The Broken Tale

A flight

         The world no longer spun for hours. The sun did not shine as Layla ravaged through the already ravaged house for the money Chanel had given them. Nobody existed as Layla bought the first plane ticket available. The sun seemed to not set as the plane took off into the air. The stars did not shine for the entire fifteen hour flight. Layla could not grasp anything for the entire time. She had expected to feel devastated, her entire fear was that she may break down and scream right in the middle of the flight but quite to her own shock...she did not. She felt nothing. Not because she did not care but because she could not grasp it. This was the last straw for her mind. She could not think of a human mind that could ever have enough strength to grasp everything she had been through. No longer could she believe what was happening to her could even be reality anymore. How could this happen to anybody? How could the universe be this cruel?
             Almost six years after the first time she crossed the border, Layla was back where it had all began, the society that had confined all twenty-three years of her life to pain. It was funny and a little ironic that the last stop on this rollercoaster brought her back to where it all began.
            Iraq had not changed at all. The air was still choking, the judgemental people's stares and the perverted glances still disgusted her more than the trash in the streets and the old buildings that were a far cry from the beauty of Los Angeles did.
           With the little Kurdish Layla could mutter in her state of mind, she got herself a cab. She ignored the taxi driver's eyes piercing back at her body through the mirror. She grew up in this society after all and now she had seen worse. She pulled the crumbled letter out of her pocket and read it again. She gave the driver the address written in the letter.
           In an open field there was nothing but overgrown thorns for as far as the eye could see. Layla recognized the old building all too well. Incomplete, run down but the old glass-less building still towered above her so high that it blocked out the harsh middle eastern sun but...what did it matter? She would not be able to see the sun even if it was not blocked by the bricks of the run down building.
            His smirking face greeted her. Almost five years later, his tall dark figure and devious smirk still clenched her heart with fear that was unmatched. But now the fear was no longer for her own safety. In fact her safety was the most inconvenient thing on her mind now that she had her daughter and Brian to worry about. But she knew that smirk all too well.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my darling wife." He said, stepping towards her.
There was something...off about his voice. He sounded...corrupt, lost beyond saving point. His usually deadly but still calm demeanor was gone.
              Layla broke away from his dark eyes, knowing it would drain her of any strength or courage she had struggled to accumulate. But the horror that met her eyes was much worse than his piercing gaze. Layla clenched her fists and forced herself to stand still.
Everything felt more surreal.
               How broken Brian looked, both physically and mentally, cut Layla's strength in half. Bruises covered almost every part of his body, his blue eyes were sore red and watery, his mouth was caught up in a gag the same way his hands and feet were bound up in chains. But even with the pain and terror he must have been in, Layla could see that the one thing on his mind was her safety.
                Unable to look at Brian's state, Layla looked away. But it seemed that Ali had strategically made it so that wherever she looked, she would be petrified. It was so terrifying that Layla could scarcely stop herself from screaming. It was no secret that Ali was corrupt but could he be this corrupt? This depraved? Cold enough to tie up a newborn and discard of her like a piece of garbage on dusty floors?
                 "I want to hold her." Layla said, already starting for the baby.
But he blocked her way, his smirk was still there.
"And what do you have that deserves such a luxury, Layla?" He asked.
"She's barely a week old, you bastard!"
"So? How's that my problem?"
"Look, Ali, whatever you want to do, you can do it to me. Leave my daughter alone."
"You're in no position to be giving me demands."
"Watch me! You already took one child from me, fuck me if I give you another!"
"Our baby's death was no one's blame but yours." He replied a little too calmly for comfort.
"Tell me! I'm just dying to know! What the fuck had I done that night to deserve that?
"You pestered me even though you knew how I am when I'm annoyed."
"I was trying to help you, you little shit!" She screamed, "You had just lost your som! I felt bad for you, I was trying to be there for you and that's a fucking mistake on my part! I should've known that you deserved everything you were getting!"
Just like he had some so many times over the past five years, he flung a hard slap across her face and sent her falling onto the dusty floor.
"And what do you deserve, hm?" He asked, gripping her hair and yanking her face closer to his, "Tell me what you deserve."
Layla barely felt any pain for her whole mind was solely focused on her baby crying in the dust. The baby's cries dragged her back down to reality. Only then did she regain her senses. She had to get them out! If she was going to die then that now seemed like a relief but she would not let him take her lover and baby away from her.
"P-Please...you can do whatever you want to me...I'll do whatever you want... Everything can be like before. J-just please... let Brian and my baby go... I'm begging you, Ali, I'll be anything you want."
He only laughed at her. The laughter echoed menace throughout the entire building.
"But, babe, where's the fun in that?" He asked.
He got to his feet without letting go of her hair. He dragged her behind him by her hair, snapping most of the newly grown locks in his grip. He threw her on the floor. Before she had time to process the relief, she felt her stomach in her mouth as his shoes dug into her stomach twice.
