Bruises

Freedom

Tré and I were both sitting peacefully when we heard the shouting stop from outside. I heard her go downstairs and the front door open. She was leaving.
We shared an uneasy look as we heard sirens draw closer. They were too far away; she was going to escape!

"What are we going to do?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Nothing. We're safe in here and they'll do their job and catch her. We've done enough for today."

"What if she gets away?"

"They're professional police officers. She won't get away."
After a while of listening with our breaths held, there was a commotion outside and I heard her shouting, along with a few men.
"They've found her." He chuckled.

Within minutes they were in the house and Tré opened the door for them. They looked pretty surprised to see me tied to the bed, but when we explained everything they seemed more understanding and worked on getting the cuffs off of me. After calling for backup with some bolt cutters, they got me out. I looked at my tender wrists and studied the swelling and bruising around the deep marks.
It felt great to stand up again and my back cracked along with my legs and other body parts that had been on sleep mode for the last few days.

A police officer with greying hair and wiry eyebrows walked over to me. They had given us both blankets and we're getting ready to put us in the car. It was only delayed because I was bursting to go to the toilet-trying to hold it in for such a long time just wasn't a good idea.
"Billie Joe?" He asked me and I nodded.
"We're gonna need you to tell us everything about the relationship before all of this happened. We need you to come to the station with us and we need you to make an official statement.

I gulped. "Can't I go home and change first? I would like a shower..."

"We'll get you some clean clothes, but unfortunately you have to come in straight away."
They had put Olivia in a different car and had already left, leaving me and my friend to pile into the one car that was left. We both smiled warily at each other and settled into the soft seats. The hum of the engine was comforting and I felt myself drifting off. I felt Tré lean his head on me and I guessed he had the same idea as me.

We arrived at the station with a sharp halt which woke us both from our peaceful slumber.
They let us out and took us inside, giving us some plain jogging bottoms and a white shirt each. We followed the officer through the corridor and into a waiting room. They wanted to speak to me first and I reluctantly left Tré and walked into the pale room.

"So, Billie Joe Armstrong, tell me what the relationship was like when it first started."

I cleared my throat, "it was nice. We had a laugh and it was... nice. You know, I loved her..." I trailed off, not sure what else to say.

"What about a few months in?"

"That's when she... I mean, it must have been a few months after we started dating... she hit me..."

"Why was that?"

I shrugged, "some stupid argument got out of hand."

"Was that the only time she ever hit you?"
I shook my head.
"When did she hit you again?"

"I Don't remember... there were... so many times."

"Was there any other abuse going on?"

"She would shout at me all the time... not let me see my friends, hurt me if I did anything she didn't want me to do... she used to hit me with things too..."

"Do you have proof?"

I lifted my shirt to show the numerous faded bruises and cuts. "I guess they're old now... Tré has a picture when they were fresh."

"We're going to need to use that as evidence. And we'll have to take a few full body photos of all of this." He gestured to my dotted abdomen. "You can put your shirt down."

I did as I was told.
He made me talk more about the relationship and had me run through exactly what happened at Olivia's. After an hour and a half I was done talking; it had brought everything back and I was feeling completely run down.

Tré had been questioned in another room and was already finished and waiting for me.
As soon as I saw his familiar wonky smile I felt myself start to well up. It took all of my self control not to burst onto tears and collapse in his arms. He must have noticed because his smile became soft and sympathetic. He put his hand on my shoulder when I got to him.
"Let's go home."
I nodded, I couldn't speak yet, and just swallowed back the lump that was rising in my throat.
"That's alright, isn't it?" He asked the officer that had been questioning me.

"Yes, that's fine. We have your details, we'll be in touch. Until then, just go home and rest. You've earned it."

He thanked the officer and I nodded, still not daring to open my mouth. We got in the police car that took us to get Tré's car, and then drove home in silence.
I think we were both in shock... I know I was.