Chapter 5

“He did what!?!”

“Keep your voice down! I am sitting right next to you, ya know,” Chanice replied softly. She was in the passenger’s seat of Justin’ light blue Explorer, a gift from UNC when he chose to accept their basketball scholarship. The two of them were on their way back to his house because Chanice didn’t want her parents to know about her and Pierre just yet.

“I’m not gonna lower my damn voice! It’s my fuckin’ car!” Justin exclaimed. Chanice winced. She could tell that he was thoroughly pissed off by the extensive use of profanity in his statement. Justin saw his friend wince and placed his right hand on her knee.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you Cece. I’m just pissed that he actually put his hands on you! Did he hit you?”

“No, he just grabbed my arm and even after I told him that he was hurting me he wouldn’t let go. In fact, he squeezed it tighter,” she replied, rubbing her sore arm.

“So why is your dress torn?”

“He pushed me and I tore on some tree.”

“He pushed you!?!” Justin exclaimed, slamming on his brakes. That God there was no one behind them.

“That’s it. I’ma kill him.”

“Justin! How ‘bout you focus on not getting us killed right now!?!”

“I’ma gut him like the scum his is,” he continued, picking up speed. Chanice listened as his death threat ramblings continued. She was still in shock from the whole experience; she couldn’t stop herself from shaking and crying. How could he do that to her? How could the guy who loved her cause her so much pain both mentally and physically?

“Are you there?” Justin’s voice and snapping fingers in her face brought Chanice out of her trance-like state.

“Huh? I’m sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”

“I asked you if you were ok?”

“Yeah, I’m ok.”

“Alright. I guess I just got so wrapped up in how I was gonna kill him that I forgot to see how you were feeling.”

“It’s ok. Thank you for coming to get me though.”

“You don’t have to thank me Cece; I just did what needed to be done. Now what’s the game plan? You still wanna come to my house?”

“Yeah. I’ll go home when I’m sure my folks are sleep. I just don’t wanna deal with them tonight.”

“Alright. You know you can just stay the night if you want. You know the guestroom is you unofficial room.” It was true. The closet in the room was full of her clothes and shoes, some even from when she was younger. She even had some bathroom space for all the toiletries she’d left or kept there over the years. And it was the same way for his things at her house.

“So you wanna call ‘em and tell ‘em you’re spending the night?” Chanice checked the time on the radio display before replying, “They’re sleep; I’ll send my dad a text message. He’ll see it when he gets up for his ‘middle of the night bathroom run’.” She pulled out her Sidekick and typed a message letting her dad know that she was just gonna stay the night at Justin’s and that she would see them in the morning. Justin pulled in his garage just as she hit ‘Send’, and the two of them sat in the car in silence for a minute after he killed the engine.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” he asked her again.

“Yeah; I think I’ll be ok. I just need to…” Chanice didn’t finish her statement. She fiddled with her charm bracelet and stared off.

“You got new charms?” Justin asked after noticing her gift from Pierre.

“Yeah, he gave me these and earrings tonight,” she replied, pulling the velvet box out her purse and handing it to him.

“Wow Cece; these are beautiful.”

“I knew you’d say that,” she choked out through tears.

“Aww Cece; don’t cry,” Justin said, pulling her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a blubbering mess.”

“Naw, you’re ok,” he replied, wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb, “Come on, let’s go in the house. We both need to some rest.” She nodded and they both exited the car and headed into the home. Chanice knew they house like it was her own, but still accepted Justin’s hand when he offered it as they were going upstairs. He walked her to ‘her’ bedroom and kissed her forehead sweetly before holding her and saying, “It’s gonna be alright, ok?” Chanice nodded.

“Goodnight Cece.”

“’Night Jay.” Justin waited until Chanice closed the door to go to his room. He hated seeing her like this; he hated that she had allowed herself to be broken by Pierre once again.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, throwing his composition book across his room. Thank God both of his parents were sound sleepers or else Lynn would’ve come up to his room and cussed him out two days passed Sunday. Justin walked over to his bed and sighed as he plopped down on it.

“Why Cece? Why are you still with that dude?” he asked no one in particular. He laid back, stretching his limbs and yawning before he glanced to his right and saw his English binder still open and on the page he’d been writing his latest assignment.

He glanced at the poem and scribbled ‘For Cece’ on the top of the page. Just sighed and closed the binder and placed it on his nightstand. He stood up and pulled off his black wifebeater and shoes and socks before turning off his light and getting back in his bed and under his covers. Chanice had just finished her 6th total pace around ‘her’ room. She stared down at the phone in her hands and let the tears fall from her face. She re-read Pierre’s 4 IMs before deleting them and signed off of AIM. She didn’t need this. She didn’t need his harassment on top of what he did to her earlier that night. She turned her phone on ‘Silent’ and placed it in her purse and started taking off her dress. Once she was just in her panties she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a big t-shirt and a pair of her cheerleader shorts. She turned off the light and got in the bed and under the covers, but she couldn’t get comfortable. She tossed and turned for about 30 minutes until she finally got up and waked to Justin’s room. She inched open his door and whispered, “Jay?”

“Come on Cece,” he replied, scooting back towards the wall and lifting his arm and the covers so she could get in next to him. This was something they’d been doing forever. It didn’t matter which house they were at; Chanice couldn’t sleep under the same roof as Justin unless he was next to her. It’d become so routine that he didn’t even have to open his eyes or wake up. Once she was settled in next to him Justin wrapped his arm around her middle. He kissed the back of her head sweetly and could tell that she’d already fall asleep by her even labored breathing.

“Sleep well Cece,” he said before kissing her head once more and mumbling ‘I love you’ in her hair. Chanice smiled. Justin always did that when he thought she was asleep, thinking that she wouldn’t hear him…but she did. She heard him everytime.