Stitching these Wounds (Michael Jackson)

Life after her father's death was far worse than she could've ever imagined.

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It'd been nearly a year since Imani Harris' father had passed away. On top of grieving and the adolescent struggles of any other seventeen-year-old, she'd been enduring the torturous abuse of her mother's new husband: the man she had been forced to call her stepfather.

With her boyfriend and childhood best friend, Michael Jackson, in her corner, he'd been able to provide her with a glimmer of hope, though unaware of her tragic circumstances. Wishing to break the abusive, inhumane bond that she had been subjected to, Imani can hardly see the light at the end of the tunnel. And that light only grows dimmer once she believes that their bond would never be broken.

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Cover Credit: @bitchjerkwings

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Finalist in the 2021 MJFA's for "Best Jacksons Era" story.