She opened the door and went into the bathroom. She turned on the hot water and let it run for a little bit. Grabbing the roll of tissue, she wrapped what looked like half the roll around her hand. She then lifted the toilet seat up and sat down, gently wiping herself before dropping the tissue into the toilet and flushing. While fixing her clothes back, she looked in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen and red. They hurt, and now they were dry. She then noticed bruises on her neck. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
Slowly, she opened the bathroom door and saw Josh standing in the living room, talking to Joey. She couldn’t really make out what they were saying, but Joey had something in his hands. Joy squinted to see what it was. Her panties. He put them to his face, smelled them then smiled, before giving them back to Josh. Josh smelled them and then put them in his pocket. Joy walked down the hall towards them. When Josh saw her, he smiled and kissed her on the cheek. She just wanted to get out of there.
“You ready to go?” he asked, opening the door.
Joy nodded her head and walked out the door. Josh put his arm around her as they walked to the elevator. She moved away from him, causing his arm to fall. He stopped walking and grabbed her arm, pulling her and slamming her against the wall.
“What’s wrong with you? You should be happy. Just about every girl in school wants to be with me and will do anything I say. Do you have a problem?” His face was so close to Joy’s that she could feel his spit spray across her skin. Before she could say anything, he pushed her down to the floor and stepped in the elevator that had just opened. A man and a woman already inside the elevator just stared down at Joy. She remained sitting on the floor, not bothering to get up. Josh pushed the button and the door closed, leaving her there. She forced herself off the floor and pushed the down button. When the elevator finally came, she stepped into it, grateful it was empty. She let the tears fall freely down her face. As she watched the numbers count down, she replayed everything that had happened over in her mind, trying to find some explanation for the sudden change in Josh. Had she done something to him to make him treat her like that?
Once outside the building, she looked left then right, to see if she could spot Josh. He was nowhere to be found. She started in the direction of her house, which was only ten blocks away. Her cell phone rang the whole way there. She stopped looking at it after twenty calls. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. And from the way he had acted, it seemed that he didn’t want to talk to her, either. So, why was he blowing up her phone? Joy wondered. She didn’t turn it off, however; she wanted Josh to know she ignored him every time. When she reached her room, she couldn’t even remember how long it had taken her to get there, but it seemed to have taken longer than it should have. She ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as she could stand, then got in. She just leaned up against the shower door and watched the water go down the drain, and cried.
Chapter Seven
The next day, when Joy woke up, her entire body was sore. Her toes even felt like they hurt. She didn’t want to move but she wanted to go to school. She climbed in the shower. Even though she had taken a shower the night before, she still felt dirty. After she got out, she hurried to get dressed. She stuck her head out the door to see if she could hear her parents’ usual morning argument. All was quiet, so she went to their room and knocked on the door. When she didn’t hear anything, she opened the door a crack.
Her mother was in bed with the blanket pulled all the way up to her chin. Joy watched for a moment to make sure her mother was sound asleep. Satisfied that she was, Joy walked over to her parents’ bathroom, where she opened the medicine cabinet and was confronted with many different bottles of pills. Most of them were over-the-counter pain medications, such as Tylenol and Advil. Her mother constantly took different medications because she was worried that someone was trying to poison her, and believed that she suffered one illness after the other. Week after week she would freak out about having some illness, all except the one she truly did have, which was clearly a mental disorder. On a shelf by itself stood an unlabeled bottle. Joy knew that it was Diazepam, which was a generic Valium. Her mother always dragged her along when she copped from the old lady down the street. Everybody knew that the old lady sold all her medication every month so that she could pay her bills. She sold it all, even her blood pressure meds.
Opening the bottle, she took a pill out and cupped her hand under the faucet, filling up her hand with water. Once she had swallowed the pill and made sure nothing was out of place, she rushed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She then ran to her room, grabbed her bag and left for school.
When she arrived at homeroom, Josh’s seat was empty. She sat down and looked around the room to see if he had changed his seat. But he didn’t show up, and a part of Joy wondered if he was okay. After homeroom, she walked out into the hall—very slowly, because she was still in a lot of pain. She also felt very groggy because of the pill she’d taken. Not really feeling up to class, she decided to just go to her locker, get her stuff and go home.
As she got closer, she noticed a guy and a girl leaning up against her locker, kissing. She blew her breath, hating on their open display of affection.
“Get da fuck off my locker with that shit,” she yelled.
The couple took their time breaking the kiss. Joy barely glanced at them, until she heard the guy say, “I’ll call you later.”
“Josh, how could you do this? And on my locker,” Joy screamed, tears burning her cheeks.
“Oh, it’s you. I didn’t think your smut ass would show up, after the train you caught yesterday,” he said, loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear him.
“What are you talking ’bout?” Joy asked, clearly confused.
“Don’t act like you don’t know. You know what happened yesterday,” he said, a smirk on his face.
“Josh, I don’t think this is the place to talk about this,” she said, not understanding where he was going with his statements.
“Why? You worried what everybody would think about you letting me, my cousin and his friends hit that yesterday?” he said, then busted out laughing.
