All I could think about was how I just messed up everyone's lives. The Freeman's, Cindy's, mine… I should have left when I had the chance. My dad would have gotten me back into school, I could've gone so many routes but I chose to stay. And now everyone was going to pay for it. Huey was hugging me so tight, I felt like I could barely breathe.

"Huey," I mumbled, finally able to stop apologizing profusely.

He pulled away from me, looking at the wet spot on his shirt from my tears, "Yeah?"

"I'm okay," I took a step back from him. I felt my face get red, he had hugged me, held me while I cried and I hadn't even given it a second thought. I was so worried I would never be completely normal again around guys, but maybe that wouldn't be the case eventually. "I'm so sorry. If I leave now, maybe this will all go away for you guys."

"It's past that, it's not even about you now," Huey shook his head back and forth. His fists were balled up at his side and he was still breathing heavy, obviously trying to calm himself down. "Fuck. Fuck, I don't know what the hell I'm going to do."

"Huey, I can leave," I repeated myself. "I-I have money. I'll pack my stuff and go to my dad's. I'll explain everything to him. He'll get the cops involved, it'll be fine."

"I don't want you to leave, Jazmine. I don't want that," he relaxed his hands and grabbed my forearms. The touch sent shivers up my arms and spine and I instinctively pulled back. He stepped back and rubbed his forehead, "I'm sorry. Let's go inside," he mumbled before turning around and heading inside. I followed after him, repeatedly checking back over my shoulder until I finally got inside. I locked the door after me and turned around, Robert was yelling, trying to figure out what was going on, Riley was yelling at nobody in particular, tossing things around and Huey was trying to diffuse the situation.

"You really wanna know what happened Granddad? Go ask that yellow bitch standing by the door. It's her fucking fault we all got a fucking target over our heads." Riley snapped, pointing at my direction. I was never particularly a bold person, but I would have never let anybody speak about me like that, especially to my face. I just couldn't find it in myself to say something and stand up for myself because he wasn't wrong. I felt like jelly, about to melt into the ground and ready to burst into tears again.

"Don't talk about her like that," Huey snapped loudly, stepping up to Riley.

"Oh and what? Are you really fucking like that old nigga said you were? Get the fuck out my face Huey," Riley balled his fists and before I could even blink, Huey swung and punched Riley in the face. I gasped loudly and ran over, Robert holding his cane up and shaking his head at me. They went at each other, tripping and tumbling over furniture, throwing punches at each other's faces and bodies.

Robert dropped his cane and stood up as straight as possible, something that I hadn't seen him do in all my time of being here. He winced slightly and yelled loudly, "BOYS! Stop all that fightin' NOW!" It took a few seconds but they looked at him, both dropping their hands at their sides and standing up straight. I wanted to go to my room, it didn't feel right watching something that was between family, but I didn't dare move an inch. I could barely see Riley and Huey since their backs were facing me but I could only imagine how bad the damage was, they weren't holding back.

Robert, sat down in his recliner, shaking his head, "Now both of you need to sit down and tell me what the hell is going on. You too, sweetie pie, come sit down with us." I shakily moved into the living room, sitting on the far end of the couch. Huey sat down next to me and Riley decided to stand until Robert snapped at him and he sat down beside Huey.

Robert looked at all three of us, mostly Riley and Huey, expectantly but no one said anything. I cleared my throat, "This is all my fault. I don't know if you know why I'm here but my mom came to the school, and that ended with her boyfriend following us back here. He was only here for me but Huey stood up for me, and he pissed him off. Mr. Freeman, I'm so sorry, I can understand if you don't want me to be here anymore-" I could feel myself talking faster and faster until he cut me off.

"Now, relax. This was bound to happen sooner or later, running the streets don't do anybody no good. We can deal with this and find some way to figure it out," Robert said calmly, his face set in stone.

"That's some bullshit, I know you know who Raekwon is. He's gonna kill all of us Granddad." Riley snapped again. Huey side-eyed him, looking like he was ready to fight again if any bad-mouthing started up again. "I need to go so I can pick Cindy up, I don't want anything to happen to her."

Robert nodded his head once and Riley got up. Huey sighed and glanced out the window, "James is still out there. Go with him. Call me if anything happens." Riley just nodded his head and left, not even caring about the bruised face and busted lip he sported. I had forgotten that someone came for backup. What happened to them helping out when what just happened went down?

"Huey, the last thing you need to do is be fighting with your brother. You guys need to cooperate. I don't want any more of that going out on the weekends and at night, it's not going to do any good."

"You think that matters? He could shoot us up at school," Huey retorted, leaning forward and wincing slightly.

"Shut the hell up boy, you think I don't know that? My priority is making sure y'all stay alive, nothing else. Regardless, you both need to get out them streets. It's not the world. All this bullshit and this is what it gets you. You got a good damn head on your shoulders, and it's going to go to waste. You're going to end up dead or in jail, and which one looks like it's approaching faster?"

"Granddad, I wasn't going to let Raekwon take Jazmine."

