My eyes widened once I heard those words leave her mouth. How can someone you love and trust hurt you in that way? It was disgusting to me.
I placed my hand on her arm and she just shook her head.
"This is the first time I'm ever telling anyone this. But I'm fine now, it's ok."
I nodded and she went on.
"I went to this school in the ghetto. It was great, one of my favorite places to be. I could read almost any book I wanted to and I had a reason to be away from home. Well. I don't even consider that place a home, I never did."
She took a breath.
"I dealt with it. It got to the point where I was just numb and wouldn't feel anything. He made me choose between sex or a beating. I remember when I was dumb enough to choose a beating; he still got what he wanted afterwards."
This broke my heart.
"So who's your love? " I asked.
She nodded.
"It was the 7th grade. I was paired up with this boy in my reading class. His name was Simeon.We had to do some book report I dont know. Basically we had to spend plenty time together. I couldn't be out of the house unless I was in school so I could never go work on the project with him, so he had to come over whenever my father was passed out drunk or out late working. One night, Simeon was sitting on the floor in my bedroom and I dropped a cup and it broke. I think that was the time that I truly felt fear; not for me but for him. I made him hide in my closet while I cleaned the mess up. My father came bursting through the door and slapped my right on my left cheek. He bent me over and yanked my hair. I didnt scream or cry out for help, I just let it happen. I was spaced out when I felt the grip slip away from my hair. When I turned around I saw Simeon beating the life out of my dad. I begged him to stop..."
She paused. I held her hand and kissed it, giving her comfort.
"I knew he deserved every blow he was getting but... I couldn't sit there and watch him... So I got Simeon off of him and he grabbed a duffle bag and began to throw all my clothes in there. I tried to fight him, fight the whole thing actually but he convinced me that if I stayed I would die. I told him I had nowhere to go and he placed his arms around my shoulder and kissed me. I swear I still feel his warmth and love, that had to be one of the most passionate kiss I've ever had."
She stopped and looked over at me smiling.
"Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."
I shook my head.
"I wanna know everything. It's okay."
She nodded and proceeded.
"That night I left and I moved in with him. I thought he would live with his mother but he didnt. He lived alone in an apartment. Anyways, every night we would stay up talking until about 2 in the morning and I would always tell him 'hey we need to sleep we have school in a few hours' and he'd laugh and kiss me with the same passion all the time."
She smiled and touched her lip.
"About a month later I told him I was going to start looking for a job, you know something simple that could let me go shopping and he never let me. We got into this huge argument about how controlling he was being. I remember he took me over to this closet with a lock on it and before he opened it he looked me straight in the eyes and said "let me finish speaking before you judge me." So he opened it and there was about 20 shelves filled to the top with cash. It looked like his own private bank. I was scared and curious at the same time. He held me and explained everything to me. He told me that as long as I was with him I never would have to work ever in my life."
