Domestic violence
As you know I am angered about domestic violence and how little is done to protect women and children. This is just a short story (fiction) I have been working on. One day an opportunity may come along to publish.
A narrative
She had seen the signs. Knew them well. Hardly a week had gone by that she hadn’t witnessed her mother covering up the bruises, that he left behind. Their mother did her best to shield them from the nightly screaming matches. Her brother hiding under the bed, covering his ears against the nightly onslaught.
The torrent of abuse that reined down from her father’s fists, crushing the love she once had for him. The love her mother had for him; her brother. Violent words mixed with violent clashes. Her mother came off worse. Always.
Always ended with him storming out the door, almost bringing the foundations to its knees.
One day he stayed. He didn’t leave, except in the backseat of a police car. Handcuffs obvious. His anger had got the better of him. A lifeless body, lay across the kitchen floor. No longer their living; breathing; talking, mother. Instead a limp, pale replica. Icy cold. An image of someone that once was.
They stayed with their aunt for a while. Until being fostered by a childless couple. They were lucky they stayed together. She grew into a beautiful woman, a nurse she cared for her patients. Made sure they were safe. Unlike her.
She should have known better to think he would ever change. He would ever stop.
It started not long after the wedding. He told her she could stop work now they were married. She didn’t want to. So she didn’t. He didn’t like it. Her disobeying him.
Icy fingers began to wrap around the marriage. A claw-like, boney structure, grasping, crushing. Until she couldn’t breathe. Being told what to do and went to do it. He kept her under a tight rein. She had to break free or she would surely die. He didn’t hit her. Not ever. He didn’t need to. One look was all it took. Told she was just a nurse. An arse wiper. That’s all she was, a nobody. It did the trick.
