Here Is All I Have

t w e l v e

I was putting candy on shelves, bored out of my mind, just like always. I had one earbud in, playing my favorite metal band on full volume. I was leaving work soon, moving away, so I didn't really care about working hard. I had just pulled out my phone when this couple stumbles out of the theater. I instantly got a bad vibe from the guy.

the girl was so much smaller than him, her eyes wild with fear and sadness. she was being pulled by her boyfriend, and she asked where they were going. he said he was taking her home, and his voice was so rough and mean. she looked so scared of him, and she backed away a few feet. that was when she noticed me, her eyes telling me to stay calm, even though she clearly wasn't.

why was the guy so pissed? because this beautiful girl was watching him, rather than watching the movie. he called her a stalker, raising his voice.

the girl apologizes, only upsetting the guy even further. what he does next is like nothing I've ever witnessed. he steps forward quickly, grabbing her chin. I jump, I've never really seen violence right in front of me.

his muscles clench, nostrils flare. this dude is angry. he's got one hand with a death grip on her wrist, the other hand still on her chin. he pushes her into the wall, keeping her in place. he calls her a bitch, and she starts to cry. I want to intervene, if he hurts her I'll help. I had to keep telling myself that. he was much stronger than I, and he was taller. I was intimidated.

then he went on to call her a whore. and he said he was sick of her, and that he only told her he loved her all the time so she'd stop crying. then he smiled and said her mom was an alcoholic, she never taught her right from wrong. he was absolutely crossing the line. then, "I'm tired of trying so fucking hard to fix you," he says and spits in her face.

she looks at me, still hoping I don't involve myself. but when he slaps her cheek to get her attention, I finally walk over.

"I'm okay, it's okay. leave us be," the girl is absolutely frantic, and I wonder if she's afraid for my safety as well as hers.

"don't touch her," I tell the guy, trying to be menacing. of course, I just pissed him off more.

he says some things about how easy she is to get in bed, which was bullshit. and then he punches her in the nose and leaves, kicking a chair on his way out. I'm in complete shock, I want to talk to the girl and get her to stop crying. but I can't ignore the way my arms are shaking. my brain is fuzzy. he just fucking punched her.

her nose is flowing red.

"I should go talk to him," she says, holding her bleeding nose. I furrow my brows, giving her a quizzical look.

"what? he just hit you, in the face, you're bleeding. and instead of checking to see if your nose is broken, or stopping the blood, you want to go talk to that fuming asshole? give him time to cool down, okay?" I literally beg of her. I don't want to think of what will happen if she goes after him. if staring pisses him off, if apologies make him violent, God, chasing after him could make him murderous.

I choose to pull off my thin jacket, to sop up some of the blood that's traveled to her chest. Her gorgeous white dress will probably be trash. damn.

"um, he's going to leave if I don't go after him. I don't want him to leave me." she says as if it's the most obvious thing to ever happen in history. this girl...

"maybe if he's that easy to lose, you should just let him go."  really I mean, he's an ass and I'm pretty great. give me a chance. but clearly she's not in the state to be asked out.