Husband Beater

Chapter Two

God, was the first word that popped in my head, my fucking head kills.

I made a small whimpering noise and brought my hand to the back of my head. Something wet, and sticky, and warm.

Blood.

I panicked; I panicked like a girl who just started her period in the middle of the night and knew she had gotten blood on the sheets. I secretly prayed, like the girl who may have gotten blood on her sheets, that I didn't. Then I'd have to wash the sheets, take a beating, and make the bed again.

Slowly, I turned around to see no blood. The breath I didn't know I was holding back escaped my lips with a wired kind of squeak, and I jumped from the bed.

Triple checking the sheets, pillows, and my shirt, I saw no blood anywhere except where my fingers were pushed against my scalp. Luck was on my side today.

Silently, I moved into the bathroom and got a wet rag that was suppose to be white, but turned out a pinkish type colour from all the blood I've wiped off myself and the floor the last few weeks.

Putting the cool rag to my skin, I got a few Advil from the bottle and some kind of liquid that would make my cut come to a scab quickly so I wouldn't bleed all over.

I took my time to avoid going into the kitchen, where I would meet Jack. I'll make the bed, too, that'll take ten minutes if I go slow and get out every little wrinkle.

Pills were swallowed, bandages were applied, and the wet rag was washed out. The bleeding had came to a stop after about five minutes and I decided to make the bed.

I was slow, almost turtle pace. I didn't want to face Jack today. Fear consumed my thoughts and wrapped around my brain like a giant blanket. My fears weren't robbers and spiders anymore, but Jack and his power of abuse.

When the bed was made, I was vacillated on whether to remake the bed or to face my fear head on.

I've never been a fan of running from my problems; I faced them head on. When the whole school found out I was gay, I walked down the hallway with a smirk on my face and a wink playing in my eyes whenever a obvious homophobe walked past.

When I walked from the room, it was more like a shuffle. I saw Jack doing a puzzle on the kitchen table.

He had a mug of tea in his grasp, and a puzzle piece between his fingers. Jack was a puzzle master. He could finish a one thousand piece puzzle in about three hours. I help sometimes; he calls me over to scan out a piece he's stumped on and I can find it.

"Hey, you're up." Jack greeted as he put his piece close to the corner.

"Yeah," I laughed. "I really had a hard time getting out of bed this morning."

Jack smiled.

"Me too."

We sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed the silence between one another, before I walked into the kitchen to get a mug of whatever tea Jack made.

Peppermint tea; not bad.

I smiled and poured myself some as I walked back to the table.

I'm still a bit afraid of Jack, so I sat on the opposite side. He continued doing his puzzle of a few dragons attacking a village.

It was silent, and I hate the silence. Not only do you hear everything, but it makes you think. I don't like thinking, since all my thoughts lead back to running away, when Jack will hurt me next, and really melancholy things.

"How did you sleep?" Jack asked as he put in another piece towards the dragons wing.

"Good." I didn't tell him about my head bleeding this morning. He would've gotten mad.

"Me too. It's suppose to storm today." Jack added on as he turned to glance out the windows.

I stood up to get Jack more tea, and my elbow got hooked on the tea cup. It tipped over and spilled all over the table and onto the floor.

Quickly, I tipped the mug back up and ignored Jack's stare. I ran to get the kitchen rag and a towel, then was back cleaning the floor.

The rag soaked up most of the tea, but I had to made a second trip back to rinse the rag out. When I got back, Jack was standing in my way.

Here it comes.

I looked at him, with his hand raised, and that murderous look back in his eyes.

His hand came down hard on my shoulder. I stumbled a little bit and hit the wall with my other shoulder.

I made a whimpering type noise and turned my head at Jack as he began to wipe up the rest of the tea spill. When he was done, he ran me into the wall once more.

Sliding down the wall, I held my already bruising shoulder and stopped myself from crying.

Jack gave me a sharp kick in the hip before deciding that was enough.

It's all bullshit, really; all I did was spill some tea! That's like not pushing your chair in after dinner and your mother yelling at you for it. Complete and utter bullshit.

I silenced myself from crying and stood up slowly. Jack was already back at the table doing his puzzle and drinking his tea.

Excusing myself, I went into the bathroom and began to clean up. I washed my face with some soap and ice water, wrapped an ice pack on my hip, and got the few specks of blood from my shoulder off. I must've scratched it when I hit the wall.

When I left the bathroom, I ignored Jack and began to clean a little around the house. Jack stayed in his spot, doing that stupid fucking puzzle, and I cleaned up around the house.

I should run away, I thought, when he leaves for work tonight. I can get on the next train out of this shit hole and meet up with a few mates that live a while away. He won't know where to look.

I decided against it and did another load of laundry. Back in my mind,I knew if this shit kept up I'd need to run before I was found dead in a ditch somewhere.

Jack had quite the way with excuses; he could tell all of his friends I fell down and broke my neck. They'd believe it, because that's what doctors do. Stick up for each other.

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By the end of the night, Jack finished his puzzle. He was just leaving for work now, at about midnight, and was giving me a kiss.

I kissed back, and watched him leave before retreating upstairs. When I laid in bed, I began to doze off with a thought on my mind:

Maybe I'll pretend right now, but I swear to god I'm gonna save Jack.