Behind Closed Doors

Chapter One

*2 years earlier*

I awake to the sun shining in my face. I look at the clock and it reads 7:00. I kick off the covers and go to the bathroom. I look in the mirror to check my black eye. I touched it and it burned. "Ow!" I silently screamed. It's been two days since DeMarkus planted this on me. But I'm used to it. It's a shame huh? I know you shouldn't be used to stuff like this, but I am. It's been done to me so many times before. "Baby, where you at?" interrupted my thoughts. It's DeMarkus. "I'm in the bathroom!" I yelled in response. I started to mess with my eye. I always do this. If I mess with my eye he may feel some kind of guilt, which he does. Yet he does it over and over again. The bathroom door opened. "Good morning Keisha" he said standing in the doorway. "Good morning" I replied. I looked at him in the mirror. He was staring at me trying to find the words to say to me. It's always like this after a recent fight. No one knows the words to say to each other. He's probably waiting for me to walk out the door and not look back. Lord knows I thought about it. "Well, I'm about to take a shower" I say breaking the silence. He backs out the doorway and I closed the door.

*10 minutes later*

I walk out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body. I go through my drawer to find something to wear to work. Going through the drawer, I feel DeMarkus wrap his arms around me. "I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear. "Yeah, you told me that already." I responded coldly. Ugh! Why did I say that, I thought. The last thing I need is an argument before work. I find an outfit and quickly put it on. I cover my eye with makeup, which I'm practically a professional at. I  try to avoid DeMarkus eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. I then stare at him in those furious eyes of his. I cock my head to the side and don't say anything. He knows what it means. We go through this every time. "Nothing. Bye DeMarkus." I grab my purse and hurry out the door. Once I arrived to work I hurried to my desk to avoid my coworker's eyes. "Hey girl" echoes over my shoulders. I turn to see my girl Sabrina. "Hey Sabrina." I reply. "Well, how are you doing" she asked sitting next to me at her desk. "Couldn't be better." I smiled. Sabrina may be my best friend but she has no idea what DeMarkus does to me. "That's great" she responded. "Well here comes the boss, so look busy." I warned. "Keisha, Sabrina." he acknowledged us. "Mr. Hardaway" we both responded. "Aye Keisha, we should go out tonight after work. "What do you have in mind?" I asked. "Let's go to that new club that just opened." " I don't think so Sabrina." "Why not? You scared of DeMarkus." Yeah I thought. "No" I lied. "Then let's go. "Fine" I gave in. After work we got in my car and went to the club. Sabrina don't have her own car. We walk in to "Drunk In Love" by Beyonce. We went over to the bar. "Two tequila shots please" Sabrina asked the bartender. Once our drinks arrived, I was the first one to chug mine down. "Dang girl" Sabrina yelled over the music, then she chugged hers down. Soon the DJ played " They Don't Know Remix." "I love  this song. Come on girl! " Sabrina dragged me to the dance floor. After more tequila shots and dancing we decided to call it a night. I dropped Sabrina off at her house and headed home. All I thought about was "What will DeMarkus say". I walked up to the porch and stood in front of the door. I took a deep breath, unlocked the door ,and walked in. The first thing I see is DeMarkus sitting on the couch staring right at me. "Where you been?" he asked with anger in his voice. "I was out with Sabrina." I said nervously. I sat my purse down in the chair and stared to walk upstairs to our bedroom. Then, DeMarkus stood up and stopped me in my tracks. "Don't lie to me Keisha" "I'm not. I went with Sabrina to the new club that just opened up" I swallowed hard. Then...SLAP! I hit my head against the wall while falling to the floor. Rubbing my head, I looked up at DeMarkus. "You like pissing me of, don't you?" he asked. I didn't say anything. I just stared and braced myself for another blow. "Don't you?" he repeated. I shook my head no. I don't open my mouth. If I do I might break down and cry, and I wouldn't dare cry in front of him. "You a lie. Cause if you didn't you wouldn't lie to me like you do." "I'm not lying" I mumbled. "Whatever". He went upstairs. As soon as I heard the door slam I cried silent tears. Soon I fell into a deep sleep.