"I ain't say a damn thing about that. Let me tell you something, I don't know what cutie-pie here means to you, but this isn't something you need to be dealing with. I was willing to let her stay here, but it's obviously much more serious than I thought it was." Robert looked at me sadly, looking like he wanted to apologize and I felt my stomach drop. He was going to kick me out, this was it. I didn't even blame him, but I wasn't expecting it. I had grown used to the Freemans, close to Huey and Robert. "Jazmine, I'm sorry this is happening but you need to get the right people involved, and it ain't Huey. This is bigger than you can handle alone."

"I understand Mr. Freeman," I choked back tears, "I truly am sorry, I wish none of this would have happened."

"I'm not mad at you, and I will help you in any way that I can but I need to make sure that my grandsons are going to be okay."

I didn't bother to say anything, just nodded and folded my hands in my lap, twiddling my thumbs. To my surprise, Huey's laid his hand over mine and squeezed them gently. "Granddad please let her stay. I promise I will deal with this. I want all of you safe and I'll do whatever I have to in order to make that happen."

I looked over at Huey, his left cheek was swollen and bruised and a small trickle of blood was dried up from a split by his eyebrow. Robert sighed and shook his head, "I… okay. Only because I can't do any better. Please, keep you and your brother alive." He grabbed his cane and stood up slowly before walking off to his room and closing the door.

"Huey, just know I will never forgive myself for all this," I said after sitting in silence right next to him for what felt like forever. It almost made me wish that Riley would come barging in, because then at least Cindy would be there. She was probably at practice, and almost nothing took her away from practice.

He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know how to say this. I don't want to make you uncomfortable but I need you to know you're worth it."

"What?" I asked quietly, more confused than ever.

"At first, I just felt bad for you. The same thing that happened to you, happened to my mom. I wanted to protect you from that, even though I didn't know you. I didn't really think anything of you, but I got to know you and you are so smart, so thoughtful. You have a light in you, something that I saw in myself just a few years ago, that doesn't deserve to be dimmed. I will make sure that this gets dealt with."

A warm feeling blossomed in my chest and I turned my head slightly to look away from the intensity of Huey's eyes. Still, I shook my head. "This is so much worse than that. Raekwon will kill you, Riley, Cindy and your granddad. I will go back and I'll find a way to get out of it on my own."

"Are you crazy? You don't have to go back to that Jazmine," Huey said, almost shouting at me. He checked himself before continuing, "Don't subject yourself to what he will do to you."

"I'll get out of it. I'll tell my dad how important it is before I go, and it'll be dealt with in no time. I'll survive. I should have done that in the first place, I was an idiot not to go and tell my dad. Just because I didn't want to bother him."

Huey spent the next ten minutes trying to talk me out of it, but I had already made up my mind. I told him that I wouldn't go along with my plan, but tonight I would leave once I knew for sure everyone was asleep. It made me scared, to go back to Raekwon and my mom knowing that what would happen to me would be ten times worse but I was willing to go through more if it meant that four people close to me wouldn't lose their lives.

Once Cindy and Riley came back, the first thing that Cindy did was come and hug me. We sat and cried on the couch. I could only imagine how scared that she was, which only made me feel worse and really decide that I would have to go through with my plan. I'd have to work around Riley and Huey, but it was obvious by their tense discussion that they wouldn't be home for most of the night. I could only hope that they wouldn't have someone watching the house so that I could sneak out when they were gone.

For the rest of the evening, it was really tense. Riley eventually took Cindy home once she had calmed down. Huey was in his room and had been holed up in there for hours at this point and as far as I knew, Riley was back in his room too. It was already past midnight and they still hadn't managed to leave and I was getting closer and closer to talking myself out of not going by the second.

I took a deep breath, opened my door as quietly as I could and crept down the steps quietly. I put on the shoes I had by my door and unlocked it slowly so it didn't click too loud. I only opened up the door enough for my body to slip out before letting it close. I locked it with the spare key they had given me a few weeks ago and dug up a small hole in the dirt with my foot before tossing it in and covering it back up. Riley room faced the back of the house but Huey's faced the front. I didn't want him to look out and see me so I stayed against the house, walking slowly until I ran to the sidewalk and down the street and around the corner. It was hot and the streets were busy, so instead of walking, I took the bus as close as I could.

I felt sicker the closer I got to what could only be called my personal hell. I physically felt like I was going to throw up. I almost didn't get off at my stop but I forced myself up, wobbly legs and all, and slowly made my way back to my moms house. I could see Raekwon's car on the street and I held back tears as I walked up to the dingy door and knocked on it.

There was fumbling around inside before I heard footsteps head towards the door.

"Look who decided to show up," Raekwon chuckled as he looked down at me.

I grit my teeth, forcing out the last bit of bravery I had in my body and looked him right in his eyes. "I'll come back only if you leave my friends alone."

"As long as you don't pull that disappearing act again, I'll let them alone. Now get in the house."

I squeaked and nodded before ducking into the house. My mom was in the living room, watching tv and pushing food around on the plate she had in her hand. "Jazmine, sweetie. You're back. I'm so sorry about today, I promise it'll never happen again… I just missed you so much."

