Page 92 of A Pretty Fixation

You’re a fucking mistake!

“Ah!” I grip my head as a flood of memoriesbombard me.

Don’t you cry! Don’t you fucking cry!

I hasten from the building when I reach the mainlevel, knocking into people as I hurry towards my dorm.

A child’s scream echoes in my ears, causing me tocover them. I cringe at painful slaps and the sting on my scalp at the tuggingof my hair.

My head’s throbbing, and I’m starting to feelnauseous.

I’m a shaky mess by the time I reach my dorm. Itake the elevator up, arching over from the tsunami of memories. They’re all ofher—my grandmother.

Oh no. God, please no.

I try to focus on happier memories over the years.But that’s futile. The walls have plummeted, and I can’t put them back intoplace.

My vision starts to blur. As the elevator opens, Idrag myself down the hallway, calling Scarlett as I fight to reach the room.

I’m barely inside before my body tumbles.

“Hello? JD? What’s wrong?” Scarlett’s voice fadeson the phone as I sink into a pit of darkness.

My heart is pounding severely with anticipation.

I hear her stomping around, slamming cupboarddoors, and cursing. She’ll come looking for me soon.

I’m squeezing Taffy tightly at the chest, wishingshe wasn’t just a stuffed animal and had the power to save me.

“Ah!” I yelp when she shoves the door open andenters the bedroom, huffing like the beast that she is.

I burrow myself further into the corner, crying.

Her dark eyes glare at me. “Where is it, youlittle shit? Where’s the bottle I bought last night?”

“You finished it, Grandma,” I sob. “You drank itall.”

She scrunches up her face, looking older andscarier. “What did you say, you bitch? You’re lying! I know you hid it.”

I wobble my head. “No, Grandma. I swear.”

“Come here!”

I scream as she yanks me by the hair and drags mefrom behind the bed. “You need another lesson.”

“No! Please, Grandma!” I cry and beg over and overas she grabs the belt. “Please! No!”

“I’ll teach you not to lie to me.” She pulls downmy shorts and underwear. “Bad girls should be punished!”

I kick and squirm in my attempt to break free, butshe’s too strong, setting me over her lap and holding me in place.

“Fucking liar!”

A guttural scream tears from my lungs at the firstpainful sting of the belt striking my flesh.

“Momma!”

No matter how hard I cry and how much I beg, shekeeps beating me.

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