I Belong to My Bully

4. My Prized Possession

MIA’S POV:

As I fluttered my eyes open, I found myself in darkness. I slowly made sense of my surroundings and realized that I was in my room. Who brought me here?  A question that popped into my mind as soon as I wrapped my head around the fact that I was back home. The very last thing that my mind reminisces was giving myself to the dark abyss when Elij was just a few centimeters away from me. 

Did he bring me here? No, he can’t. He loathes my existence and he was the very reason I was wrapped up in bandages and gauzes. Nothing was making sense. I was deep in my thoughts when someone entered through the old rustic door and I heard a familiar voice.

“Honey, you are awake?” My mom came closer with worry engraved on her beautiful face. Those blue eyes had love and tenderness engraved in them. Her eyes said it all, her love and her worry.

“Who did this to you? They did this to you, Mia. Tell me what happened?” She was asking so many questions, for which she already had the answers to.

I lowered my gaze and she knew who did this to me. She was crying silently. Her deep blue eyes were filled with pearls of grievance and misery.

“Mom who brought me here? “ I asked, this question was the only thing I wanted to ask.

“Elijah brought you here and then threw you in front of the apartment,” She told me.

Of course, he did. But why did he bring me here? He could have just left me by the roadside. Did he still cares about me? my mind was flooded with so many questions. “Honey, who changed your clothes and what happened down there?” She inquired. I suddenly looked down and saw that I was not in my blood stained clothes ,rather I was in an oversized T-shirt with only my panties underneath. I was lost of words and all baffled with the fact  that someone saw me naked.

“I don’t know mom,” I told the truth with confusion and dismay floating in my eyes. Like a person who just woke from a deep slumber of years and found himself in an unknown circumstances. His attitude towards me was unpredictable and capricious. One moment he was my bully and the other second he was tending to my wounds. Which in the first place were given by him.

“Honey I have brought you something to eat. Just eat and don’t get out of this room till morning. You know how it gets out there at night. Just lock the door from inside and sleep after eating,” She said kissing my forehead and was about to stand up when I grabbed her hand.

“Mom when is this going to be over? When are we going to be free? I am sick and tired. They are not nice to me in school. They humiliate me and beat me. Nobody even tries to save me. I just want to die sometime,” I said with tears rolling down my eyes. Today’s episode broke me to pieces. I suddenly had not strength left to fight. My words clenched her heart. She looked back and sat by the bed with tears rolling down her eyes too. We were the only one for each other. She then hugged me tightly and sobbed loudly.

“Mia, don’t you ever talk about dying again. You are my only hope. You have faced this all your life. Now there is just one year left and you want to die. You are getting out of here this year, just bear everything with patience as we can’t do anything about it,” She said sobbing and kissing my face. “I am sorry mom. We will get out this year. I promise,” I said cupping her face in my hands and kissing her.

“Now go to sleep as tomorrow you have to go school and Mia try to stay away from them as it the only way you can stay out of trouble. Avoid them at any cost,” She tried to console me in her own way and was on the exit of the room when I remembered something.

“Mom is he coming today?” I asked with tears in my eyes. “Yes, he is,” with that she immediately moved out of the room, without waiting for my response. Night was long and sleep was miles away from me. Random thoughts were occupying my mind.

PAST

“Mommy!” I whispered while lying on her arm. “Yes baby,” my mother replied while running her slender fingers through my hair.

“Can we go to the park again?” I asked looking at her with my puppy eyes and pouty lips. “Why do you want to go again honey?” She asked hiding her smile, she knew why I wanted to go.

“Elij is going to be there. You know he is my friend and I will marry him one day,” I asked with sparkles in my eyes. “Baby you know mommy is busy. We can’t go there every day” she said sadly, shattering all my hopes. A day with him was more valuable then all the rest. His eyes and the soothing I got from his self was everything I could ever desire. “Mommy please please pleaseee…” I repeatedly begged her to take me, with tears in my blue eyes. She couldn’t resist me.

“Okay. I will try,” She whispered.

Her life was not simple. She had to face a lot just to take me to the park once and she knew if she tried to take me again the consequences would be worse. “Okay baby, I will take you but not tomorrow. Now sleep,” she agreed. As my eyes gave themselves to the valley of dreams with my love, I felt my mother slipping out and that was something usual for us. Nothing out of the ordinary. This was our routine and I knew it. After a while I woke up as my heart pounced back due to the loud voices. I rubbed my eyes and looked around to find my mother but she was not there. I made my way out as I knew weeping was of no use. It had happened before. As I looked through the creek of the door, I was shocked. Natalie was beating my mother and cursing her.

“So the b***h and her pup want to go out. You think I am a fool. I can’t lose customers because your pup wants to go outside,” with that she smacked my mother across her face. I was scared and didn’t knew when I wet my pajamas. I couldn’t do anything as my mother had told me a million times to never get out of the room. Once when I was 3 years old I went out when Natalie was beating her and the consequences of me getting out resulted in my mother being tortured to hell in front of me, while I screamed and cried.

