Chapter 17

Esined S-Nihd

When school was over, I was rushing out so I could get home on time.

"Esined," I heard a man's voice.

I pretended to not hear it and I continued to walk.

"Esined!" I recognized that it was Mr. Togel's voice.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him.

"I need to speak with you,"

"Mr. T, I'd love to talk, but I have to get home," I said politely.

"Do you take the bus?"

"I walk,"

"This won't be long,"

"Mr. T-"

"Is there a problem with you meeting me in my classroom?"

"No, but-"

"But what?"

"Could we talk about whatever it is tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid that we cannot. I cannot rest without having assurance on this topic,"

"Can you at least call my home and leave a voice message? Saying that I'll be late?"

"Sure. Come on,"

I didn't like how Mr. Togel was acting towards me right now. He was never this rude. He never cut me off or had an aggressive tone with me.

I followed Mr. Togel to his classroom and he closed the door behind us. I stared at him and he picked up his phone. He called my home and left a voice message. Once he hung up, he sat on his desk and looked at me.

An awkward silence had filled the room before he picked up a piece of paper and began to read it.

"His fists crashing into me no longer affected me. His hurtful words took more jabs at me than his fists ever had. Nothing was new except this bruise. His blows seemed like flowers compared to his harsh words. N-"

"Stop," I said, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Why? You don't want to hear your own work?"

"No,"

"Esined, what's going on? Who's hurting you?"

"No one is hurting me," I sniffed.

"Then why are you becoming so emotional?"

"Because I'm frustrated. I can't write anything without teachers assuming that someone is hurting me,"

"I was not born yesterday. Do you think I'm stupid? Tell me,"

"No, Mr. Togel,"

"Do you think those bruises on your neck, cheeks, and arms go unnoticed? Esined, I see everything,"

I grew more uncomfortable than I already was.

"It doesn't take rocket science to see that a girl like you is being abused,"

"I'm not,"

"What happened to your face then? That handprint was not there yesterday,"

"I fell,"

"Stop lying to me,"

"I'm not, Mr. Togel. Can I go home now?"

"No. Sit down. I'm going to tell you a story,"

I sighed and removed my backpack before sitting down.

He got off of his desk and walked around as he spoke. "When I was five, I had a girl best friend in kindergarten. Her name was Olivia. I thought that nothing could ever tear us apart. We were the peanut butter and jelly," he chuckled. "As days went by in school, I noticed that she always had scars and bruises. As a child, I didn't know what to do. I just assumed that she was a rough kid like me, always fighting off bullies. Her and I got bullied all of the time," he said before looking at me.

"Olivia reminded me so much of you. She was quiet and never messed with anyone. She came to school, just like you did in the beginning. Not wanting to even say her name, avoiding everyone. That made me want to know her. She was so mysterious and I thought that I could get to her. I obviously did,"

"Mr. Togel, I don't mean to be rude, but what does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"Just listen and you'll find out,"

"Sorry,"

"May I continue?"

"Yes,"

"Skipping to middle school... I noticed more bruises on Olivia and I had become more curious. Olivia didn't really get into fights as much as she did in elementary school. I knew that she wasn't getting pounded on by bullies anymore. She told me that her and her older sister fought a lot, she killed my curiosity. I assumed she wasn't lying because my brothers and I fought also,"

Mr. Togel's face seemed to not be so sure if he wanted to continue the story or not.

He took a deep breath. "Jumping to junior year in high school. Olivia continued to lie to me about her being abused. She still tried to say that her sister was still picking on her. I found out that her sister had been in college for a while and her mother had left her father. Her father... He was an alcoholic and he smoked like a chimney. He was an awful man. He hated me since he met me... He knew I wanted to save Olivia," he shook his head.

"Skipping up to our senior year. I asked Olivia to prom and we went together. I knew Olivia's family was struggling, so I paid for everything. I brought her dream prom dress and everything. That night, I knew for sure that I was in love with Olivia when I saw her. Her father ruined it. He came into the venue that we were in and snatched Olivia away from me,"

"He came to prom and took her away from you? Did you try to get her back?"

"He took her from me and pulled her out of the venue before I could say a word,"

"That's horrible,"

"I know. That same night after prom was over, I snuck over to Olivia's house. She was sitting on her bed with her pink prom dress covered in blood. She was crying and had a black eye. I crawled through her window and comforted her. That night we shared our first kiss together and things happened. I left in the morning and missed school. I was shocked that her father didn't come into the room at all when I was there,"

I stared at him as he spoke.

"I began to see Olivia less at school and when she showed up, I was more than happy to see her. We were in school for about a month when one day we were sitting in my car together and she told me that she was pregnant, but-"

"But? What do you mean but?"

"She didn't know if the baby was mines or her fathers,"

I stared at him in shock. "He did that to her?"

"Sadly," he said. "As graduation came up, I noticed that I hadn't seen Olivia and she wasn't at school on my birthday, which was two days before graduation. Her father had everyone looking for her, he had up missing posters of her and everything. I remember her face being on the back of my milk carton..."

"Was she found?"

He stared at me before looking at the ground and nodding.

"Where did they find her?"

"In her backyard,"

"So she was hiding in her backyard the whole time? How did her dad not know that she was there?"

He sighed. "She was found dead,"

I became silent and he sniffed.

"Her father murdered her and tried to play it innocent. He beat her to death and buried her on my birthday,"

I was lost for words. "I-I'm so sorry to hear that," I tried to hold back my tears.

Mr. Togel shook his head and wiped his tears. "Esined, please don't be afraid to tell anyone. I don't want anything to happen to you. I refuse to let anything happen to you,"

I wiped the tears from my cheek.

"I don't want to overstep my teacher boundaries, but in this case, I will," he took out a piece of paper and wrote on it.

I stood up and he handed it to me.

"That's my home, cell, and my address. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call or anything, you hear me?"

"Yes sir," I said.

"Is your walk home long?"

"Yes," I couldn't even lie to him.

"I'll take you home. Just leave the classroom before I do. I drive a black Bentley. I'm trusting you," he said as he handed me the keys. "The windows are tinted,"

"Okay," I said.

"Go on,"

I grabbed my backpack and left his classroom. I tried my best to cover up the fact that I was just crying.

I walked outside and walked over to Mr. Togel's Bentley. I unlocked the doors and got in. I sat on the passenger side and locked the doors until I saw Mr. Togel's approach the car minutes later.

He got in and started the car.

"Do you think you could just drive up my street and I'll walk the rest?" I asked.

I didn't want my dad to know that Mr. Togel had dropped me off. That could get Mr. Towel and myself in serious trouble. Mr. Togel could get suspended or fired for this.

"Sure. Where do you stay?"

I told him where I stayed and he drove there. He stopped a few house before the trailer park and let me out.

"Thank you, Mr. T... For everything. I appreciate it,"

"No problem. Remember what I said,"

"I will,"

"Don't hesitate to call," he added.

"I won't," I got out of his Bentley and began to walk the rest of the five minutes home.

Dad's truck wasn't there, so I went inside. I was the only one home and I felt like I wouldn't get in trouble. I finished my homework and started on supper. I made sure to delete the voicemail from Mr. Togel.

I was relieved that my dad didn't appear for another two hours.

All that was on my mind was Mr. Togel's story about his friend Olivia.

-

-sniffs in sick af-

hi y'all.

what did y'all think of Mr. Togel's story?

sorry if it made y'all sad.

y'all should have known this was going to be a heart string pulling book from the beginning :[

but um... idk what else to say. excuse typos, I didn't pre read.

comments and votes are appreciated.

much love, Shia. xoxo.