"Do you really think anyone would spare you after all the humiliation you've put me through?" He growled, entangling his hand in her hair again, "Wow, Layla, I wasted so much money sending a moron like you to college!"
He flung a blow against the back of her head, pushing her face into the dirt. The pain in the back of her head and her now numbly painful nose were insignificant compared to the pain in her chest at what she saw.
How, was her first thought. She wondered how any parent could be this cruel? To just watch their daughter be beaten and their newborn granddaughter be discarded of like piece of garbage? She knew their culture was not kind but could parents be cruel to that level?
Though they were tied up, Layla's parents were not gagged the way Brian was. But even though they were free to talk, they made no effort to stop Ali. They just stared on indifferently.
Yanking her back to her feet with her hair, Ali heard none of Layla's nor the baby's screams.
"Let me go, you psycho!" She shrieked but he did not listen.
When had he ever listened?
He pushed her on a nearby table. Layla knew exactly what he wanted, she had seen too many times to mistake it. But this time, she was not going to give it to him that easily. She swung around and pushed him away with all her strength.
But it was hopeless.
Useless!
He pinned her down with no difficulty. She was drained from months being trapped with little excersize, pregnancy and a traumatic birth. Her strength was drained but he was loaded, ready to unleash all his rage and hatred.
Even Brian was staring to panic. He was struggling in his restraints and trying to shout through his gag.
"No, no, Ali, no, please, no!" Layla pleaded.
He broke his lips from her neck.
"Why, hm? You don't want your lover to see another man touch you?" He brought his lips down on her neck briefly before he cupped his face, "Maybe you and your lover have forgotten that I'm your husband! I've seen every inch of your body! I've tasted every part of you! I was the first man to touch you! You're mine!"
"Stop!" She cried.
She tried to sit up and push him away but he kicked her down with one punch in her mouth.
         Completely unsatisfied, he yanked her up by her hair only to send her flying back down with another blow across her mouth.
          Again and again.
         With every drop of blood that splattered out of her mouth and nose, his grin grew bigger. With every breathless scream that escaped her lips, he got stronger.
          Her parents never said a single word. Not even as her teeth fell out of her gums and landed by their feet. Not even as her cheeks swelled up in bruises. Not even as she coughed up her own blood.
          Through a corner of her eye, Layla could see Brian struggling to break free of his chains helplessly. His face was flushed red from trying to shout through his gag so much. Layla could see a river of silver tears running down his red swollen cheeks.
           Layla tried to push him away, she tried flinging blows at him by they always came back hitting her from his hand twice as hard. He wrapped her legs around his waist when he knew she was too hazy to do anything. Layla cursed at herself for choosing to wear a dress for it made everything easier for him. With one pull, Ali had torn her undergarments off. He tossed it by Brian's feet, spotting him a mocking glance that sang of his supremacy.
"D-Don't touch me...please." Layla begged helplessly.
He did not even bother giving her a second glance.
            With not but a drop of strength left in her, all Layla could do was look over at Brian. Layla thought it to have been better if Ali had tied Brian up in a blind not a gag because though could not speak much but his blue eyes spoke louder than he ever could. They urged her...begged her to stay strong. Brian gave her a nod to let her know it was going to be okay, this was not her fault. But no matter what he said, Layla could not help but feel guilt for what he would have to face. She managed a small apology before she felt something enter her.
           She knew exactly what it was but even if she had not, she could have easily guessed as Brian looked away in despair and her parents' faces flushed green in disgust.
          But even as he was violating her in front of her parents and lover, he was far from satisfied. He gripped her neck tightly with both hands, forcing all air out of her lungs. Brian's voice got louder as Layla turned purple with her mouth hanging open.
"Let her go!" He shouted in a muffled but still audible voice.
Ali's disgusting devious smirk grew but he did not thrusting into her.
"Let her go, huh?" He asked, glaring at Brian, "You want me to stop fucking your girlfriend?"
Though initially Layla was only relieved that she was allowed to breathe for a moment but that was all she thought it would be. A moment before he started to hurt her again.
        But he did not.
        Instead he pulled out of her and zipped up his jeans. "Alright then." He said, stepping towards Brian, "I'm not like you. I, Brian Levinos, may be a lot of things but I respect my friends. I won't touch my best friend's woman. I know my limits. Something you never knew."
         He seemed to have been calmer...too calm that it left them all confused. But that calmness was fragile and short lived. It quickly disappeared as he flung two blows across Brian's face.
Two turned to four.
Four turned to eight.
Eight to....
        Tied up, bound and gagged. Brian could not fight back or even protect himself. He do nothing but have to endure the vicious blows helplessly.
       Though she was dizzy and aching, Layla instinctively flung herself at him, using the last bit of her remaining strength to hold his arms back. Ali stopped and turned his attention on her with a rather amused grin. He shoved her away, sending her rolling in the dust. Even with her face buried in the cold concrete, she could hear his footsteps approaching her.