Hope POV

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS COMING AT ME FOR SOMETHING I AIN'T DO?"
I hightailed towards the stairs but was roughly yanked back by my arm.
"WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU TALKING TO?"
Mior slammed me into the sidewall.
"GET OFF ME! YOU ARE ALWAYS COMING AT ME WHEN SOMETHING IS MISSING OUT OF YOUR PURSE OR DRAWERS. I DON'T EVEN GO NEAR YOUR SHIT! I HAVE MY OWN AND DON'T NEED SHIT FROM YOU!"
She popped me so hard in my mouth, I felt my lips split from the inside out as warm blood trickled down my chin.
Before I could react, she yanked my hair, throwing me on the floor, and sent a hard kick to my stomach.
"YOU DONE LOST YOUR DAMN MIND TALKING TO ME LIKE YOU'RE CRAZY! I AM NOT ONE OF YA LIL FRIENDS! I AM YOU MOTHER, AND YOU WILL RESPECT ME!"
She sent two more kicks to my stomach, but I grabbed her foot, which sent her crashing hard on her butt. I flew down the stairs at cheetah speed but ran dead into my brother, Solomon.
"Whoaaa, Hoppy. What's wrong?"
Concern filled his honey brown eyes at the sight of my bloody mouth and bloodstained shirt.
"NAWL, DON'T HIDE BEHIND HIM YOU FAT WHORE! YOU WANT TO COME AT ME LIKE A GROWN ASS WOMAN, THEN IMA SHOW YO ASS GROWN!"
She unsuccessfully reached around Solomon for me cause he stood in the way.
"Nah. Mior, calm down." He stretched his arms out like a wall of protection, but she powerfully backhanded him.
"Y'all are so damn disrespectful. I am your mother, and you will address me as such. Solomon, where are my two-hundred dollars?"
"Ask your other kids. I have a part-time job, so I don't need ya money."
There was a loud ass pop followed by the spray of blood from his bottom nose.
"I ASKED A SIMPLE DAMN QUESTION! I DIDN'T ASK FOR A SMART ASS RESPONSE, AND SINCE Y'ALL KEEP TALKING BOUT JOBS, I WANT MY DAMN MONEY TOMORROW!"
Her fist was centimeters from his face until grandma Mila yanked her away from us.
"Mior, get the hell out of my house, putting your hands on these babies!" She growled at her.
"Mom, you baby them way too much. That is what is wrong with them."
Her lips met the cocoa flesh of Grandma's backhand.

Ha, now she knows how it feels for your lips to swell and salty warm blood to cover your tongue.

She's always downing us. My weight and skin color are her favorite topics. I'm only a size sixteen, with a little stomach, thick thighs, big booty, and a DD cup. I hate that I have a DD cup at fifteen, but that's life. Basically, I'm a five-five, dark chocolate Hershey Kiss, with natural, black curly-hair. Solomon is a five-eleven, slim but semi-muscular butterscotch with low-cut waves. He loves photography and taking care of his skin, so Mior always calls him gay.
"GET OUT NOW, MIOR! YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT MY GRANDBABIES IN MY HOUSE!" Grandma seethed in rage.
"Don't worry, I'm gone. I will get y'all asses when y'all come home. I have full custody of y'all, not my mother."
She sashayed out the door, slamming it in the process.
"Ma, that's ridiculous. She's always tripping and never wanna believe that her precious kids would steal from her. This is why Josiah doesn't come around." Solo said to grandma in annoyance, referring to our oldest brother.
"I'm sorry, babies." Grandma tried to kiss our cheeks, but I turned my head.
"She ain't ever gone change," I grumbled as my feet quickly carried me upstairs to my room.
Hot, salty tears streamed down my face as I curled up on my bed with Mr. Penguin. He's a life-size blue penguin that my oldest brother, Josiah, bought me for my eleventh birthday. I don't get to see him often, so Mr. penguin is the closest thing to him.
Josiah is the oldest of Solomon and I. He's twenty-one with a flawless brown sugar complexion and deep, doe brown eyes. He's the perfect mix of our parents. I last saw him four years ago before he went to college in Italy.
Mior ran him off because she hated that he didn't want to stay with her and that he had a choice because he was sixteen when she tried to get custody.
She popped up on my eleventh birthday with gifts trying to make amends. That is when we found out that she was married to her OB-GYN, Kevin, and had three kids: sixteen-year-old Joaquin, twelve-year-old KJ, and one-year-old Heaven. Her marriage and new kids were the results of an affair she had on our dad. Also, Joaquin was nine months younger than  Josiah twin, butjust with different dads. She apologized and wanted to get to know us, but grandma refused to let us go. She was so distraught, so she filed for full custody.
She started being verbally and emotionally abusive towards us, so did her kids. Kevin was the only that tried to take up for us. I don't understand why she fought so hard to get us just to turn around and abuse us. She loves criticizing my body and complexion because she is a thirty-three-year-old redbone with six kids and still has a slim, tone body with curves in all the right places.
Her favorite line is, " A man doesn't want a fat, charcoal looking, little girl. Bleach your skin and lose some weight, then maybe you can find a man."

