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𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐈 Mahalia Reign Clark 17 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝
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"Mahalia, you told them bitches how old I was?!" A 25-year-old Jamir yelled at seventeen-year-old Mahalia.
This was a constant argument between the two.
Mahalia and Jamir had been together for almost a year now. They met each other at a block party when Mahalia was only sixteen years old and Jamir was twenty four. They kicked it with each other ever since.
Initially Jamir lied about his age to Mahalia, telling her he had just turned eighteen. Although he looked a bit older, she believed him because she knew so many kids her age who looked grown. It wasn't until a few months ago that he told the truth.
"No, Jamir. I wouldn't throw you under the bus like that." Mahalia responded quietly. As sensitive as she was, she hated when he raised his voice at her.
This time, he was upset that Mahalia's friends were supposedly giving him weird looks at her graduation party. He felt like they knew something that they shouldn't have known, although that wasn't the truth.
"Tell the fuckin' truth, bro. If you didn't tell then why the fuck they was giving me side eyes and shit??" He got louder, walking closer to her. He was afraid of going to jail. He knew that his relationship with the teenaged girl wasn't right.
"I swear to you, I don't know. I didn't say anything." She started to get scared as he got closer. There had been a couple of times in the past where he got so mad that he hit her, and she didn't want it to happen again.
"You fuckin' lying, bro." He spat, wrapping both of his hands around her neck.
"Stop fuckin' lying to me, Mahalia." He tightened his grip on her neck and she whimpered, tears threatening to fall.
"I didn't." She managed to get out, tapping on his arm for him to let her neck go.
He roughly let go of her neck and she fell to the floor, crying.
"Let me find out you ran yo' mouth. Shit gon' get bad for you. I'm letting you kno' now." He warned as he walked out of the bedroom.
Mahalia touched her sensitive neck, silently crying. She didn't understand why he did this to her when she would never tell anyone.
She knew that if she told people Jamir's age, he would get in trouble. She loved him too much to let that happen to him. Naively, she wanted to be with him.
But, she hated when he did things like this to her. A couple of weeks ago, he busted her lip because of his paranoia. Before that, he kicked her out of his house leaving her stranded with no phone after he broke it.
She thought that he only did it because of his fear. She tried to understand where he was coming from, but she didn't like being treated this way. She didn't like being beat up and treated like shit from the one man she loved since her father died. She prayed every night that he would change and be better for her.
Mahalia stood up off the floor, wiping her tears. She wanted to know why he kept doing this.
"Jamir." She called out, softly. She walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where he was sitting at a chair, rolling a blunt.
"What? Wassup?" He questioned, not daring to look up at her. He was a coward, too weak to look into her eyes knowing how badly he hurt her. Or he just didn't care.
"Why do you keep doing this to me? You k-know I would never tell anyone." She asked, stuttering from her tears and from fear. He knew how much she loved him and would never jeopardize his freedom.
"Ion kno'. I jus' feel like one day you gon slip up and tell. Then imma be away from you. An' I'm scared of being away from you, Mahalia. I love yo ass ta' death, bro." He slickly lied, rubbing his eyes and sighing.
While he was afraid of going to jail, he hurt Mahalia because he knew how much power he had over her. He knew she wouldn't leave. She was too weak to leave in his eyes. She was vulnerable and still grieving from the loss of her father.
"But, I'm scared of being a-away from you, too. That's why I would n-never tell. I love you, Jamir. Seriously, so why do you keep hurting me?" She teared up. She hated that she allowed this, but she couldn't help it. She loved him.
"I don't kno', baby. I don't kno'. I love you. Imma stop, forreal. I don't like hurting you." He stood up, wiping her fallen tears with the pad of his thumb. He leaned down to kiss her forehead.
This is what kept Mahalia so close to him. This is what kept her loving him. The way he would wipe her tears and kiss her forehead, just like her father used to do. Granted, Jamir was the reason for her tears and pain but she was too naive to separate love and deception. What she thought was love was only lies.
She just cried into him, wanting the pain to stop.
"I kno', Mahalia. I'm sorry. So fuckin' sorry." He whispered as she sobbed.
She couldn't help but to think about her dad. How he would be disappointed in her if he were alive. How he would never let any man treat his daughter as if she was nothing. How he wouldn't allow any man to beat on his daughter and prey on her vulnerability. How he would show her the right way his princess was supposed to be treated.
