It all seemed to be in slow motion-like one of those cheesy movie scenes where the bad guy clips the jaw of the hero. His blazing fist strikes him right above the cheekbone causing his head to jerk sideways. His mouth jarred open while saliva mixed with blood drip all over the floors and splatter on the walls. He’s knocked silly, shocked by the blow. Unsteady. He staggers to catch his balance but ends up falling anyway.
Somehow it didn’t seem so cheesy anymore as it played over and over again in my head. It seemed more like abuse. I hated that word though. Mentally, I could never see myself…he’d been doing it for so long-I always thought it was normal. We were normal. And that I could change him.
It wasn’t cheesy anymore because the person who was getting punched was me. He got me right in the kisser. Again. Before I even seen the red stuff I could taste it in my mouth. Tasteless but thicker than my own spit. I opened my jaw a few times to see if it was broken. It wasn’t. This time.
My whimpers turned into a low chuckle. I was just as surprised as he was. As he grabbed my hair and dragged me backwards they became loud sniggers which enraged him even more. “Oh, this is funny to you?” He tightened his grip, tossing me like a raggedy Ann doll to the couch. “We’re going to see about that,” he growled.
A familiar grin flashed across his face. The same kind he had when he had a good hand when he played poker with the boys.
He pounced on top of me and slapped me a few more times. My eyes were tightly shut as I laughed some more. The tears were gone. My body was numb from all the years of pain he inflicted. I was soul-less. It left me a long time ago. I’d just never noticed it till now. I couldn’t feel the supposed stings of his palm or the pound of his fist.
And he didn’t like that. He got off on the pain. The control- well, the control he once had.
His nostrils flared like an enraged bull, his chest heaved up and down rapidly. And I looked down upon my physical body from way above and saw the back of his head and my bruised face. I opened my swollen eyes partly, bleeding but still smiling. It’s the first time that I’d seen fear in his eyes. The tables had turned. I was in control now.
My smile faded. “Get off of me.” He puffed his chest then his lips thinned. He got off abruptly, obviously frustrated. I sat up slowly. It was over. Now I laughed on the inside. It was finally over. The thick metal chains he’d wrapped around me didn’t seem so strong anymore. I had the key too. And I was never turning back.
