my boo - jamal turner

Gone on too far

Throughout the week, I concealed the bruises that Olivia inflicted on me, feeling a gradual extinguishing of the fire within. I allowed her to walk all over me, a victim of circumstances beyond my control. One evening, as I sat in my room, removing the makeup that hid the evidence of Olivia's abuse, the door swung open. Panic set in as I instinctively tried to shield the marks. "What the hell?" exclaimed Sad Eyes. Tearfully, I pleaded, "Please don't tell Oscar, please." He shook his head, determined, "It's gone on for too long; Olivia has to go." I resisted, shaking my head and crying.

Enraged, Oscar demanded to know who had caused the injuries. "I don't care how old they are; I'm going to kill them," he bellowed. I pleaded with him not to, my tears flowing uncontrollably, making myself sick with despair. Mariposa intervened, urging us to stop yelling as I grappled with a panic attack. Despite my resistance, they insisted, "We're going to that school tomorrow, and that's final."

The night preceding the anticipated confrontation at school was restless. I dreaded the impending chaos but longed for Jamal. In my heart, I cared little about Olivia; all I yearned for was to have Jamal back by my side.

"Let's go now," snapped Oscar the following day. His frustration was evident, and I sensed his disappointment that I hadn't confided in him. Yet, fear held me back – a fear of what lay ahead and a fear of Oscar's reaction to the hidden truth.

Oscar firmly held my hand as we made our way into school, drawing the attention of onlookers. A random football player, sporting a disrespectful smirk, winked at me as we walked past. Before he could revel in his actions, Oscar issued a stern threat, "Put your hands on my little sister, I dare you."

Continuing through the school grounds, we encountered the squad, and they wore expressions of confusion. Cesar swiftly joined us, walking alongside me. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. I could only shrug in response. The truth was, I didn't have a clear answer. Somewhere along the way, I allowed this situation to spiral out of control, and now it felt like I couldn't rein it in.

Oscar walked up to Jamal, his expression unreadable. "Outside, let's go now," he demanded, the urgency in his voice clear. Jamal gasped, hastily gathering his things and following Oscar, a sense of foreboding settling between them.

Oscar pov

"I wanna beat your ass so badly, but I can't bring myself to do it," Oscar's voice trembled with a mix of anger and inner turmoil. I sat on the bonnet of my car, the dim streetlight casting shadows on our strained faces, and lit a smoke. The cold night air seemed to echo the tension between us, and the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on both our shoulders."Lani is a precious girl. I raised her like a daughter, and I've never seen her care about someone as much as you, heck, not even Monse." Oscar's eyes bore into the ground, haunted by the weight of his own decisions. I took a long drag of my cigarette, the smoke swirling around us, as I waited for him to continue. 

The silence between us spoke louder than words, pregnant with the unspoken pain and fear that filled the silence."So why'd you do it?" I finally asked, breaking the heavy silence. Oscar took a deep breath, the struggle evident in his expression.

"Olivia threatened to kill Lani and Ruby if I don't date her. I couldn't lose the people I care about the most, so I just stuck with it to save her." The raw honesty in his confession sent shivers down my spine. The darkness of the night seemed to close in around us, amplifying the fear and desperation that hung in the air. Olivia's sinister influence reached far beyond what anyone could have imagined, making the situation even more daunting and complicated.