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“Alright, fine.” I pretend to pout, and he growls at me. Running off to the kitchen, I giggle. My phone goes off in the bedroom and I look at Daddy. “Is it alright if I go see who’s calling?”
“Of course.” He kisses my forehead and reaches into the cupboard to get the bowl down. I pick up my panda from the counter where I left it earlier this morning and go to grab my phone. It’s my mom.
“Hi, Mom. How did you get service up there?”
“What the hell is going on, Jasmine?” My mom never cusses at me, and I pull the phone from my ear and look at the phone dumbfounded.
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean?” She mimics me. “How could you do such vile things?”
“Vile things?” I’m so lost right now. “I don’t know what you mean, Mom. You are scaring me.”
My brain is swimming with what in the world she could mean. I haven’t done anything. “Check your phone. This was sent to David today. I sure as hell hope this is a joke.”
“Mom, I didn’t send anything. I swear, I haven’t done vile things. I promise.” My head hurts by the time I hear thebingin my ear.
The message downloads, and I nearly drop my cell phone. There’s a large manilla envelope with my name on it addressed to David. It’s not in my handwriting though. “I didn’t send that.”
“Oh, well, it doesn’t matter who the hell sent it, Jasmine. Look at the other pictures that were sent to David.”
Putting my phone on speaker, I look at my phone wondering what in the world is going on. A picture of me bent over Christopher’s desk and him behind me pulling my hair stares back at me.
Beneath the picture, I see the words. Plain as day. “David, it seems you helped raise a naughty little slut. I’m glad I gave her the scholarship.”
My vision blurs with tears, and my heart is beating so fast, I can’t focus. There’s a ringing in my ears and blackness tries to take me under. “Mom.” That’s all I can get out before she interrupts me.
“Do you have any idea what this means? David’s boss hand delivered it to him and fired him. Said that if he could have such a step-daughter in his house, he couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t do the same thing as a way to climb up the ladder at his job.”
“Mom, I …I…” The words slip from me as my legs give out as another picture comes through. This time I’m in the cage and the machines are fucking me.
“You need to pack your bags and go to the house and wait for us.”
“What? Why?” I wipe the tears from my cheeks but more just keep coming.
“Oh, that’s the best part Jasmine!” Her voice is shrill, and another picture comes through my phone. I don’t want to look at it. “Look at it. Just look at what all of this has cost you.”
Picture after picture comes in of me in various states of undress and plenty of compromising positions with Chris. But finally, the part mom must be talking about comes in. It’s a letter from the College.
In big bold letters,Scholarship Termination. No. How… How could Chris do this?
My silence must jolt my mother because when she talks to me again, it’s quiet and calm. “Jazzy, I’m not mad at you, it was the shock that had me screaming. I’m sorry I cussed at you, but you need to come home. We have to figure out how to fix this.
There is no fixing this. My heart’s ripped in two, my step-father has been fired, and my reputation is up in flames.
“I have to go, mom,” I whisper and hang up. Wishing I was numb and that God would strike me dead right here so I don’t have to face this shit, would be a miracle.
Getting up from the bed, I look at the panda on the floor and I nearly fall to the floor and crawl into my cage. It would be easier to ignore everything once I’m in my security blankets. That’s not the case is it though?
Leaving the panda on the floor, I walk into the living room. I see the man I’m in love with, looking at the movies he had bought for us tonight, trying to decide what to watch. My heart breaks as he turns around.
“You…” How do I even formulate words right now when I can’t comprehend what he’s done?
He looks so concerned. “Are you alright, little one?”
A panicked laugh comes out of me. “Clearly, I’m not.” My breaths come out in gasping rushes. “How could you?” Everything has been a lie.
“Ah, so David received my package. Perfect. I can stop pretending to be the loving Daddy to your stupid ass.” His demeanor changes right in front of me. “I’ve waited years to tear my step-brother down. You were the perfect puzzle piece.”
