Battle scars

•Pumpkin Eater•

Mark was in the shower. His cell phone went off. i went to see who it was and answered it. A woman was on the other line.

"Hello. Is Mark there?" She said.

"He's busy at the moment, may i ask who this is and what it is regarding?"

"I was just checking to see if we were still on for our next date tomorrow night." She said. My heart sank.

"Date?" I asked, trying to keep it together.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" She asked. She sounded perky.

"No." I slowly drooped the phone away from my ear and hung up laid the phone on the counter and went to our bedroom. I sat on the bed and tried not to cry. I felt a tear escape from my left eye. I sat in shock for who knows how long.

Mark soon came into the room with his sweatpants on and a white tank top . His hair was wet. He saw me. "Baby, are you crying?" He tried to put his hand on my face.

On instinct, i flinched a little and just looked at him. "A woman called..." I said. Then i lost it. "How many are there?! How long?!" i shouted.

"You Don't yell at me!" He yelled back.

"I am your girlfriend! Why are you out, dating, partying, drinking, sleeping around, or whatever you go out and do while i stay here and clean your stupid house?! What am i to you?! I'm your girlfriend! I am your girlfriend. You come home drunk, wasted, tired, abusive! i'm tired of this Stupid crap of yours, Mark! You cant don't do this to me anymore! You can't do this to me! "

At that he slapped me across the face. I held me cheek in shock. My mouth was wide open. "I can't hit you?"

I looked into his eyes. "No you can't." I said. Then he punched me. I held my face and began to cry. I looked at my hand. It had a line of blood on it. My cheek throbbed.

"You want to fight? I make the rules. I make the money around here." He said.

Tears and fear in my eyes i managed to say, "It's your rules.."

"Yeah. That's right." He said.

"What if i don't like the rules?!" I said, rage filling me.

"Well not everything in life is fair." He relied. His face was stern.

I just sat there. I got up and went to our bathroom. I had my phone in my pocket. I called Skyla.

"hey girly." She said, all bubbly.

I sigh. "Hi, Skyla." I said, hinting a little worry in my voice.

"You alright?" She asked, noticing my shaky voice.

"Yeah, um. Could i come by tomorrow, while mark is at work? I'm not working tomorrow." I asked.

"Of Coarse! We can have a girls day!" She shrieked.

"Okay great!" I added a fake laugh. "well goodnight. See you tomorrow around noon."

"Okay bye." She said and we hung up.

My voice was a little hushed during the entire conversation so that Mark wouldn't hear me.

I then crawled into bed with my cheating boyfriend, who I thought loved me. He rolled over to me.

"Julie.. I'm- i'm sorry for what i did.. umm.." he said.

"Look I just don't ant to talk to you." i said and turned my back to him. He kissed my cheek.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to. I had a couple of shots and-" I cut him off.

"You're cheating and beating me, Mark! Just leave me alone or go sleep on the couch." He smacked my arm. "OW!" yelled in minor pain.

"I'll shut up. But you just be quiet." he said.

I got up and went to the closet to get some blankets. I grabbed my pillow and went downstairs. I slept on the couch that night. I slept terribly. My mind kept replaying the events of today. Just knowing that he is under the same roof as me causes me to st it fear.