Zoey's First Crush

Chapter Twelve: Going Back

*WARNING- SPOUSAL ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER, feel free to skip over it, just know that it happened*

They soon arrived at a somewhat decent hotel in the next town over, but neither felt satisfied with the small distance from Henry. They went to the front desk and got a room for the two of them.

Then they carried their bags up to their room. Their room was small with two beds, a tv, bathroom, a mini fridge, and a small table.

They sat down on one of the beds, each lost in her own thoughts.

"Mom, why didn't we just leave before it got so bad?"

Her mom just sighed and looked away. "You wouldn't understand, honey. But I'm sorry for making you deal with that. You deserve better."

Zoey watched as tears fell down her mother's eyes and she quickly wiped them away before getting up and shutting herself in the bathroom. Zoey was alone. She didn't know the real reason behind her mother's sadness, so how could she help? She yawned, interrupting her train of thought, as she realized how tired she was. She decided to go to sleep and deal with her troubles in the morning.

She woke up refreshed and ready to face the day, until she found out what the day would consist of. They were going back.. Back to the miserable place they had finally escaped from. Her mother hoped to retrieve some of their belonging that they had left behind. And while Zoey did regret leaving some of her treasured objects, she did not want to go back, not ever.

"Zoey, I'm sorry but I have important things that I need to get. We don't have a choice. But if we hurry we can be in and out before he even gets home from work. You wont have to see him," her mother reasurred, ushering her to the open car door.

Zoey sighed, but knew that all she was doing was postponing the inevitable. She gave in and got in the car, her mother's grateful smile showing through the window of the now closed car door.

When they arrived, much to Zoey's dismay, Henry was still there. He hadn't gone to work today. He must have been waiting for them to return. Zoey managed to hide her sneer as they entered the house and she ran up to her room as fast as she could to pack her things.

Her mother was not so lucky. Henry stumbled into the hallway as soon as Zoey's bedroom door shut upstairs. He shot Zoey's mom a hateful glare and stepped menacingly towards her. She backed up, finding herself against the wall. Soon he was in her face, scowling. She could smell the liqueur on his breath. With a quiet voice she began to beg him not to hurt her.

"Where did you go, Margaret?" he demanded.

"Nowhere, just for a drive," she lied, shaking slightly.

He looked accusingly at her, "Is that so? Then why didn't you come back sooner? I stayed home from work today so I could make sure you came back safe."

She couldn't meet his eyes. Tears began to form and fall gently down her cheeks. "Please, just let me go," she whispered.

At this he struck her across the face. "How dare you speak to me that way! I have given you everything and I'll take it all away in a second if you ever talk to me like that again."

She fell to the floor sobbing and holding her bruising cheek. She kept her eyes on the floor, unwilling to look at him.

Just then, Zoey started down the stairs with her bags. When she saw them she froze, but it was too late, he had seen her. Her mother caught her eye and mouthed out one word to her, RUN. She turned and ran back up the stairs, making sure she had her cell phone in her pocket. Henry chased after her, quickly gaining. She locked herself in her room and dialed 911. She gave them her address and told them what was going on, with the sound of Henry pounding on the door in the background combined with her newfound tears.

"Don't worry, someone is on their way to you now. You'll be okay, just stay where you are," the lady on the phone assured her.

She hid in her closet curled up in a ball until the police arrived. There were two of them. They were tall and strong men. They put Henry in handcuffs and sat him in the back of their car, then returned to make sure Zoey and her mother, Margaret were okay. Zoey told them that she was fine, he hadn't touched her. Her mother had attained a few more bruises during the time when Zoey was hiding. Her mother was braver than Zoey had ever given her credit for and realized it in this moment. The police told Margaret that she should go to the hospital and make sure she wasn't injured internally or anything and that they would make sure Henry got what he deserved.

One of them approached Zoey, "Hey kid, you did a good thing by calling us. Things could've gotten much worse if you didn't."

Zoey thanked him for coming to help and he nodded and walked to his car, where his partner was waiting. As they drove off, Zoey thought about how much worse it would've gotten if she hadn't called them when she did, and was glad that she did. She turned to her mother and inspected the bruises.

"Mom, we should go to the hospital now." Her mother merely nodded, distracted with her own thoughts. And they walked to the car.