Lived Experience: Kimmy Johnson

Read Kimmy's Story

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I’m just going to tell this the way it happened, and maybe it will make more sense. So, I have this math club tournament this weekend—the Brain Bowl. I’ve been prepping for it and prepping for it, and Mrs. Hardiway says I have a good chance of winning for our whole city. It’s so exciting—my mom is excited for the first time in a long time. So I’ve been spending more time after school studying, and of course that’s been making my boyfriend King mad. He wants me to spend time with him instead.

Well, finally, yesterday, King told me I couldn’t go to the Brain Bowl, and that I have to stay with him this weekend because he had a special surprise for me. I told him I had to go, and he got really angry, really upset. We were driving home and he started screaming at me that I didn’t love him if I didn’t do what he said. I told him to let me out of the car, and you know what he did? He slammed on the brakes, pulled over to the curb, and grabbed my hair and pulled my head back really hard. Then he told me if I went to the Bowl he’d have to break up with me. When I told him to stop, and that he was hurting me, he pulled me even harder towards him in the car—my scalp was on fire, it hurt so bad. And then he tried to kiss me while he was pulling my hair.

Well, I started crying and screamed at him, and the minute he let go I jumped out of the car and walked away. He followed me, and he started crying. He told me he was so sorry, and that he never meant to hurt me. He just told me that sometimes he loves me so much that it makes him crazy. I get that. I know love can make you crazy—sometimes I feel crazy when I think of him. I know this was just a one-time deal. I hugged him back and we got back in the car, and he cried and held me, and I cried. But now I don’t know what to do. I need to go to the Brain Bowl this weekend, but I’m afraid his heart will break if I go. I didn’t know relationships were going to be this hard.