knew she could do was be there for her. So she sat quietly, and cried with her.

Martavius walked in with the glass of water and a Tylenol. "Here, it'll ease the headache."

Her shaking hands grabbed the cup and the pills, raising them both to her lips. Killian walked into the room, seeing Jaylon sitting on the arm of the chair, watching his surroundings closely. That was the first time he had stepped up to his best friend like that and he didn't like it, but he had witnessed enough for one night.

He wasn't going to watch his best friend throw away everything because some jealous girl wanted Aaliyah to hurt the way she was. Khaiyon nearly risked and lost everything only an hour ago.

Killian looked around the room and down at Aaliyah who was shaking and sniffling, hugging her knees while her friend hugged her. "What's going on?" he asked. He walked over and knelt in front of her. "Why are you crying?" he whispered.

"Don't," Martavius mumbled, shaking his head. "We don't need another problem added to the list right now. She's going through some shit."

"What's going on?" he asked, stepping away from her.

Kolson looked up at him through tired, red eyes. She had cried with Aaliyah. "Snow told Khaiyon everything that happened between her and Lucas. Well, everything that didn't and possibly did happen. She aired the girl's business to her boyfriend," she explained, running out of ways to describe the situation.

He looked at Martavius and Jaylon and they only nodded, approving the unasked question. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Upstairs," Martavius replied, without thinking too much on it. No matter what, he knew Killian would never hit a girl. Khaiyon, on the other hand, nobody really knew what he was capable of. He had different levels of anger.

Killian disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. Kolson cleared her throat. "Guys, if you don't mind, could I have a moment with her?" she asked. They nodded before leaving without a word. She pulled away from her friend and sat crisscrossed in front of her. "What did happen between you and Lucas?" she whispered. "I could tell something happened."

Aaliyah turned her head towards her friend. "He made me," she whispered, shaking her head. "He told me if I didn't lay down he would beat me again," she whispered.

"Again?" Kolson asked, staring at her crazily. "What do you mean again?" She turned her back to her and raised her shirt. Kolson gasped, upon seeing the whipped scars on her back. Her hand slowly reached out and touched them before pulling away. "Are you serious?" she demanded. "Lucas did this to you?"

She nodded. "The first night he had us catering and I gave away that entire dish."

"Yeah?" she whispered, nodding.

"He caught me talking to Killian and I got an attitude with him and he hit me. I can't remember what happened after that, but when I woke up, he beat me for embarrassing him in front of his guests," she explained lowering his shirt. "He said I made him look like an idiot who couldn't control his girls. And that night when he did what he did to me, he told me if I didn't do what I was told he would beat me again. I couldn't go through that again," she whispered, crying harder than before.

Kolson wrapped her arms tightly around her friend, crying once again, with her. "Aaliyah," she whispered, shaking her head.

She shook violently in her arms. "It hurt so much!" she exclaimed, clenching her fists as though she were being beaten all over again. "I couldn't lay down on my back and wearing the wrong clothes that rubbed against me hurt more. I couldn't put myself through that again, so I did what he told me to do."