Dysfunctional Love

i love you too

"Pack your shit, you're going to Florida!" My mother screams after entering my room, I sit up and look at her as she continues to scream.
"Hurry up, I need to get you out of here as fast as possible" she says while throwing my clothes in a large duffel bag. I walk over to her and snatch the handful of clothes and the bag from her and under my breath I mumble,
"So James can move in and beat you even more than he already does, or is it so you have more money for your crack."
She looks me dead in my eyes and slaps me across my face and whispers,
"Don't you ever disrespect me like that again!"
I roll my eyes and stuff even more clothes in to the bag, I start to think,
Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean, maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut, but she deserves it all these years I've put up with her bullshit. I needed to say something, I need to show her that she is not going to treat me like this anymore. I did it because I needed to or maybe I'm starting to become her.
The loud noises from downstairs snap me out of my daze and I zone back to reality.
"You're not moving fast enough let's go, James and I have plans. And go head say something smart if you want to, watch what happens"
After getting everything out of my room, I move on to getting the stuff out the bathroom, when I went to grab the door handle the door swings open. And out walks James, someone I hated with a burning passion right after my father, and before my mother on my hate list. He looks me in my eyes and smiles, he then looks at the bag in my hand and asks,
"Where are you going, babygirl."
I ignore him and try and squeeze past him but he grabs my arm, and whispers,
"I asked you something" and he begins to squeeze my arm tighter. My eyes travel from his hand gripping my arm to his eyes,
"Florida, I guess."
An expression of confusion crosses his face,
"You're leaving me?" He asks as his grip gets tighter.
I pull away from him but before I could run to my room he grabbed my hand, pulled me back, slammed me against the door and held me in place by my neck. He brings his lips closer to my ear, and whispers
"Don't do that again, I'd hate to see a beautiful girl like you with cuts and bruises all over like your mother."
A tear rolls down my face and I feel James's finger wipe it off,
"I should be the one crying you're leaving me, and I just can't understand why."
I could barley speak because the grip around my neck was so tight but I managed to get two words out,
"Ask mom."
As soon as those words left my mouth he let go of my neck and went downstairs, I'm assuming to beat my mother for sending me away. I hear James screaming at my mother, cups and pots hit the floor, and then my mother speaking so low I couldn't understand her. After ease dropping for a little, I grab my belongings out of the bathroom and put them in the duffel bag. After checking my room to make sure I'm not leaving anything I go downstairs and wait at the bottom of the steps for my mother. Fifteen minutes pass and I hear my mother walking towards the front door, I grab my bag and wait for her to open it. She runs to the car, and I run after her. I throw my bag in the back seat and get in the front, my mother pulls off as soon as I closed the car door.
"Why am I going to Florida?"
I asked my mother looking at the blood drip down her face from a cut on her forehead.
"I don't know if you have realized, but I do not want you here with me. So I contacted my mother, Mama D and told her I needed her to take you because I can't handle it. And that I didn't just wanna kick you out with nowhere to go because I'm not like her and believe it or not I actually care about you."
I feel the confused expression beginning to show on my face,
Did she just say she cared about me. The woman who has treated me like a burden since my father left. The woman who has abused me physically, mentally and emotionally for years.
"Do you remember Mama D, you two used to be close when she lived here."
"Of course I do mama, she always gave me candy and sometimes even money. But then she stopped coming to the house when dad came back."
My mother looked at me and a smile appeared on her face as she said,
"She didn't like your father, she told me not let him back in our lives. So I told her to leave us alone, clearly that was a mistake. I messed up big time, shouldn't have let him back in, I didn't want you to grow up without a father like I did. I thought letting him be with us would be best for you, boy was I wrong ."
This is the first time me and her have ever had a conversation where she wasn't screaming, throwing things or just angry, since my father left.  She isn't that terrible of a person, and from what I'm hearing maybe my father leaving caused all of this. Maybe he created this other side, the evil side that I will forever fear. The side that threatens to kill me, the side that beats me, and the side that let...
" I'm sorry."
"What did you say mama?" I ask to confirm what I heard her say.
"I'm sorry, so so sorry. Ever since your father left again I've been so hard on you, I've treated you horribly, I want you to have the world but I can't give that to you. But My mama can and she will."
Staring at the few tears rolling down my mother's face I freeze.
"Melody, I'm so sorry"
My mother stops the car and and she continues speaking,
"This May be hard to believe and you may never believe me but I love you Melody. I always have and I always will."
She hugs me tight and doesn't let go. Minutes go by and I finally hug her back, and she squeezes me even tighter. After I let go she lets go too, looks at me and smiles. She hugs me again, this hug not lasting as long then she lets go, smiles and pulls off.
No more words were shared for the rest of the ten minute car ride. When we arrive at the airport she parks the car and walks me to check my luggage in. After taking care of my luggage my mother walks me to security.
"Well this is as far as I can go."
"See you later mama."
"See you later Melody, call me when you get to Mama D house"
I give her a hug, this one lasting longer than the one in the car. I let go, turn around start to walk, but before I even made it two feet away from my mother I turn around and say,
"I love you too mama."
She smiles and gives me a hug. Then I walk to the short line of people trying to get to security.

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Authors Note
I hope you guys fall in love with this book like I did,  this  plot may look extremely familiar to my other book "Banned Love." And it is exactly the same plot just way more details and probably longer chapters. Let me know how you feel about this book, so I can know if I should continue writing. I'm trying to update this book at least once a week but I plan on updating more than that. However with school starting back up life is going to be unpredictable.
much love,
Dira❣️