K A R E E M ' S P O V

"Oh God," I groaned as I forced my eyelids to open, my hand going immediately to my now banging forehead.

"The Bible says that we shouldn't use the Lord's name in vain," a familiar voice says, causing me to glance around, and notice Pastor Daniel, sitting at a desk, a cup in his hand.

"What the- where am I?" I ask, realizing now that I had been sleeping on a red couch, my legs hanging off.

"That's a question you should be asking yourself. After all, you were the one who came here."

Eyebrows furrowed my brain scrambles in remembering last night which to me all seemed fuzzy. "I did?"

He only sighs before heading toward me, leaning against his desk as he takes a sip of whatever he was drinking. "You're lucky I work late kid otherwise you would've been in serious harm or trouble."

"Look can you just tell me where I am?"

"Currently you're in my office at the church. I called your Mom and she's on her way to come and pick you up and take you back home since you clearly need it."

"I don't need no babysitter," I mutter.

"You shouldn't but with the way you're behaving, one might think otherwise."

"I don't need you judging me."

"And I'm not. But Kareem I want you to ask yourself this question. Do you see yourself 10 years from now doing the same things you're doing now? Getting angry before leaving home to get drunk? Is this the future you want for yourself?"

I stay silent as he heads toward his kettle, and begins making another cup which I assume is for himself.

"Your Mother told me what happened last night and the conversation the both of you guys had. Is it that hard for you to forgive him or at least see him?"

"You don't know what I've been through."

"No, I don't. And it's not easy to raise a child, especially a boy without his father. But what I do know is that you know better than to allow your anger to get the best of you. Kareem, you have talent both on the court and off and I'd hate to see you waste it all because you allowed your anger to get the best of you."

"I-"

"No, you listen to me. You know better than this and your mother has definitely raised you to be better than this. Anger isn't going to get you anywhere in life and you know that. I'm not asking you to become best friends with your Dad but I'm asking you to stop allowing your emotions to take control of you. Do what you know is right," he says, before handing me the cup of tea, the smell of lemon coming from the cup. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," I tell him before taking a sip from the cup, the tea burning my tongue.

"You know what I want you to do for me?"

Oh, brother.

"The rec center just 10 minutes down the road from here is looking for a junior basketball coach. They started a basketball team for juniors in elementary every Saturday to keep those kids busy and they've been looking for a coach. The problem is not everyone has free time so no one's taken the offer. If you can go there and volunteer till they find someone more permanent, then you won't have to come for the Friday food drive. I'll even email Coach to tell him that."

"Well, I-"

"So you're saying you want to be restocking shelves every Friday? Because if that's the case-"

"Fine, I'll take it."

A smile appears on his face when I say this. "All right then. I'll email the rec center manager and Coach and you can start next Saturday."

"Okay."

Knocks are heard on the door, and after Pastor yells for whoever to come in, Mami enters the room, concern and a little bit of anger written on her face.

"Kareem, you scared me," she scolds as I get up from the couch to hug her, rubbing her tiny back and inhaling the scent of roses, which most likely meant she had been gardening for a while. The scent reminded me of Chloe who always either smelled of flowers or fruit.

Oh God, Chloe.

"Sorry, Mami."

After a few minutes of just embracing each other, we release ourselves from the hug and after saying bye to Pastor Daniel, we leave the church, walking to my car which Mami had picked up.

"Kareem, you know I love you right."

"I know."

Not sure about Chloe though.

XXX

C H L O E ' S P O V

How does God allow bad things to happen? Watching the rain fall on the window, the sound of pattering hitting the glass, I thought of this question as I rubbed my once bruised shoulders and squeezed my knees as close as I could to my chest. In the past, it seemed my faith in God was somewhat easy, where all I did was read my Bible and go to church. I prayed every morning and did my best to seek the kingdom. But that hadn't prevented the bruises I would receive all over my body and the scars they left behind. It hadn't prevented the fear that rose up inside me every single time I saw him. It did nothing leaving me to wonder what I had done to God that made me go through all of this. How can I believe in a God who claims is a loving father and yet watches me suffer every single day?

Gentle knocks are heard on my door, bringing me out of my thoughts as I get up from my bed and head toward the door, not even bothering to look through the peephole.

"Chloe," Kareem says as he stares at me, a bag of food in his hands.

No. I panicked. No. No. NO! Why did he have to be here again?

Just as I'm about to slam the door in his face, he shoves his foot and pushes the door open so I'm met to meet with him.

Fear grips hold of me as I take a few steps back, already beginning to break out in a cold sweat. I wasn't ready for this. Not after what had happened with Will. "I don't want to talk Kareem. Go!"

"Chloe, I need you to listen-"

"And I don't want to! Did you not hear me Kareem I said go!" I use my hand to gesture for him to leave.

"But we need to talk-"

"I said go!"

"Don't you even want to know what I've been through! I'm over here struggling god damn it and you're not even helping me in anything! Do you know what it's like to have your dad who's in jail be released? But of course, you don't care because you're a selfish bi-"

"Is everything all right over here?" Lillian appears out of nowhere, staring at Kareem who was standing in the hallway, and me inside the dorm.

I glance at Kareem who mutters under his breath, most likely saying a string of curse words as I feel guilt swallow up inside of me.

You see even he said it himself. You're a selfish girlfriend who can't do anything right.

"We're fine," he mutters before storming off to wherever he was going. Lillian turns to face me, concern in her eyes. It was clear she didn't believe anything Kareem had said and wanted to say more but noticed my demeanor.

"I'll be praying for you," she tells me before leaving herself to her own dorm. Slamming the door shut, I allow my body to slide down onto the floor and allow tear after a tear to fall onto my cheeks.

Never been a good enough girlfriend. That's why Kareem hates you. You never would be hit if you just were good enough.

"Uhm, move please!" I hear Miriam on the other side of the door say, reminding me of the fact that I had been blocking the door. Quickly wiping away any trace of tears I had, I stand up, allowing her to be able to enter.

"Are you going through a breakup or something because you look depressed?" she asked me.

Leave it to Miriam to tell things just the way they are.

"I'm fine," I growl, grabbing my jacket from the small closet I had. "I'm going to go out for a while."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Rolling my eyes, I leave the dorm making sure to slam it knowing it would irritate her. Clicking the elevator button once I reached it, I take out my phone where sure enough, a string of messages was left for me, mainly from Talita.

Talita

Hey, I'm thinking of starting a bible study in my dorm

sent 2:34

Talita

Hello?

sent 2:35

Talita

C'mon C I need your help.

sent 2:36

I enter the elevator as the doors open, shuffling my way in.

Talita

Are you really going to ignore me?

sent 3:54

"Chloe?" I hear a voice ask me causing me to look up from the screen. Will.

Really?

Just when Chloe thought her life couldn't get any worse-

Any thoughts people?

Make sure to leave a vote and I'll see y'all in my next chapter.