It all happened so fast. I found Cody standing in front of me. Why I expected him to fight for me, I’ll never know. A wicked grin crossed his lips, and he lifted the red-hot metal “M.”
Shit. Where did that thing come from?I hadn’t seen it in two years, since he used it to brand my forearm; thought we lost it in the moves.
“Have you forgotten that you’re mine?”
I took a step back and slipped on the water from the vase. Pieces of broken ceramic pierced my hand as I fell to the floor. I screamed in pain, then in fear as Cody straddled me. I kicked and wriggled trying to get away, but his friends held my feet.
Another friend held my head still as Cody touched the “M” to the sensitive skin under my ear. Pain worse than any I’d felt before rippled through my body. My voice strained as I screamed, my entire body shook in pain.
There are no words to describe the overwhelming sensation on my neck as it burned from the metal tool. My stomach rolled at the smell of burning flesh. Then something broke inside of me and I stilled.
“There. Now everyone can see you belong to me.” He rose up off me and the world stopped turning. The evil in his eyes reached my soul. “Including your fucking boss.”
What seemed like an hour had only been seconds. Before he had a chance to stand straight, I lifted my foot and kicked as hard as I could, connecting directly with his groin. At that point, I didn’t care if he killed me. Death would be better than this life.
“You bitch!” Through gritted teeth, Cody groaned. Bent at the waist, he held his family jewels and wreathed in pain.
I smiled.Good. Now you know what it feels like, fucker.Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to know what I would do after the scuffle.
At least I got him off me. If I called my mom to ask for help, it would take hours for her to get to me. I refused to bring anyone I worked with into my shit show. No one needed to feel sorry for me because I chose to marry an abuser.
Cody’s friends all took off during the commotion and I stood before him prepared to take my punishment. More bruises were certainly in my future and for once, I wasn’t afraid. For a brief second, I thought I might even try to fight him back. Sure, it would suck—pain always does.
I didn’t expect him to push me out the door andthrow me in the truck. A new level of fear passed through me. Possibilities of what he planned to do raced through my mind. “Cody. Where are we going?” My voice was sturdy.Would he drive off a cliff and kill us both?“Come on, Cody. Don’t do something stupid.”Would he take me in the middle of nowhere, dish out my punishment, and leave me for dead?
He didn’t even respond to me calling him stupid. I’d never seen him like this, and I knew I finally took it too far. Not speaking or trying to hit me as he drove, he just leaned forward, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. The way he stared straight ahead spooked me.
“What are you doing, Cody?” There’s no way I was going to let him know how scared I was.Maybe if I push him more, he’ll snap out of it.“You’re being ridiculous, you know. I’m not scared of you,” I lied.
Rain poured from the heavens, muddying the ground. The truck slid as he took a corner on the dirt road too fast. He slammed on the brakes and my body flew forward; my shoulder hit the windshield.Heistrying to kill me.
Through slits in his eyes, his gaze made me shiver. A bottle of whiskey appeared in his hand; he sat it on the seat between us.
Shaking, I scooted closer to the door and hid my hand behind me as I felt for the handle. I don’t know why; where would I go in the middle of a thunderstorm?
Cody grabbed my wrist, shook the pill bottle, but only one Oxy fell into my palm.
“Fuck,” he spat and shoved the bottle of whiskey in my face.
“No. I don’t want to take this.”
“You’ll do as I say.”
The pain in my wrist shot all the way to my elbow as he squeezed harder and twisted. If I didn’t take the pill, he would break my good arm; I knew it.If this is the end, at least I won’t remember anything.I chased the Oxy with one quick swig, but he forced me to keep the bottle to my lips. I drank as quickly as I could but gagged and spit half of it down the front of me.
“Bitch, why you gotta be so fucking sloppy? Dammit, now my truck will smell like liquor for weeks.”
His fist connected with my eye before I could blink. I gasped and my head hit the window behind me. Blood trickled down my face and my cheek pulsed.
“Get out.” His voice coated in nonchalance. Lightning flashed and illuminated the inside of the truck. His silhouette was unrecognizable. For a split second, I wondered if it was one of his friends who had driven me to the wilderness.
“Out!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.
I shook my head, scared to leave and scared to stay.
The next second, Cody opened my door from the outside. The midnight thunderstorm crashed around him.A flurry of flashing light and rolling thunder mixed with the calming effect of the Oxy and whiskey confused me; I wasn’t sure which way was up.
In one swift move, he pulled me from the truck and threw me to the ground. I landed on my stomach; my hands sank into the mud and were scraped raw by the rocks underneath. By the time I looked over my shoulder, he was gone.
