I crawled, fighting back at him with all my might, but how can I, when his arms are strong as beast, and his presence was more than a devil, who never cares if in case I'll die because of his maltreatment?
Well at least that bought my mother some time not to get hurt as my father was busy switching his anger to me...at least.
I cannot feel the pain anymore, as my body is requesting earlier already that it will be much better if I'll be dead, and maybe that had helped me to get numb from the pain...maybe, the reason why my body stopped from hearing things. And I know, it wouldn't stop and we'll be all dead at that day if not only his friend came in to give something.
"Damn," that's all he can say after I finished my traumatic story to him. There was a long silence around his room and I was staring elsewhere, somehow having a hangover from what happened.
"Hey," he called my attention. "Your soup will get cold. Come on, eat it. You haven't anything eaten since yesterday."
"I don't want to eat..."
"What do you want to eat though?"
"I'm not in the mood." I whispered.
"Well you have to," he grabbed the spoon, mix the soup and tried to offer it to me once more. "Come on," he encouraged me, laughing in an awkward way. "I'm not your boyfriend to do this. And if you still insist, then I might have to call your boyfriend so he can take care of you."
My world stopped right at that moment he mentioned the word, 'boyfriend.' I thought I was already finished sharing one bad day I wished it never happened but that's where I realized, the pain that I just shared was just half of my suffering.
"He's..." I bit my lip, holding myself back as tough as possible. "He's not my boyfriend anymore."
His eyes twitched a little, as if he was unsure of what he heard on me.
"Huh?"
"I saw Stephen cheated on me."
"Holy shit, what?!" Malcolm was all the way surprised from what I just said. He literally moved his body a little, away from me because of shock.
"Malcolm...he cheated..." I bit my lip and started to whimper again.
"Hey, shit wait, no," Malcolm's reflex was so quick he immediately went closer to me and hugged me. He rest my head on his broad shoulders and started rubbing my head.
"Malcolm..." That's where I started crying. "I saw him with my own very eyes, I was with my friends hanging out, because I had a bad day and I failed one exam..."
"Shh..." He whispered. "You don't have to tell everything what happened. Don't cry."
"He was with another woman..." With a broken voice, I don't know how Malcolm was able to understand my story. All I know is, I continued speaking and crying. "And he broke up with me in a public place...right in front of my friends!"
"Fuck...that's terrible." He moved his hands from my head and rubbed my back this time, as he can hear my series of hard breathings.
"He's not a lost, Jade, listen to me." Malcolm both of my shoulders and make me stare at me. "That guy? He doesn't deserve you."
"Because I'm fake..." I cried. "That's why he left me..."
"No, because he didn't love who you really are!" He said with conviction. "That's totally different."
"He called me a random bitch..." I whispered. "How come he call me that in front of Andrea when he knew I really am not a bitch and he knew the real reason why I was acting one! Malcolm, he knew me!"
"You know this woman?"
"Never..." I said, lowering my voice, while remembering her face that's haunting at the back of my mind. Andrea was just small, who has a short hair, wears eyeglasses and doesn't even wear a make up at all, maybe just a powder.
"She's not pretty, I'm telling you," I pout.
"I may not seen her but I agree with you," he chuckled, taking easy on how heavy my condition is right now.
"How come he have left me for that woman?" I felt hopeless, as I sighed.
"Woah, wait, what's that reaction?" Malcolm argued. "You are rare, Jade. Don't ask yourself how worthy you are while the other one devalued you. Damn, you know why your name was Jade?"
I pout. "Why?"
"Because you're an expensive kind of stone," Malcolm smiled, then tipped my chin and make me look into his eyes.
"You are a jade, but he chose to find a rock."
That made me smile, not sure if I was even blushing.
"Jade, you have no idea how lucky I am, because I am one of your friends whom you chose to show the real you." Malcolm really tried his best to motivate me. "Stephen was not the only guy who can accept who you really are, believe me. Maybe his ego was being stepped on because he cannot level up with you?" He laughed. "You're beautiful, you're perfect, and people admire you. It's just not...academically good."
"Thanks," I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed much louder than before.
"There you go," Malcolm kept on smiling. "Come on, cheer up. How can you devalue yourself? You're beautiful in and out! You were even willing to do things beyond normal just for you to support your family and be independent. You have your goal, it will all be finished at the end of the day, and I am looking forward to you."
His words made me stopped, as something clicked on my mind right at that moment.
"Even if I was suicidal?"
"What?"
"Malcolm...I overdosed myself when I caught Stephen."
"Holy shit, what?!"
"Yeah..."
His mouth went literally open from the revelation he just heard. I knew this would happen.
I saw Malcolm released a big sigh, one that is tiring, cannot believe and sounded so hoarse, not sure if he even mouthed the word, 'what the fuck' or maybe it was just my hallucination because I'm hungry and didn't eat since yesterday.
"So you failed your exam, you caught Stephen cheated right in front of you, you overdose yourself, and when you went home, you caught your father mistreating your mother and he drag you and have bruises."
I did not reply, instead, I just stared at my legs that were still brightly red from the scratches that I had because my father dragged me all the way outside the room outside the house.