I wanted to roll my eyes and flick her off. She would be on a bender again in no time and be out of it for who knows how long. The only reason she wasn't high right now was because Raekwon wanted it to be that way. I simply nodded, freezing when I felt Raekwon's hand land on the small of my back. "Why don't you go get some food from the kitchen. Sit down and eat with us."

I nodded tersely and headed off to the small kitchen to see the KFC sitting on the counter. I grabbed a cold piece of chicken and a scoop mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. I would force myself to play nice and stomach this food even if it killed me. I sat down in the living room next to my mom, who was still pushing food around her plate.

"So Jazmine, I know you didn't let one of those little boys get inside you, right?" Raekwon asked me, looking at my mom before staring me down. My mom seemed to be in her own world, not really paying attention in any sense of the word. I didn't bother to make eye contact but I shook my head no. "Good. Now once you finish eating, go shower and go in your room."

I simply nodded my head, mentally preparing myself the best that I could for the inevitable. I finished eating as fast as I could, dumped my plate and washed it and headed off to the shower. I locked the door to the bathroom, turned the water on and kneeled on the floor quickly, throwing up everything that I had just ate without missing a beat. I was regretting everything. Why did I come here? Why hadn't I listened to Huey? Why here, of all places? I turned on the shower and stepped in, getting lost in my thoughts. I had already been doing so well and I willingly turned around and subjected myself to what was to come.

I don't know how long it was before the water ran cold, then freezing but I stayed in until I was shivering. I stepped out and wrapped a towel around me before walking out and heading straight to my bathroom. I froze up when I heard slightly moaning and the sound of suckling coming from the living room. My heart sped up and I ran the rest of the way to my room, closing the door behind me as quickly but as quietly as I could.

My room was slightly more empty then I had left it, not much but enough to be noticeable. It made me glad that I had took the more valuable and important things with me to the Freeman's house. I went over to my dresser and to the bottom drawer and grabbed some clothes to wear before sitting on my bed. I took my phone out the pocket of the sweatpants I was wearing and looked at it blankly. I would keep it and hide it, until I really needed it. I would have to wait until I was home alone before I called my dad and couldn't let the battery die so I turned it on silent and turned it off before tucking it in a shoe box in the back of my closet. I would just have to lie and say that I didn't bring it and hope that it would be at least semi-believable.

I sat on the bed quietly, listening to the noise outside and staring at my wall. My clock was gone, so I didn't even know what time it was. I knew he would come in eventually, but a small part hoped that my mom had satisfied Raekwon and he would leave me alone. At least for tonight. That didn't stop the bitterness that creeped onto my tongue when I heard the doorknob turn and the door open.

I could see Raekwon's silhouette in the darkness. "You really didn't let those lil niggas hit that sweet pussy, right?" I heard the shuffling of his jeans and the bed dipped as he knelt on it.

"No, I promise," I replied meekly.

"Mmm, we'll see about that. I made your mom give me some top so I could last longer with you. Lord knows I missed you. Can't believe you had to nerve to just leave." I could finally see him, he was close enough that I could feel the heat of his skin on mine. He squeezed my cheeks roughly and shook his head at me. "Hurry the fuck up and take your clothes off."

I froze. I could feel his length sitting against my leg and I just couldn't move. He repeated himself and I shook my head, ready to start crying when he grasped at the bottom of my shirt and forcefully pulled it over my head, yanked my bra off, and pulled at my pants and underwear. I sat naked in front of him and I held back a sob as he started to kiss on my neck. He teased at my body for so long that I realized that there was a wetness seeping onto my thighs. But why? I didn't like any of this. I was crying, trying to not focus on him so why was I so wet? I didn't understand. He swiped between my legs, chuckling to himself when he felt the results of his ministrations.

"Oh yeah, that's that good shit," he muttered before switching my position slightly and positioning himself between my legs before quickly sliding inside me. It wasn't nearly as painful this time, but it hurt in so many ways - physically, mentally, spiritually. I stared at the ceiling, listening to the hasty thrusting he was doing half-heartedly. I was disgusting, I was turned on by this. Is that why I came back? Because I wanted it? Did I do something to deserve this? This time lasted so much longer than the first but it ended the same way.

He finished inside me and told me how good I felt, how I must have loved his dick because my pussy was so wet. That next time, he was going to make me cum, he promised. With that, he walked out and closed my door behind him.

I slowly rolled over on my side and balled up as tightly as I could into myself before pulling the covers over myself. It wasn't until daybreak when I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I was sore again. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, looking down at my body to see myself sitting in a pool of blood. Was it really that bad? I had hoped that the blood wouldn't be that bad this time around, but it was worse than the first time. I pulled the blanket over my bare body and walked out my room and to the bathroom. I could hear my mom in the living room but it didn't feel like Raekwon was in the house.

I sat down on the toilet and wiped myself until there was no more blood before hunching over and putting my hands on my knees. I could hear and feel the semen dripping out of me so I grabbed another tissue to wipe and saw more blood. Red, bright blood…

My heart sped up happily in my chest. It was my period.

It was my period and I wasn't pregnant.