After some time when she was done, she fisted my mother’s hair and yanked her up. “You and your pup can go out but then you will take 10 customers at night instead of 5.Agree to this and go out otherwise you are not going out,” she said and threw my mother on the hard floor. "Okay, I will do it,” she said, with tears in her eyes and blood oozing out of her forehead.

“Now clean yourself up. People are waiting,” she said and moved out.

I ran toward her and hugged her tightly. My tears were flowing uncontrollably and I was hiccupping.

“Mommy, I don’t want to go to the park,” I said in breaks due to all the hiccupping.

She was crying too. She wanted to give me the world but unfortunately we didn’t have much. Actually we didn’t have anything.

“Honey,”

“Honey, Look at mommy”

“Look at me now,” she shouted a little, just to grab my attention and then grabbing my face and wiping my tears, she kissed me all over.

“We will go tomorrow but then you have to promise me not to meet Elijah again,” she said sadly, trying to control her tears from falling. She didn’t want me to get hurt eventually, so it was better that I face the bitterness of reality now.

“But why mommy. Elij is my friend,” I said with confusion in my eyes. “No honey. He is not. Just promise me this. If you love mommy then promise me,” she said cupping my face and making me look at her.

“Okay mommy,” I said with tears in my eyes. Love hurts, it always hurts, even when you are young enough to not understand it and even when you are old enough to bear the loss.

The pain is always worse than a billion bees stinging you, worse than being stabbed continuously and worse than being salt rubbed on your fresh wounds. So you have to make peace with the fact that where there is love, there is pain. The bond is unbreakable and this oath is marked with blood. So if you want to love than build the courage to bear the pain and agony too. As it is inevitable to love but not receive pain.

After that she brought me back to our room and after cleaning me she went out. But I was happy and sad at the same time. Happy for meeting him tomorrow and sad for not meeting him after that.

She didn’t come all night. In most cases she returned by 4:00 a.m., but that day she came by 10a.m. She was all bruised and limping. She thought I was sleeping but I woke up the moment she entered and saw her moving to the bathroom with great difficulty.

Next day we went to park and Elijah and his mother were there. His mother was a nice lady. She sat by my mother and I went to play with Elijah. We played for an hour and then laid down on the grass holding each other’s hands.

“Elij, I will not come tomorrow,” I squeaked holding my tears at the edge of my eyes. He suddenly looked at me and his face got gloomy and crystal clear eyes lost their color.

“Don’t cry,” he cuddled me sitting up and wiping my tears with the back of his soft hands. I could just get lost in the warmth of those if I could just lay there forever in his arms. “But we won't meet again. Ever,” I said with tears, which were now running down like waterfall. “I will find you,” he smiled looking in my eyes. I believed him as I knew he would find me even if we were five back then. I knew that for him the promise was his life and I knew one day my door will knock and I would find him at the doorsteps waiting for me.

“Pinky promise,” I said, with tears in my eyes but I was smiling now. The reassurance that he will find me was enough. I forwarded my finger for the promise “Promise Mia.” He said holding my finger.

“Look what I made you,” he said getting something out of his pocket. It was necklace made of macaroni and shells. Every shell and macaroni was painted in different colors, making the necklace vibrant with rainbow colors. It was a dream gift for a five year old. It was the first thing anyone ever gifted me. I never demanded any gifts from my mother as I always knew we were poor and besides her I didn’t know anyone. “It’s for me? “I said with twinkling eyes and a wide smile on my face. He nodded his head and I immediately grabbed it from his hand and wore it.

Then I ran towards our mothers and twirled around to show it. “Look mommy, Elij made it for me,” I said swirling around while giggling. “Honey its beautiful,” my mother said smiling. “He spent his whole night making it. He has never ever done this for anyone, even for me,” His mother said looking at me with love.

As I twirled and swirled he gazed at me with those blue eyes of his. I knew that I was his from that moment. His love was smirking from those eyes and mine was captured in the macaroni necklace he gave me.

“I will find you MY MIA,” he whispered in my ears before leaving me.

PAST ENDS

After that day we never met until I got a scholarship and got into the famous high school of town. He was there for me. But I have seen him before in shadows all my life.

I still have that necklace. I have protected it with all my heart, for all these years. It was my prized possession. It was the only thing I had of my love. I never stopped loving him. Everyday I would wake up in the hope of seeing him somehow and slept by dreaming about him. Every day I bore the pain with a smiling face just in the hope that one day he would come like a knight in a shining armor and will rescue me.

As I got older, I realized it was better for me to not meet him. But I met him. And the day I met him was the day my life went down the hill. Meeting him brought only disasters in our lives. I wish I never would have met him again. I wish that those happy memories would be the only thing I remembered about him.

I could only wish…………..