Brenda wanted a normal school year. Instead her mom died.
Salma needed space from her sister and terrible ex. Or else she'd lose her mind.
Delilah didn't think she'd have any more problems after moving far from her hometown. That was until she becam...
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❝You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.❞ -Mae West
trigger warning: read with caution
unedited
🚗 JAXON 🚗
Breathing was difficult when I woke up, heaving with my hands pinned to my chest. It felt like graphite sank them down on to the mattress, pushing against me with the weight of the world.
What world was there from me when all my world consisted of were these four white walls and this lumpy bed? I had no life outside this room; I was bed-bound with no real way of escaping.
A miracle happened on the first day I was here. I tried to crawl to my chair behind the door, but only got as far as the hallway before a man in a blue T-shirt tackled me off my wheelchair and tied my ankles together on the bed and hooked it to the frame. There was no possible way out other than throwing myself out the two-story window...but only after I could unhook myself from the bed.
I had lost count on how many times I rose from my sleep in a fright, replaying the same series of confusion, asking the identical questions from the day before about my surroundings to no one in particular, but anyone who could hear my cries.
They were useless attempts, along with my hope and desperation that my pain would come to an end. As the days went by, I found that the only thing that would come to an end was my life. With knowing what I did now, there was no possible way Hector would let me go. My ex-girlfriend Penelope might've loved me in another life, but she loved her cousin Hector more. Keeping him out of jail was more of a priority than keeping me alive. My days were numbered and I was counting each day off with every passing day.
The only person who I saw, other than my own reflection from across the room, was a girl names Tammy. She dropped off food and water every morning and night; two meals a day was enough to keep me afloat, but for how long? How long until the food stopped and they finally came to a decision on what to do with me? I couldn't remain here for life.
Penelope made visits to my room only a week after I first arrived, but I didn't let her stay very long. The yelling made her start to sob, holding her hands to her ears. She sprinted out in a hurry, returning hours later with water and buttered biscuits to feed me.
I flipped the tray out of her out of her hand, causing the food to fall hard on to the carpet and small packets of jam.
"Wait till Hector hears about this," she warned.
I snorted. "Is he going to kill me? Because that's all I want."
"You don't mean that."
"I mean it more every day you keep me locked up in here like some prisoner." I shouted. "Why are you doing this to me Penelope? Why now? Why would you want to hurt me when you're the one who's done the worst to me already. Wasn't cheating on me enough? Wasn't lying about who the father of your child was enough?!"
"Trust me-"
"I don't." I snapped.
She sighed, "Trust me, I didn't ask for this." She kneeled to the floor, picking the biscuits off the ground and back on to their plate. Thankfully the water she'd gotten me was in a bottle, meaning there was no spill for her to clean up. I wondered if she expected this violent reaction of me, causing her to pick a sealed drink instead.
"You didn't ask for this? I don't believe you for a moment. You can't lie to me when you're a willing participant in this."
"You think I have any say in what Hector decides to do?" she didn't wait to hear my answer, laughing to herself in a sinister way, "If that were the case, then I would've never gotten pregnant."
"What the fuck is that supposed....no, you don't mean what I think you do." I shook my head, "You said you didn't even know who the father of your child was."
"I do know and I always knew."
"Your...your mother was the one who went against you, Penelope, how I meant to believe your mother would allow that?"
"She said what she thought would keep the honor in our family. It was better for me to be the one who brought shame to my family, having a kid out of wedlock, than for the secret to be that my cousin raped me. No one could fathom what Hector did to me, not even Hector's parents." Her eyes, watering in both corners, bored into me as if I was some sort of lifeline to her damned existence.
"Hector blames the drinking he did that night, but I don't think he was drunk, he looked so out of it, so high off his mind of something so much stronger. It came crashing back to him when he sobered up, crying on my mother's lap that he would change and begging for my forgiveness. He still doesn't believe the child is his, but that it's yours. And when you walked away, Jaxon, he found justification in taking you out of that hospital parking lot by putting the responsibility on you. He's not of a sound mind, Jaxon. No sane man would do what he did."
"I...I'm sorry, but I don't believe a damn word you just said." I made known, sitting myself up with my elbows. "If that were the case, then you should've told me. You didn't though. I can't believe you after all this time, letting me believe you cheated."
"I still cheated. I didn't have sex with them, but I wasn't faithful by entertaining other people. I'm not going to hide that truth," she confessed, "I don't need you to take my word as the truth. Frankly, you have no choice."
A cough echoed into the room. Neither of our mouths were open.
Both our gazes went up to the door left ajar, seeing that Hector was in the doorway. Something told me he didn't arrive recently, but rather was standing there the whole time. My blood went cold at the sound of the door creek open, widening for Hector to walk in.
