Melissa's heart started racing faster than it ever has in her entire life. It was beating so fast that she was barely able to breathe. She gazed at the pictures as Rodrigo softly slapped the belt against his right hand. In an instant, Rodrigo snatched Melissa up and started whipping her with the belt. The sound of the belt snapping against her skin and back echoed through the room as Melissa's screams of horror and pain filled the room. He held her by her wrist and continue to whip her back, watching as she stumbled onto the floor. Rodrigo continued to hit her as she cradled on the ground, catching Maria's attention as she ran into the room.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Maria asked.
Rodrigo held the photos up, dropping a few.
"The private investigator I hired just caught Melissa having sex with that damn hoodlum who stole from my mother!" Rodrigo barked.
Maria's eyes widened as she rushed over to Melissa, snatching her up by her arm.
"Get up! Get up now!" Maria scowled. "You're out there having sex with these nasty high school boys, Melissa!?!?"
"Boys!" Melissa shouted back as she cradled her hands by her face. "He was the only one I ever had sex with!"
"You aren't married and you sure as hell ain't an adult!" Maria scowled. "What the hell are you doing out there having sex like it's okay!?"
"Do you know the possibilities that come with this, Melissa!?" Rodrigo yelled at her. "Diseases, children, risks, etc-"
"What the heck is beating me gonna do!? We've already done it!" Melissa scowled. "In fact, that isn't even the first time it's happened-"
Maria smacked Melissa before she could fully get her sentence out. Maria shook her head, giving her a disgusted look.
"I don't even know who you are anymore!"
As Maria stormed out of the room, Melissa was panting heavily up at Rodrigo. He glanced down at her, striking her and smacking her so hard that she fell onto her bed. She cradled her face as Rodrigo gripped onto his belt.
"I am taking you tomorrow to the doctor and I'm gonna have them give you a urinary pregnancy test and a test for any diseases." Rodrigo demanded. "I won't be helping out with EITHER if they both come back positive."
As Rodrigo stepped out of the room with Melissa's car keys, Melissa slammed the door and plopped back onto her bed, trying to calm herself down. While panting, she heard Rosa and Rodrigo going at it again. She walked closer to the door, listening to their conversation.
"Mom, we aren't about to have this conversation now!" Rodrigo snapped. "You aren't even supposed to be out of bed!"
"If you didn't shelter her so much maybe she wouldn't be out fucking this boy!" Rosa scowled.
In the middle of the conversation, Melissa heard her fathers phone ring. He answered it and murmured something, placing his phone down.
"I've got an operation I've got to be to so unfortunately I'm gonna have to deal with Melissa later." Rodrigo growled. "She isn't doing anything outside of eating, showering, and studying this weekend. We're not discussing what we're doing with MY child. Goodnight, mother."
After hearing Rodrigo walk down the stairs, Melissa crept out of her room and saw her grandmother standing by the stairs. She turned to Melissa as Melissa cracked a small smile.
"Thank you, grandma." Melissa said in a shaky tone.
Rosa gave Melissa a blank stare, looking down.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Melissa."
Melissa's face went blank as Rosa walked into her room, shutting her door. She didn't expect to hear this from her grandmother at all. And in all honesty, Melissa didn't regret anything she did with Jionni. She did it because she wanted to and because she felt like doing it.
The next Friday, Rodrigo was so pissed that he made Melissa pick up her work from school so that she could stay home. Afterwards, he took her to the doctor so that they could give her a urinary pregnancy test even though they could've just done it at home. Still, he wanted to make sure that he got 100% results from that and from her disease tests. After waiting for 20 minutes, the doctor came back with a smile on her face.
"Congratulations!" The doctor smiled. "She received negative on both tests."
"Both?" Rodrigo asked.
"Both." The doctor grinned. "It was either because she was really lucky, or because she used the old fashioned safety method. A condom."
"Which is what I told him I did..."
Melissa looked at Rodrigo as Rodrigo gave her a furious look. He smiled and got up, shaking the doctors hand.
"That's all we'll need." Rodrigo smiled. "Thank you."
When Rodrigo got home, there was no wiggle room for Melissa. The second they got through the door, Rodrigo grabbed Melissa's arm and tugged her into her room, watching her stumble inside.
"I've got surgery that I need to attend to, but don't think that this means that you're off the hook." Rodrigo demanded. "Your grandmother will be here to keep a fresh eye on you."
"Oh my go-"
"And you're going to swim practice on Monday. ON TIME!" Rodrigo also demanded. "I already told the teacher to let me know when you aren't in there when it's your time."
When Rodrigo left, she glanced out of her window and watched as he pulled out of their large driveway. As soon as his car drove off, Melissa grabbed the cell phone that Louis gave her and called on Trina. She didn't forget about their shopping trip.
"Hello?" Trina answered.
"Hey Trina, we're still on that shopping trip?"
Trina gave Melissa a set time that the girls were going to be there. 3:30pm. Since Melissa didn't have her car keys, she had no choice but to sneak out of the house and go to a local bus. She climbed out of her window and shut it, slowly climbing down and walking to the bus stop that was closest to her destination. Since her mother and father were going to be gone and Rosa usually slept the most during these times, she knew that she could be out and in before they got back. When she arrived, she saw Tiffany and the girls standing in the front.
"Hey guys!" Melissa waved.
When the girls saw what Melissa had on, they paused and burst into laughter. Melissa looked at her skirt and dress shirt, slouching her shoulders.
"I know, I know...." Melissa groaned. "It's all that I have."
"Girl, we gone make dis' shit quick so we ain't gotta look like we shoppin' wit a nun." Mercedes laughed. "Come on!"
As Melissa was walking, she stopped when she noticed that one of the girls were very familiar with her. One of the girls was the girl that she fought at school.
The girl that she fought on the first day.
"Why you stop walking?" Trina asked as she turned around.
"Ain't you that bitch that I fought on school the first day?" Melissa asked as she looked at the girl, unintentionally talking like Jionni again. "The one that pushed me?"
Britt Bratt turned around, rolling her eyes.
"Girl, that was almost 6 months ago-"
"Yeah but it still happened." Melissa snarked at the girl.
