Page 31

“Stop!” I yelled as his hands got tighter around my neck and I couldn’t breathe. This is definitely going to leave a bruise. I quickly raised my hands to try to get his hand off, but it was too tight. I looked up at Henry and saw that his eyes looked possessed. This wasn’t Henry.
“Stop right now,” I yelled in pain. He either can’t hear me or doesn’t care that he’s hurting me. He sometimes yells at me and is mean to me, but this was different; this was physical abuse.
He doesn’t stop; he keeps going for another hour, moving us around himself. His tight grip on my neck made me feel like my eyes were about to pop out. My body felt weak and tired. Henry finished and let me go. I lay on the couch, naked and in pain. My arms and legs wouldn’t even move. Henry got off of me and picked up his boxers from the floor. He put them on. I turned my head so I wouldn’t have to see him.
Henry and I went to Louisiana for a month after our wedding. I don’t remember the first night we were together, but I do remember being in a lot of pain. The next morning, I had bruises all over my body and was bleeding between my legs. I didn’t let Henry touch me for a while, but once we started having s*x again, everything was fine until now. I couldn’t believe what just happened. S*x is supposed to be a way to show your love for each other. Sure, you can be rough during s*x, but not so much that the girl is begging you to stop.
I heard him walk into the kitchen and pop open a beer. A tear rolled down my cheek.
“Go to the room,” he says in a cold voice.
I turned back to look at him. Was he really serious? Not even going to say sorry? I felt a rush of anger rise up in me. I slowly got up, grunting because my legs hurt. Henry drank from his beer while I stood up. I looked him over before slapping him in the face.
“You said you wouldn’t do that again,” I yelled. He was looking down, and his hand was on his red cheek.
I huffed, maybe violence wasn’t the best way to go. I should have talked to him. My hands were shaking like crazy. He raised his head and bit his red lip. A rush of air hit me, and pain spread all over my body. I lay on the floor in shock. Henry just hit me in the face. I held my cheek as blood poured out of my mouth and tears filled my eyes.
“Look what you made me do.” He throws hislys beer at the wall, breaking it I jumped when I heard it break on the floor.
He bent down to my level and grabbed my cheeks hard. When he touched the cheek he punched not long ago, I groaned in pain. What was going through his mind? He just hit me and touched me. I’m in shock because he’s never done this before. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling; the man I loved just hit me.
“I’m sorry, baby.” He kisses my forehead, and I close my eyes in fear, pure fear.
We didn’t talk about any of it the next morning. I had to cover up a big black bruise on my cheek with makeup. Henry went to work like nothing happened. This morning, he even tried to kiss me and got mad when I didn’t kiss him back. I drove to the pharmacy with my sunglasses on to hide my bruise even more after he left. I walked down the aisles looking for it, and I finally found it. I’m not going to have a kid with a man who almost killed me.
I want a baby, but what if he hurts my child? I won’t let my child go through that.
Before I picked up the box, I took a deep breath. I walked over to look. The woman looked at it but couldn’t help but give me a strange look, like she was disappointed.
“A baby is a blessing.” She smiled sweetly at me; she was an older woman.
I agree, but my new husband might hit the kid.
I couldn’t say that, no. I said, “It’s for a friend.” The woman just sighed and put it in a bag.
I drove home quickly after leaving the store, not knowing how long Henry would be at work. I saw my mom’s car parked when I got home. Damn, she’s already home.
Fine, I won’t take off my sunglasses. I will tell her that I’m sick and that I will be in bed all day. I put the box in my bag and made sure it was hidden. I was so nervous that my mom would find out that Henry hit me or that I’m taking the morning after pill that my heart was racing when I walked into my house. I did my best to take off my heels quietly, but I almost fell, which made a lot of noise.
“Aria, is that you?” My mum yelled from the kitchen, where it sounded like she was having a meal.
“Yes, Mom,” I yelled back.
“Come here.”
“Mom, I don’t want to go—”
“Come in here, Aria,” my mom says, and there’s no way to argue.
I left my purse on the stairs and made sure that my hair covered my face a little. I went into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge so she wouldn’t see my face. I took a water bottle and looked inside the fridge to avoid her.
“Pumpkin, it doesn’t take that long to pick something to eat,” my mum says with a laugh.
When I turned around, she looked confused as to why I was wearing sunglasses inside.
“Mom, Auntie called me. She wants to do a girls’ night.” My mom didn’t ask me why I was wearing sunglasses, which I was glad about.
“I can’t go, but you should.” I said quickly as I walked towards the kitchen door.
“Sweetie, are you sure you’re okay?” my mum asks. The warmth of her voice comes to me. I wanted to tell her, but I knew it would cause problems for my dad. I didn’t want my husband to die, even though it hurt me. I still love him.
“Of course, I’m not feeling well. Please excuse me while I go lie down,” I said.
“Love you, Pumpkin,” my mom says before I can leave.
I nodded, and tears came to my eyes. As I walked out of the kitchen, I said, “I love you too.”
I took my purse. I fell apart as soon as I got to my room. I threw my purse against the window, which made everything fall out. I then threw the picture frame that was above my nightstand, which was a picture of Henry and me on our wedding day, against the wall. It broke into a million pieces, and I burst into tears. God will never let me be happy, so I’ll never be happy. I rubbed my stomach a little bit.
“I’m so sorry,” I said in a low voice.
I rushed to get the box from my purse. I sat on my bed with the pill in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Although I want to have kids, it’s probably for the best that I don’t. I put the pill in my mouth and then drank a lot of water. I cried as I swallowed it. It was getting late, so I started to clean up after sitting on my bed for a while. I didn’t want Henry to see what I had done. I picked up my purse and put it on my bed. I made sure to throw the box away, but I covered it with other trash so Henry wouldn’t see it. I also picked up the picture and the broken glass. I took another frame and put our picture in it.