Toni
"Now where does this one go?" Tommy Jr. placed the block in the square. "Good job, Junior." Lia clapped and he copied her. "Yay."
"It's a block." She looked at Keyon.
"So? He put it in the right place, that's a good thing."
"It's basic. Any one year old could do that."
"But not all one year olds do. What's the problem?"
"Celebrating mediocrity is the problem."
"Keyon, please. Don't start with that."
"What?"
"Don't start with the big ass conspiracies you have. It's not the time."
"But it's always time for the big ass speeches on the difference between male and female brainwaves?"
"That's not me giving a speech, that's me studying and I told you that you didn't have to be there while I studied."
"But you let that Blecker guy around." Lia sighed.
"His name is Gregory and he's my study partner. We were assigned to each other at the beginning of the class."
"A good excuse."
"A good excuse for what?" He stared at her. "Oh my god. Seriously? You're still on that?"
"Please, Amelia, don't be dumb."
"Keyon, please. Not now. I'm trying to spend time with my nephew." He scoffed.
"Whatever." I heard the door open.
"Lia!" I jumped up and ran to the door.
"Hey, baby." I held her arms as she looked around.
"Where is Lia?"
"In the living room with Junior and Keyon."
"You were near them?"
"Yes." She sighed.
"Good."
"Come on." I pulled her into my office. She sat on the little couch and laid her head back. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"I don't like that boy for my daughter."
"Why?"
"Have you not been paying attention?"
"To what? He seems like a nice boy. They have their disagreements but..."
"Disagreements? He's abusing her. He's toxic."
"Toxic. Baby, we know our baby, she's argumentative and she's very..."
"Yes, our baby is argumentative and headstrong as well as stubborn, but she never acts the way she does around him with anyone else. Don't you see it?"
"See what?" She sighed.
"When they had their little argument, how did Lia react?"
"She was a little quiet and pretty much tried to end the conversation."
"She didn't try to win or prove him wrong?" I thought for a second.
"No, she didn't."
"Exactly, what were they arguing about?"
"Some study partner. Apparently Keyon thinks she's cheating. She told him that they her and the guy were assigned to each other at the beginning of the semester."
"Then?"
"That's it."
"Now, when have you ever known of our baby girl to just give up on something when she knows she's right?"
"Never."
"Exactly." She rubbed her face. "I don't like that boy. I don't want her with him."
"I know." I say next to her. "Trust me, I get it, but..."
"Not buts."
"There is a but. If she hasn't left yet, then she's not ready to. You of all people should know what that's like." She looked at me.
"You're right. I do and because of that, I know that if she doesn't get away from him now, before long, I'll be burying my daughter." She got up and left the room.
Third Person
"He seriously accused you of cheating?" Miyah asked Lia. Keyon had left to go see his family, so Amelia decided to call her sister.
"Yes. I thought it was crazy."
"Well, Lia, he does crazy stuff and you know this."
"I do, but..."
"Here comes the but."
"He's just going through a rough time."
"For over a year?"
"Yes. School doesn't come as easy to him as it does me and he needs to work through that."
"School doesn't come easily to me either and I don't hit Kay."
"He doesn't hit me." Lia said really fast.
"Yes, he does. You just don't want anyone to know."
"He doesn't hit me, Miyah and why would you assume such a thing?"
"Because mom told me."
"Why does mom..."
"Because mom was in three abusive relationships and she knows the signs. I'm surprised she even let him in the house."
"Well..."
"He was there when she got there, wasn't he?"
"Yeah." Miyah sighed.
"Lia, listen because I'm warning you. Mom is not going to let that boy walk all over you and I'm telling you this to protect my mother from prison. Keep him away from that house, because if he hits you anywhere near mom, she will kill him and we'll be seeing her through glass."
"Mom, won't don't that."
"Did you grow up with a different mom than me?"
"No..."
"Then you know she'd do that." There was silence.
"Lia, I'm saying this because I love you, you need to leave him alone. I don't want the next time we see each other to be at your funeral." Lia stayed silent.
"I'll talk to you later."
"I love you, Lia."
"I love you too." Lia hung up her phone and sat on her bed. She took some deep breaths and thought for a second before grabbing her make up bag and going to her bathroom.
Pulling down her turtleneck, she saw two big bruises on her neck, as well as the ones on her face. Getting her things out, she began the process of covering them up. She wasn't having much luck with getting them fully covered. Sighing in frustration, she sat her things down.
"Concealer goes on before the foundation for a smooth and clean look." Lia jumped at her mother's voice. Janet walked over and grabbed the brush and makeup. She fixed the patchy spots and Lia's skin looked as if nothing happened.
"Thanks, this makeup thing is kind of hard sometimes." She lightly chuckled.
"I would think you'd know how to do it since you've been practicing since twelve, but makeup can be hard.............especially when trying to cover up secrets." Lia looked at her mom. She put her things up and picked at her fingers.
"How did you know?"
"I've had plenty of practice." Janet pushed Lia's hair behind her ear. "But I don't practice that anymore and you shouldn't either." There was silence. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour."
"Okay." Janet left the room and went back downstairs. Lia looked at herself in the mirror but what she saw, she didn't recognize.
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