“You fucking liar. You forced me to have sex with you and then acted like it didn’t happen. It was just you there, and I was a virgin,” she said, crying harder, her chest heaving up and down. She turned and looked at the crowd that had formed. She saw the doubt in their eyes. They didn’t believe her, she could tell.
“Virgin? Yeah?” he laughed harder, frowning his face as a show of disbelief.
“Why do you keep laughing? You know what happened. Why are you lying? Tell the truth,” Joy screamed in Josh’s face.
When he only laughed harder and started getting dap from some of the guys in the crowd, she became furious. She moved closer to him and smiled, right before kneeing him in the balls. He fell to the floor, gripping his crotch.
“You lying bastard,” she said as she stepped over him.
He started rolling around, calling her all types of bitches through clenched teeth. Joy kept walking until she was outside. She leaned against the building, crying and screaming and kicking the trash laying around. Her heart felt like it was breaking; she swore she could hear the cracking. After a while, she composed herself enough to continue home, but tears fell from her eyes the whole way there.
Chapter Eight
Tears fell down Joy’s face when she opened her eyes. She lifted one hand out of the water and saw that it was wrinkled and that her palm was pale and peeling. She stood up and reached for the towel that Kevin had placed on the toilet. Stepping out, she wrapped the towel around herself then bent down to let the water out of the tub before taking a deep breath.
Looking back, she couldn’t believe that she took Josh back after that. He came to her house after the incident, crying and begging her to take him back. He said that he didn’t realize how much he needed her until she stood up to him in the hall. He explained that he felt like he wasn’t in
control, and that was why he lost it on her. After his tearful begging, Joy fell more deeply into his trap, immediately taking him back and forgiving him. He never once actually said sorry for anything he did. He basically blamed his behavior on her, saying it was her who made him act that way.
“How can I be so fucking stupid?” Joy said out loud.
She finished drying off, cleaned the tub out and blew out the candles. When she returned to Kevin’s bedroom, he was sitting on the bed waiting for her. She couldn’t help but smile at him. He was so cute, and he smiled with his eyes. That alone made her want to forget her problems.
“You feeling better?” he asked.
“Yeah, a little.”
“Well, I ordered Chinese food, if you’re hungry,” he said, removing the towel from around her and sitting her on the bed. He grabbed a bottle of lotion off his dresser and began to massage it into her skin.
“Mmmm,” Joy moaned.
After he had finished massaging her entire body, he placed one of his t-shirts over her head and she slid it on. He pulled the covers back for her to get in. Once she was under the covers, with the pillows propped up, he turned on the TV.
“I don’t usually bring food into my room, but for you I’ll make an exception,” he said, entering the room carrying a tray filled with food cartons. “I didn’t know what you like, so I got a different variety of stuff.” He then handed her a plate.
They watched Double Jeopardy as they ate, occasionally talking and kissing during the boring parts. When they had finished eating, Joy took what was left to the kitchen. She placed the containers in the fridge and threw the trash away. By the time she went back to the room, Kevin was asleep. She climbed in beside him and turned the light out. She turned the movie off and flipped through the channels, occasionally stopping on something she thought was interesting. She couldn’t concentrate on anything for too long, however, and soon dozed off.
Chapter Nine
Joy opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It was 9:24 am and she was late for school. Though she hated her school, she did want to graduate and had a math test that day. She got up and looked for her clothes, finding them folded in the chair. She quickly got dressed, taking Kevin’s t-shirt off and putting it on the chair. Kevin woke up just as she was tying her sneakers.
“Good morning,” she said, when she noticed his eyes were open.
“Good morning.”
“I need to leave; I’m already late for school and I have to go all the way home first,” she said, not really wanting to leave.
“Okay, I run you home and then to school, all right?” he said.
“Aight, thank you. I appreciate everything—you letting me stay the weekend and putting up with my emotions and drama.”
“I glad to have you. For some reason, I like being around you. I’m sorry for what you’re going through, and I’m here for you. I must sound like a pussy, but I’m kinda feeling you, already,” he said, smiling.
“I feel the same way. I know it’s early but I feel like I known you forever. It’s so easy with you; it’s like everything just flows,” she said, walking to him and kissing him.
He kissed back, neither of them caring about the other’s morning breath. Breaking the kiss, Kevin got up and quickly threw some clothes on. Two minutes later they were in the car and on the way to Joy’s house.
As they pulled up to her house, Joy noticed someone sitting on her steps. “Shit,” she said.
“What?” Kevin asked, looking in the same direction.
“That’s Josh,” she said in disbelief.
“Don’t worry, I’ll walk you to your door; and if there is a problem, I got you.”
Kevin got out of the car first and went to Joy’s side. Josh got up from the steps and walked in their direction. Kevin opened the door for Joy and she got out, staying close to his side.
“Dis the dude you been wit’ all weekend?” Josh asked, not even looking in Kevin’s direction.
“Leave me alone, Josh. I have nothing to say to you,” Joy said, walking past him.
Kevin took her hand and walked her to the front door of her house. At first Josh just stood there with the smack face on, but he was growing madder by the second and walked to the door.
