I pulled my blade without thinking twice. They were so focused on Anisa, that they didn’t even see me coming. “Bitch!” I brought my blade up and sliced one of the girls across her face, then started throwing mad punches to anybody within arm’s reach. Those bitches were twice my size. My little fists didn’t do much damage, but with my sneak surprise I had the advantage. As soon as they realized I was there, it was a wrap. It was one of the worst ass whoppings I’d ever taken, but it didn’t matter. I was there with Anisa. We took that ass whooping together.
The sound of police sirens blaring caused the group of girls to scatter, leaving Anisa lying on the ground and me kneeling beside her with a bloody lip.
“I told you to go the other way,” Anisa groaned as I helped her up. She was lumped up and bruised.
The police officer approached us and hopped out of his car. He escorted us home, where our mother threw a fit and sent us to our room. We both sat impatiently looking at each other, waiting naïvely for something to happen.
Hours passed before Anisa doubled over in pain. “I think it’s happening, Mia!” she whispered, her face contorted in pain.
“What? What do I do?” I asked.
“Aghh! Miamor, I think something’s wrong!” Anisa agonized as she held her lower stomach and crouched down at the side of the bed. A small spot of blood showed through her jeans, but slowly grew to a large stain in between her legs.
“Anisa, what do I do?” I asked. I was panicked. It was the most blood I’d ever seen. It was like her period, but ten times worse, and she was sweating profusely. Her hands were shaking in trepidation.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said as she took her jeans off and put them in a plastic bag.
I helped her across the hall and locked the door. As soon as she sat down she opened her mouth in pain, but no sound came out. She stood, and blood was dripping between her legs, her thighs stained in crimson. The toilet was filled with it, and it looked like blood clots had fallen out of Anisa.
“What do I do? What do I do?” I asked, my voice cracking from concern and my eyes filling with tears. I knew I was in over my head and I wanted to go run for our mother, but I had promised, and even at such a young age, my word was all I had. I never broke it for anybody.
“I don’t know!” she said as she was wracked with more pain. Anisa sat on the toilet as her premature body violently miscarried her baby.
I held her hand tightly as if she was bringing life into the world instead of flushing one down the toilet. I couldn’t say anything. It wasn’t my decision to make and it was already done, so all I could do was be there for my sister. She didn’t ask to be in that situation. Perry had put her in it before her time, so I didn’t judge her for wanting to get rid of it secretly.
Anisa was weak and could barely stand, so I helped her to our room and cleaned up the mess. I gave her two of our mother’s pain prescriptions and washed her up before she fell asleep. This was the first time that I was grateful for my mother’s ignorance. I didn’t want her to come in and find out what we had done.
Just as I went to throw away the bloody towel, my mother was coming up the steps. “Where did all that blood come from?” she asked.
“I… um… I… it was from the fight. I got cut and I had to clean it,” I lied.
“Oh, well, that serves you right for fighting in the first place,” she said. “I was coming to tell you and your sister that I’m off to work. Perry will be home in about an hour. Come lock the door behind me.”
I followed her to the door, and once she was gone, I raced back up to Anisa. She was still asleep. I lay beside her and we wrapped our arms around each other. I knew that we had to get out of that house. Even at such a young age, I was aware of danger. I just felt it in the pit of my stomach that things were never going to get better. With Perry around we would never feel safe, and Anisa had just gone through hell just to hide what he was doing to her. I wanted out. I wanted something better for both me and Anisa, and I promised myself that once we broke free, we would never look back.
I awoke when I felt the bed sink down on Anisa’s side, but I didn’t open my eyes. I already knew it was Perry. I recognized the familiar scent. It made me gag, and I felt a burning at the back of my throat. I hated him for what he had done to Anisa. I knew what he wanted, and I froze out of fear. I lay there stiff as a board, playing possum. I prayed that this night wouldn’t be like all the others. It was this night that made me lose faith in God, because if there truly was one, He would have surely intervened. God would have protected us… saved us.
“No, stop!” I heard Anisa say. “Please, just not tonight! I can’t!” she cried.
I had never heard her sound so weak, and I squeezed my eyes tightly as my heart beat out of my chest. Please God, help her, I pleaded. But just like all the other times, God never came.
Perry pulled Anisa by the arm, but I got up and pulled her other arm. “She said no!” I screamed.
Perry stopped and looked at Anisa with a menacing smirk. “It’s either you or her.” That was the choice he gave her.
I trembled, and Anisa looked back at me while gripping her stomach. I could tell she was still in pain. Tears fell down her face. She hugged me and whispered, “Everything will be alright, Mia. Go to the closet and wait for me to come and get you.”
“No!” I said defiantly, my tears no longer willing to hide. “I’ll do it, Anisa. He can take me this time.” Snot dripped down my nose as Perry forcefully grabbed me from the bed, carrying me out of the room by my waist kicking, and screaming.
“No! Let her go!” Anisa screamed as she fought him. “Please! Stop it… she’s too young!”
Perry turned around and backhanded Anisa into the wall and threw me to the ground. “Bitch, get your ass up and let’s go!” he yelled at her. I crawled over to Anisa and we huddled in the corner.
“Anisa, don’t go!” I whispered.
Perry loomed over us as he unbuckled his pants and pulled out his oversized penis.
“Miamor, go get in the closet,” Anisa whispered. I shook my head no.
“Just do it!” she yelled in between her tears.
Anisa left with Perry, and I climbed into the closet, covering my ears while crying uncontrollably. This had to stop. I couldn’t understand why this was happening to my sister. It all seemed so unfair. “Agghhh!”
The scream sent shivers up and down my spine. I had never heard my sister scream like that. Something was different this time. She needed me.
“Aghh. No! It hurts! Please!”
I thought of all the blood I had seen earlier. All of it had come out of Anisa. I never wanted her to go through that again. I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. I ran out of the closet and into my mother’s room.
Anisa was lying there with a pool of blood underneath her while Perry was on top, humping furiously like a dog in heat. It was a sight that petrified me. I thought he was killing her. “Get off of her!” I yelled as I rushed at him and began hitting him. I felt his hand cross my face as he backhanded me to the floor, his wedding ring leaving an imprint in my face.