Like Mother, Like Daughter

The little girl, Tess, awoke at midnight. The cause of her sudden awakening was unknown, but she decided to get a glass of water before going back to sleep. Quietly, she padded barefoot down the hallway to the kitchen, filling a glass with water before carrying it back to her bedroom. As she passed the lounge room, however, muffled cries came from behind the closed door, barely audible underneath the volume of the television.

Shrugging it off, she returned to bed and fell asleep immediately, unaware of the situation occurring just two rooms away from her.

The next morning, Tess woke up and sleepily walked into the kitchen for breakfast, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Her mother was standing at the kitchen bench, and when she turned around, the little girl gasped in shock.

“Mummy, what happened to your face?!”

The older woman tried to smile gently, but it appeared as a grimace through her swollen lip and black eye. “Nothing you need to worry about, Tessie.”

Tess decided against protesting and sat down to eat her cereal, studying her mother intently as she moved around the room, wincing every so often and clutching her side.

The next night, Tess crept out of her room at the same time as the night before, determined to unveil the secret her mother seemed intent on keeping.

Pushing the door to the lounge room open slightly, she peered through the tiny crack, and instantly drew back in fear at the scene she was witnessing. Her mother, that strong, independent woman she had always looked up to, was curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing as her husband repeatedly kicked her in the chest and ribs, can of beer in hand.

Tess watched in horror as her father bashed up her mother, sparing her no mercy. He finished the can of beer and threw it on the floor before heading towards the door, purposely stepping on the woman cowering at his feet, shooting her a glance of hatred. Tess jumped around the corner and flattened herself against the wall as her intoxicated father stumbled from the room towards the bedroom her parents shared.

Hearing a soft cry, Tess darted back into the lounge room, moving over to her mother’s limp body with tears in her eyes.

“Mum? What can I do?” she asked, pulling down her mother’s top, hiding the purple and black skin of her exposed stomach from sight.

“Go back to bed, Tess,” whimpered her mother. “There’s nothing you can do, it’s too late to do anything.”

Tess ignored her mother, helping the older woman off the floor and guiding her into her own bedroom, away from her violent father. Her mother was too tired and broken to protest. The two females curled up in Tess’s bed together, relishing each other’s warmth as they quietly sobbed in each other’s arms.

“I love you, Tessie. Thank you for saving me.”

“I love you too, mummy. Goodnight.”

Tess and her mother were awoken early next morning by an intoxicated father and husband flinging Tess’s bedroom door open. With a furious look on his face, he roughly pulled his wife from the bed.

“Make me breakfast, bitch!” he shouted, dragging the petrified woman down the hallway to the kitchen, with Tess running after them.

“Daddy, stop! You’re hurting her! STOP!” she cried, tugging on her father’s arm.

He turned around to face her, baring his teeth and snarling like an angry beast. “Let go of me, you little brat!” Her father, uncontrollable at this point, raised his hand to Tess, who stared back at him defiantly.

As he struck out, Tess’s mother stood up to shield her precious daughter, receiving the full brunt of her husband’s blow. She cried out, cupping her cheek, and the man standing before her (she did not know who this man was anymore, he was not the man she married fourteen years ago) smirked before turning around and going back to bed, satisfied.

Tess hugged her mother, tears flowing unchecked down both of their faces. They sat in silence for a few moments, Tess trying to control her tears and her mother thinking hard. She had taken her husband’s abuse with little complaint since it began a month earlier, when he began going out with friends after work more often and coming home drunk. She knew complaining to him would only make her a more vulnerable target, so she kept her mouth shut. But that morning had made her realise that she and her daughter were no longer safe in their own home.

“Pack a bag, Tessie,” said her mother suddenly. “We have to get out of here. I’m not putting you in danger anymore.”

Tess nodded shakily, taking her mother’s orders. She dressed and then began packing a bag with only the necessities: some spare clothes, underwear, pyjamas, toothbrush and her favourite stuffed toy, which she could not sleep without. Down the hall, her mother was doing the same thing. Before leaving the room, she emptied the contents of her jewellery box into another small bag, hiding it in the pocket of her handbag.

Tess was waiting for her mother by the door, and took her hand when they were side by side. Together, for the last time, they walked out the front door of the place they had called home for the last ten years, leaving behind them a lifetime of now worthless memories and the man they had once loved unconditionally.

Mother and daughter did not look back as they walked towards freedom, hand in hand.

In the master bedroom, an angry man stirred…