“Joy, why are you doing this? I just want to talk to you,” he said, trying to remain cool.
“Look, she said leave her alone, so get da fuck outta here,” Kevin said.
“Joy,” Josh continued, ignoring Kevin and grabbing Joy’s arm, pulling her to him.
Kevin moved around Joy and punched Josh in the face. Blood gushed out his nose, some of it splashing on Joy. He let her go and she moved closer to Kevin, grabbing his arm as he was about to hit Josh again. Josh was holding his nose, crying out that it was broken. Kevin took Joy’s house key from her hand and opened the door. He then gave the key back to her and she stepped inside. Kevin stood there until she closed the door. He looked over at Josh, who had taken off his shirt and was holding it up to his still bleeding nose. Kevin sucked his teeth, called Josh a bitch and walked to his car.
Inside, Joy quickly went upstairs and took a fast shower. She threw on some jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed her bag and stepped out into the hallway. She could hear noises from her parents’ bedroom but wasn’t sure what they were. They could be having sex, she thought as she turned towards the stairs. She dismissed that idea immediately—her parents didn’t even get along, though sometimes that doesn’t matter. She walked to the door and listened. She heard a woman’s laughter. Her mother? Then she heard a guy laugh. Definitely not her father. She listened some more, forgetting about school and Kevin waiting for her. She heard kissing sounds, and then the guy said, “You taste so good.” She backed away from the door with a hand over her mouth. She didn’t know how long she stood there, but she eventually snapped out of her trance then quickly ran down the stairs and out the door.
Josh was gone but his bloody shirt was lying on the steps. She walked to the car and got in, looking around to see if she could spot Josh.
“Damn, you was gone a minute,” Kevin said as he started the car.
“My fault,” was all she said.
“You all right? Don’t let that fool get to you. If you want, I can pick you up after school,” he said.
“I’m not. Just thinking ’bout this test I have today. Oh, and you don’t have to pick me up. I’ll be fine,” she said, distracted.
“You sure? It’s no problem, really,” he said, noticing how weird she was acting.
“Yeah.”
When they arrived at her school, she sat there looking out the window. She hated going to school almost as much as she hated going home. The school was dirty, with roaches as big as her size six feet. The classrooms were overcrowded and most of the teachers could care less. Finally, she reached for the door handle and then turned back towards Kevin.
“I’m sorry. I got a lot on my mind,” she said, kissing him quickly on the lips.
“It’s cool. Try to have a good day, and good luck on your test,” he said.
“I’ll call you later,” she said, then hopped out of the car.
She had to go through the front door because it was so late. As soon as she made it to the guard, she let out a breath. This dude always gave her a hard time when she was late. But he must have read her mood, because he didn’t make his usual comment—“I shouldn’t let you in, but this must be your lucky day.” He would always get too close to her butt and breasts with his electronic wand when he scanned her for weapons, and he always took everything out of her bag when he searched it. For some reason, today he just opened her bag, glanced in and handed it back. He quickly moved the wand up and down, front and back, checked her ID and let her pass. She was surprised, but glad there weren’t any problems. She walked to her third period class, making it in time for her test, which turned out to be easy. She was the first one done.
………………
Having done her test, she decided to leave. She left through a side
door that was always open on the inside, then walked to the bus stop. She wanted to be with Kevin but didn’t want to be a nuisance. He was nice, and she didn’t want to abuse his kindness. She walked down Germantown Ave until she hit Chelten Ave, where she waited for the 26. It came soon after she got there. She rode the 26 for a while, got off, then hopped on the 18, which was right there as soon as the 26 hit Chew.
When she got off the 18, she kept an eye out for Josh. She didn’t know where he had gone after Kevin fucked him up. She laughed out loud. Thinking about it now, she should have let Kevin finish the job. Making it to her house without incident, she picked up the shirt and threw it in the trash can by the steps. She then entered the house and went to the kitchen, grabbing a cold can of Pepsi from the fridge before going up to her room.
She looked towards her parents’ room, slowing up her steps, listening for any noise. Hearing nothing, she decided to go knock on the door. There was no answer, so she just stood there. She wanted to know what was going on. Never had she heard her parents having sex; and she didn’t think it was because they were careful, either.
Walking back towards her room, she decided she wasn’t going to care about it. She took a sip of soda and opened the door. Her bathroom door was open, and through the glass of the shower screen she could see her mother and some man fucking. She quickly turned away and closed the bathroom door. They mustn’t have heard her, because the water kept running and Joy could still hear their moans and grunts.
“Get out of my bathroom!” Joy screamed, banging on the door.
“Oh shit. Who is that?” she heard the man ask.
“That’s just Joy,” her mother answered, as if it was no big deal.
A minute later, her mother walked out completely naked and dripping wet. “Come on out, Curtis,” she said, motioning with her hands. A man walked out wrapped in a towel. He looked just like her father but a little lighter, younger, and a lot taller. He glanced at Joy then walked swiftly from the room. Joy heard her parents’ bedroom door close. Her mother stood there, looking at Joy with a stupid-ass smile on her face.
Nookie (Nookie Series) Page 4