** Flashback**
"Miór, get out!"
"I want my kids, Harrison!"
"You don't care about your kids. You wouldn't be out running the streets if you did."
"Harrison, let me see my kids!"
"Miór..."
"Mommy?" I asked from behind the staircase railing. Her once beautiful, luscious skin looked pale. Her full lips that were always glossed were now chapped and peeling. Her long, black hair that she always kept neatly combed was now matted all over her head.
"Hey, bunny, come here." She held her arms out, but dad blocked her from getting me.
"No! Miór, leave NOW!"
"I will not leave my kids!"
"Mommy!" I tried to run around him, but he scooped me up.
"Hoppy, you can't see Mommy at the moment. She's really sick and needs help. How bout we get you some warm milk and cookies before I put you back to bed."
I eagerly nodded my head and clapped my hands as he smiled.
"Say, goodnight mommy."
"Night, mommy."
I blew her a kiss, and dad whisked me away to the kitchen.
"Harrison!"
"When I get back, you betta be gone." 

**Present**
That was the last time that I saw her until my eleventh birthday.
When I was six, my dad moved all of us into our Grandma and Grandpa's house because Miór was super strung out. There were no calls or visits from Miór for five years, not even when grandpa, her own father, passed away. She's not the only neglectful parent, though. Dad stayed with us for three years until he left with no explanation or goodbye. We haven't heard from him since. I guess the bright side is she did come back for us.
Tears rolled down my face even harder as sleep took over my body.
"Ahhh!" My sleepy eyes fluttered open and landed on a disfigured image.
"H-Hoppy, why are you yelling?" Jaxon covered his ears.
"Jackie, what the heck happened to you?"
I gasped at the bruises that covered his face. He looked like multiple bees stung his face.
"What happened to you?"
I rolled my eyes, "Mior. The same as always. Now, what happened to you?"
"You mind if I crash here for a couple of days?"
"Nah, and you know grandma won't mind either. You know where ya room at."
"Thanks. To answer your question, I got in a fight with my Pops."
"What? Why? You and ya pop never fight."
"I told him I was gay, and he attacked me. He never accepted Julio being gay, so now he hates us both. Our fight was so bad that Mom had to shoot him in the shoulder to get him to leave."
My jaw literally hit the floor.
"Wow! Jackie, I'm sorry. Your dad is a total ass for that, but you know that changes nothing between you and me. You're still my babe." I carefully hugged him, trying to not hurt him. My heart ached for him.
"Hope, I told Harlem before I came here." His voice trembled with sadness as his eyes glossed over with more tears.
"What did he say? I know he wasn't an ass about it."
"He didn't say anything, but I also told him I was in love with him. He stared at me for a while, so I left."
My eyes widened and mouth opened with excitement and anxiousness.
"Whoaaaa!! You're in love with Harlem?! " He nodded slowly.
"Wow, I never saw that coming, but he'll come around. You just need to talk to him. And if ya pop doesn't come around, you can always make an escape route here." He slightly chuckled, but his eyes glassed over with hurt.
"Why, hoppy? Out of all guys, why am I in love with my closest homie? Why?"
He hung his head in shame, and I gently pulled him into my lap. I rubbed my fingers through his silky hair as he wept.
"I don't know, but Harlem better come around, or I will kill him." He slightly chuckled through tears.
To be teenagers, we sure got dealt the wrong cards. Jax can't help who he's attracted to/love, no more than I can choose my family.
It looks like we're both Outsiders in our families.