6

§ ELLIE §

I walked into the playground, making my way to the school gates. I saw Sandra, Aminah and her friends stood at the sidelines, talking to each other. Dumb bitches, strutting around the school like they owned the place. I was queen bee, and these bitches needed putting in their place. It was time to have some fun.

I had so many problems at home, with family, with my little sister. I guess bullying people made me feel powerful. Made me feel like I had some sort of importance; made me feel validated. That’s why I did it… because my own mother and father always bullied me. I just projected out my anger onto other kids at school.

I walked over to them, and kicked Sandra so hard she toppled over. She sobbed uncontrollably and I broke into laughter. This would teach those girls a lesson not to fuck with me for sure. They were nobodies, and that’s all they were ever going to be.

Just as I was about to walk away, Aminah spun me around angrily.

“What the hell did you do that for?!” Aminah shouted.

I laughed again. Wow. The audacity of this bitch. Did she have any idea what the fuck she was doing? She was digging her own grave, speaking to me like that.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?!” I spat.

“Instead of pushing nice girls about, how about you go back to sleeping with older men like you always do?!” Aminah screamed.

“What the hell did you just say to me?” I denied, taken aback.

“You know exactly what I said,” she accused. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

I balled my hand into a fist angrily. Who the fuck did she think she was?!

“I’m not scared of you,” Aminah went on. “You’re just a little bully who’s got nothing good going on in her life so she takes it out on others.”

“You better watch that goddamn mouth of yours, you slut,” I argued defensively.

“Me, the slut?” she denied. “I’m not the one that meets up with 20 year old guys, darling.”

That was it. That was the last straw. I balled my hand into a fist and charged at her, punching her so hard she almost toppled over. She shoved me and then slapped my face hard, yanking at my hair and then punching me repeatedly. I clutched my body in pain, and she rolled her eyes.

What was happening to me? When did I become so weak? When did I stop teaching bitches who was boss?

“Hurt by the truth, are you?!” Aminah screamed. “Surprised I fought back?!”

I said nothing. In this moment… All I could feel was pain. Not physical pain… but emotionally. The things Aminah had just said to me, the way she spoke to me like I was a glorified slut, like I slept with every man that breathes. It really hurt me, I couldn’t even give a snide remark. Because it was the truth. I was speaking to Dante, a man I met online, who was in his 20s, when I was only 16. And I was planning to meet him too… All because I couldn’t stand the boys in my school. I felt like they didn’t understand me, or understand where I was coming from. Dante was always there to listen to me, to listen to me vent out about my problems without judgement. I guess that’s why I liked him so much, why I’d grown so attached to him… Even though deep down, I knew it was wrong to be with a man who was so much older than me. No other man made me feel the way Dante did.

“That’ll teach you not to pick on my friends,” Aminah roared, spinning me back into reality. I walked out of the school gates timidly, silent tears rolling down my cheeks.

§ ABID §

“Please, just one more chance…” Asae moaned, still clutching his crotch in pain.

“Time’s up, motherfucker,” Trex warned.

I cocked the gun in my hands and shot Asae three times through his skull, my patience wearing thin. I was getting tired of hearing his lame ass whimper like a fucking bitch.

“Trex, clear up this shit like it never goddamn happened,” I shouted.

Trex bent down towards the body, tossing it into the grave Asae had just dug. “See you in hell, motherfucker.”

§ ELLIE §

I walked down the street, looking down to the floor, still feeling humiliated about what just happened back at school. I could hear a familiar voice calling my name behind me.

“Ellie!”

I turned around to see that it was Keelan. I rolled my eyes and continued to walk, ignoring him. I really didn’t want to face anyone after the way Aminah had just put me in my place back at the school gates.

“Ellie, please just hear me out!” Keelan called. I continued to ignore him, but he bolted into a run, and caught up with me.

“Please Ellie, I was thinking about what you said,” Keelan said, exhausted. “I know I’ve had a bad history with girls, but I’m willing to change myself for you!”

Keelan drew in a deep breath.

“Please Ellie, give me a chance,” he said sadly. “I won’t let you down.”

I turned around to face him, shaking my fists angrily. “Get lost, Keelan!” I roared. “Don’t you know the meaning of personal space?! You don’t have to goddamn stalk me!”

“Ellie, I was just…” Keelan frowned, taken aback. “I just wanted to say sorry for the way I snapped at you in the first aid room!”

I sighed heavily.

“Please, talk to me!” he pleaded.

“Stop goddamn following me, Keelan!” I accused. “I’m warning you!”

I slapped him hard, across the face, and he jolted back, shocked. Before the realisation of what I’d just done could hit me, I bolted out of the street, weeping as I ran. I could hear Keelan cough up a sob.

Nevertheless, I continued to run. One foot after the other… but my phone was pinging into a frenzy in my pocket; I was getting so many notifications. I slowed down to catch my breath, and whipped my phone out of my pocket.

I checked my messages, and jolted back in shock, not being able to believe my eyes. I didn’t know what to make of what I’d just witnessed…

Dante had sent me an explicit nude image of himself. I was taken aback and confused, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to say…

I took deep breaths in and out, and shakily sent a message to Dante, trying to demand answers from him, an explanation as to why he sent the photograph.

Hey, what was that for? I texted.

To show you I’m older and I’m not like any of these school kids, he replied.

Um, I guess so… I texted.

Be ready for the weekend babe ;) I can’t wait to see you. Make sure you’re dressed sexy, it’s a high-class restaurant.

I sighed, taking deep breaths in and out, my heart hammering against my chest. It felt like somebody was waving red flags in my face… It felt like my common sense was warning me not to meet Dante.

But what could go wrong? I would just be meeting him at a restaurant, and he would be giving me so much money for doing so. It wasn’t like we were going to meet at a hotel, or his apartment…

And he was different. He made me feel special. He was like my getaway when everything in life was going shit. He’s 21… but he knows just how to be a proper gentleman. I just hoped that he would like me just as much in real life as he did online. I hoped that I would live up to any expectations he had of me… That he found me pretty enough, funny enough, classy enough.

I nodded in satisfaction as I spoke to myself, and walked out of the street, ready to make my way home.