“This is the last time I see him in my house or near you. June will finish the job with him, and then she’ll stay away from him, too. Tell her before I have to!” he spits angrily at me, crossing a line with his last threat that he definitely should never have crossed.
Snorting, I break free of his grip and push him forcefully away from me, glaring at him more angrily than I’ve ever done in my life.
"Did you just threaten our daughter?" I hiss, my voice trembling with fury. "You can take out your egotism on me if you must, but you will never harm a hair on June’s head or let her see this side of you. Because let me tell you, you won’t lose just your daughter! June is smarter and stronger than me. She’ll leave you and won’t be swayed by your apologies. And maybe it’s time I take a page out of our daughter’s book," I finish, defiantly jutting my chin out.
Nothing happens for a moment. Thomas doesn’t even make a face until he suddenly lets out an angry shout and swings his backhand so fast that I don’t see it coming. The force of his blow knocks me off my feet, and I hit my head on the kitchen counter as I fall. Dazed, I fall to the floor, and dizziness overcomes me. Everything hurts and throbs in my skull, and I struggle to focus for a moment as I see everything twice.
“Did you threaten to leave me and take my daughter away from me?” he yells at me angrily and drags me back to my feet by my hair, making me scream.
I grab my hair to somehow soothe the pain that’s pulling at my scalp. I feel like he’s going to rip my hair out in clumps as I try to stay on my feet. My head is spinning, and the dizziness from the violent blow is taking hold of me more and more.
“Never threaten me again, Cora! Or I swear I’ll forget myself! You will calm down now and tidy up here, and then I expect everything to go back to normal tomorrow. I don’t want to have to tell you again, Cora!” he growls darkly in my ear before pushing me roughly away from him so that I have to catch myself with my hands on the countertop to avoid hitting my head on it.
I don’t know how long I stood there propped up, trying to sort out my racing thoughts. The violent trembling that seizes my body won’t stop. Only when I gasp for air in panic, do I realize I’ve been holding my breath the whole time. I’m so terrified. Thomas has lashed out before, but it’s rare for him to hit me multiple times and grab me with such force.
Eventually, I pull myself together because I don’t want to upset him anymore. Besides, I don’t know when June will come home, and I don’t want her to see me like this. I don’t want to look in the mirror myself, but after I’ve tidied up the kitchen, I have to take care of my face so that it doesn’t swell up unattractively tomorrow when it will glow in every color. At least I can cover up the spots, but not the swelling.
So I hurry to clean up and then rush upstairs to our bathroom, locking myself in. Thomas sits in front of the TV, acting as if nothing has happened. I know that later, he'll climb into bed beside me, expecting me to let him hold me as if everything is normal. It's his way of apologizing for his harshness, even though all I want is to be far away from him.
I flinch in front of the mirror and jump at my appearance. My cheeks are already blue, and there’s a slight bump on my hairline where I hit my head. I immediately put the ice pack I took from the kitchen on my face and hold it on my bruised face to reduce the swelling.
I’m at a loss for how to hide the marks tomorrow so June won’t notice.