CHAPTER 1
It started out like a regular day. I awoke around 6:15 to get ready for school. “Moni,” rang my mother’s voice from downstairs, “get down here! You’re food is getting cold and you’re going to be late for school!”
“Okay Mom! I’ll be down in a minute!” I answered from my bedroom as I threw a shirt over my head and brushed my curly hair into a ponytail.
I raced down the stairs to get a slice of toast and a glass of orange juice because that was all I had time for.
“Slow down! This isn’t a race a track, you know,” my father said as I bumped into him.
“Yes Daddy,” I replied in a child like tone, smiling up at him.
“You’re a real piece of work. Get down there and eat something so you can get out of here!” We both laughed as we made our way down the steps.
When I finally got downstairs, I quickly ate and drank my juice. I shouted my good-byes to my family, and rushed out of the house. Luckily, my school was in walking distance, so I didn’t have to worry about a bus.
On the way, I met up with J.T as I usually did.
“Hey Moni!”
“Hey J.T! What’s up?” I asked, hugging him.
“Nothing, what’s going on with you?”
“Same old, same old. I have practice this afternoon
until five.”
“That’s messed up! I was planning on spending
the afternoon with my baby.”
“Anyway! Come by around 5:30 and we’ll have the
house to ourselves. Mom and Dad have to go to
Brian’s PTA meeting and they won’t be back until 7. The third
graders are putting on a play for the parents.”
“Are you planning something?” he asked with a smirk. “I might!” I said as we arrived at school.
“See you later. Love you,” he said before kissing me. It wasn’t a leg-popping, heart pounding, weak-in-the-knees kind of kiss as it usually was. It was more of an airy, dry, passionless, I’ll-see-you-later kind of kiss. “I love you to,” I said as we went our separate ways.
I went through the rest of the day anticipating seeing J.T that night. Before practice, I called my parents to let them know J.T was coming.
When he showed up, I nearly jumped into his arms. We walked to the living room where I had our “private sanctuary” set up in the living room. I had set out a bowl of freshly popped popcorn on the coffee table, a bowl filled with ice, two glasses, and a two liter of Sprite. I also pulled a blanket down from the linen closet and spread it over the couch.
After about five minutes of arguing over which movie to watch, we decided on a scary movie. About halfway into the movie, he kissed me on the cheek. I slowly turned my head until our eyes met in the dimmed light. He leaned forward and kissed my lips. That kiss was intense and full of passion. He positioned himself over me, then
continued to kiss me.
We stayed that way until I felt my shirt being pulled up. “J.T wait,” I said pushing away his hand, “We can’t do this.”
“Why not? Did I do something wrong?” he asked.
“No, but-”
“But what? I thought you loved me.”
“Don’t go there! You know I do.”
“I’m sorry; I just really thought you wanted me to.”
“It’s not that I don’t, I just can’t. I’m just not ready.”
“Felt like you were ready to me.”
“J.T!”
“All you have to do is lay there. I’ll do all the work,” he said before kissing the side of my neck. “J.T, stop!” I pushed him away and ran to the door. “I think you should leave,” I said, pointing at it. “Why? You tell me to come over here when you’re alone, and you get all close to me on the couch. It’s obvious you want it. Stop being so damn uptight!” he said. “I’m not a whore J.T! If you want one, maybe you should go find Stephanie! I’m sure she isn’t ‘uptight’!” I exclaimed. Stephanie Taylor was the girl that he cheated on me with last year. He even got her pregnant. But, like an idiot, I took him back.
At that point, he walked toward me, “Listen you little half nigger bitch-” I slapped him. He grabbed my face and arm and pinned me against the wall. I could see the flames ignite in his eyes.
He just stood there, staring at me. He slowly backed away from me after a moment. “Moni, I’m sorry-” he started. “JAMES TAYLOR ROBINSON, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!” I screamed. I couldn’t believe it! Tears started to roll down my face. He looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but he just turned and left.
He promised me that he would never touch me that way again. He told me that the last time was the last time. I touched my face and grabbed my arm where his hands had been, then walked back to the living room and fell onto the couch, still crying. I reached for the phone to call Damion, my best friend.
“Hello?”
“Damion,” I said, trying to sound as if I wasn’t crying,
“are you busy?”
“No, what’s wrong?”
“Can you come over? I need to talk to you.”
“Yeah. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thanks Damey! I knew I could count on you,” I said as I hung up the phone. I could tell he knew I was upset, he could tell by the sound of my voice.
