Cruel Kisses (It's Just High School #2) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,1
threaten her,” Mom says, her voice steady but it sounds strange, hurried, frantic and distorted. “Let my child go!”
The man starts laughing, but it sounds hard and scratchy, not at all pleasant.
“Your child?” The man laughs again. “Do you think I’m stupid, Nicky?” he shouts, his grip on my arm now tighter.
“Nathan, listen…”
“Don’t you dare take another step forward or I swear I’ll end her right here, right now.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Mom cries.
“You’ve always underestimated me, that’s always been your problem,” the man says. “Her blood is on your hands.”
“Step away from her, Nathan!” my aunt cries, looking distressed. “Let her go and we can talk. Tell me what you want. You don’t want her. She’s just a child.”
“She’s my child, bitch! You are the reason we’re in this mess to begin with!”
“No…” my aunt starts, taking a step forward.
“You think I don’t know that you’re the one who got into my fiancé’s head, whispering lies in her ears that I don’t love her or my own child? Manipulating her for your own gain?”
“Nathan…”
“No, you are the one who told her that I’d use my daughter to go after that asshole you sleep with,” the man shouts. “You spread your legs like the whore you are for a married imbecile like him?”
“No, she didn’t say anything to me, Nathan,” Mom cries, her hands clasped together like she’s muttering a prayer. “Please, my sister had nothing to do with me leaving you.”
“Three years!” the man shouts. “Three fucking years!”
“Nathan, I’m sorry!” Mom cries. “I came out here because I found a job…”
“Stop lying to me!” the man shouts. “You took three years of getting to know my daughter away from me! Three years! Now look at her, I missed her first walk, her first word, all of her firsts that matter. Now, she doesn’t even know me.”
“I know you’re upset. I also know that you’re hurt but please Nathan, we can find a way to make everything right again,” Mom cries. “Just put the knife down.”
“Make it right?” the man scoffs. “The only way this is going to be all right is through my way. I’ve waited three years for this, after you left in the middle of the fucking night.”
“Yes, you won. You’ve bested us all, now let her go,” my aunt says, taking another tentative step closer to us. My aunt has always been brave. Mom even said she was a daredevil and the fact that she was my mom’s older sister helped, I guess.
“Make a move, Nancy, I swear to God, I’ll slit her throat right before I slit yours, you whore.”
The man is trembling with anger, visibly bristling, making me upset as well.
All I want to do is get in my mom’s arms. She’ll make this nightmare stop. But I know better than to move an inch. I’m so paralyzed with fear that the only thought in my head right now is I don’t want to die. And I also don’t want this man to be my father as he claims he is.
“Mommy,” I start crying, but the man holds me tighter, his grip on my arm growing painful. “I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die, baby,” Mom soothes, her voice shaky and high pitched. “Everything’s going to be all right, okay?”
I nod, tears streaming down my face. I try my best to do as I’m told but I’m scared. Who is this man? Why did he break into our home? Why is he calling me his child?
“Back up, Nicky!” the man shouts, pressing the blade against my neck, now drawing blood.
“Shut up!” the man spits, making me flinch. I bite down on my bottom lip, trying my best not to cry.
The man peers down at me. There’s a wild look in his eyes, and he’s unable to stand straight, swaying from left to right, his knees rimming into my back, painfully. I hate him.
“Amy, my Princess, don’t make me hurt you, okay?” he says, his words sounding funny. “Just don’t make any sudden movements, okay. Your mother, your aunt and I have to sort out a few things and we’ll be one big happy family again.”
No, my family didn’t include him. Auntie has a boyfriend though. He comes over and plays with me. He says he has his own kids too, that I’ll meet soon.
“Please, I’ll do anything, just let my daughter go,” Mom cries, frantically waving her hands in the air. “What do