He showed up ten minutes later with a bag of bite-sized Snickers. “Here, I bought these for you. It sounded like you needed them,” he said, handing me the bag. I took it and hugged him.
We sat on the couch to talk. “You always know what to do!” I said, hugging him again once we were seated. “Hey, that’s my job!” he said, smiling. “So, do you want to tell me what happened or what?” I knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t asking. I told him the whole story, even the part about J.T pinning me against the wall. I noticed him clench his fist when I said that. “Moni, why do you put up with his bullshit? You’re way to smart and pretty for that. You deserve so much better. You need to let me teach him a lesson about putting his hands on women. Especially ones I care about.”
“I know, I know. It’s just… I don’t know what
I would do without him. He’s been my everything for so
long! He means so much to me,” I said with a sigh. “Moni listen, you don’t need a man to make you happy, especially someone like J.T. You deserve someone who would appreciate you and love you unconditionally, no matter who was after him. You deserve someone who would treat you like the queen you are, someone who would make you happy every time you talk to him.” I stared up at him. “I know I do. But…but-” I couldn’t hold the tears in anymore. “Moni, don’t cry!” Damion said, lifting my head up. “He’s not worth it,” he said, looking directly into my eyes. I nodded. He kissed me on the forehead in a friendly, I-love-you-like-a-sister kind of way, but this kiss was different than all the others. It had something deeper behind it. It was as if a jolt of electricity went through my body the second his lips touched me. He looked at me; I looked at him. Apparently he had felt it too. He slowly brought his lips to mine and kissed me, but it was short lived. “I’m sorry,” he said, pulling away from me. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’ll leave if you want me to,” I could tell he didn’t really want to, and I didn’t want him to either. “No,” I said, “stay.” He smiled before kissing me again. I had always wanted more than a friendship with Damion, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to jeopardize our friendship.
“Moni, why are you kissing Damion?” Brian’s voice squeaked. Our heads jerked up. We didn’t even hear them come in! “What?” Mom and Dad said in unison as they entered the room. Damion and I just sat there staring at each other and smiling. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Anderson! We were just…um…you know what; I’ll let her explain it! I-I’ll see you tomorrow. B-bye!” he stuttered as he got up to leave. I walked him outside.
“What just happened?” he asked as soon as the door closed. “I don’t really know. Maybe this is a sign that we should be together. You said J.T wasn’t good enough for me, and you’re right. I can’t do it anymore. I’ve had enough of his bull. I’m going to end with him tomorrow,” I explained. “Wait, you think we should be together?” he asked. “I’ve always felt it, and I know you have to. I just didn’t want to mess up our friendship,” I replied.
“So where do we go from here?” he asked. “Damion, I don’t want to be your friend anymore. I want to be so much more.” He smiled at me. “I’ve felt that way about you since you pushed off the swing in the third grade! I promise you that I will never hurt you,” he said before kissing me goodnight, and for the first time in two years, I was truly happy.
I was greeted by blank stares as I reentered the living room. “Why were you kissing Damion?” my mother asked. “It just happened. We were talking and somehow ended up kissing,” I replied, telling only the half truth. “What about J.T?” my father asked in his disapproving tone of voice. “J.T is dead to me now. He broke his promise to me and I can’t take that from him again. I refuse to put myself through that anymore,” I explained. The looks on their faces were slightly unnerving. They looked as if they wanted to knock some sense into me. They had no idea of J.T’s dark side. To them, he was the best choice a daughter could make for a boyfriend. “Listen, if I told you how J.T really is, you would probably want to kill him. You have no idea of how he really is. The only person that knows is Damion.”
“What are you talking about? We only hear you talking about him like he was an Adonis or something!” My mom tried so hard to be funny, but it often turned into corniness. “Mom, J.T is not what he seems. I just can’t do it anymore. I’m ending it tomorrow,” I replied. “Alright, I just hope you know what you’re doing,” she said. “And I do. Damion is so wonderful, I don’t know why it took me so long to realize it,” I replied. I told everyone goodnight, gave Brian a kiss and a hug, and ran upstairs to my room.
It was the first time all night that I really had a chance to think. The only thing that came to me was being in Damion’s arms. He really is wonderful, I thought. Why did it take so long for me to see that?
I took a shower, climbed into bed, and dreamt of Damion the whole night. It was kind of funny because I never had dreams of J.T before.
1. Every time a different person speaks, his or her words get a new paragraph.
