One Thousand Miles

Chapter  |  Surprise

Part  |  Two

It had been two weeks since Tanya came to visit me. She's came by the house everyday John was at work. She would normally arrive at the house around eleven and leave around five so I could get started on dinner. I hated to see her go since she was the only person who could put a real smile on my face these days.

Every day she came by we'd just sit and listen to the radio or something on television. Every couple of days she would bring by a movie and we'd sit and watch in silence. And then on some days we wouldn't do anything, but sit there and hold each other. That only happened if John beat me the night before.

Today was a day we just sat and listened to the radio and made small talk. One moment we could be laughing at something totally irrelevant, and then the next I could be sobbing on her shoulder. Like now for example.

"Shh, it's okay Steph. I mean the abuse isn't okay, but everything will be okay when I get you out of here," she said as she gave me a comforting smile. 

I look up at her with a frown on my face. "Tanya I've told you this multiple times. I can't just pack up my things and leave. I have to sit down and talk to John about this. He's needs to understand that I'm not going to leave him and never come back."

She lets out loud breath of air before looking me directly in the eye. "Well when are you going to talk to him Stephanie? You've been saying that you were going to talk with him for the past two weeks and still you haven't talked to him."

I sigh and away from her. I sit there with my chin resting in the palm of my left hand with a frown still on my lips. I glance over at him before whispering, "Well it's easier said than done."

She sighs and moves closer to me. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her side. We sit there with her arm around me for a few minutes just trying to collect our thoughts. It's silent the whole time, but finally after about five minutes Tanya opens her mouth. "Stephanie, please talk to him. He's just going to keep hurting you if you don't. I mean look what the abuse has done to you. You're hair has lost its glow and it's so thin, you're nothing but skin and bones, and you're almost the color of a white piece of paper!"

"I know," I whisper.

She sighs and squeezes my shoulder. That small gesture put a small smile on my face. It was times like this that I needed a friend, and now that Tanya was here I had one. Those days when would beat me and keep me locked up in our room for the rest of the night I really needed a friend. I would sit there on our bed crying my eyes wishing for the pain to just go away. Wishing for somebody to just come and give me the comfort I needed to get through the day.

We sit there in silence for a few more seconds before finally Tanya breaks it once again. "Okay, we really need to stop having these little depressing moments. I came here to have a good time with my best friend, so that is what we shall do!"

I laugh and wipe away a fear tears still lingering on my cheeks and in my lashes. I watch as she reaches down inside her purse and pulls a container with two pieces of chocolate cake. I gasp and couldn't help but grin widely at the heaven trapped in the container.

"I brought you your favorite!" she chirped.

I laughed before snatching the container out of her hands. I stuck my tongue out the side of my mouth as I quickly took the lid on the container off and reached inside for a piece of cake. I immediately took a huge bite out of one of the pieces and moaned at the taste. It's been a while since I've had cake.

"This tastes delicious. You should try some," I say as I try to shove the cake in her face.

"No thank you," she laughs.

I laugh too. "Come on, eat it!" 

We both laugh as she moves away from me to avoid getting any cake on her face. This was the most fun I had ever had in years. It was nice to actually laugh even though we were just laughing at something as simple as cake. We're still laughing and I'm still trying to shove cake in her face when suddenly someone clears their throat from the living room entrance. My heads snaps in the direction or where the sound came from. My smile instantly disappears from my face and all the blood drains from my face.

There standing in the archway was John. My eyes immediately went to his blank face before slowly going down to the red roses in his hand. I quickly place the cake back in the container and sit it on the table before standing up and looking down at the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tanya slowly stand up straight before crossing her arms over her chest.

Without looking up at him, I say with a shaky voice. "W-What are you doing home early?"

He's silent for a few seconds which causes me to look up at him with wide scared eyes. He takes in a breath of air before taking a step towards the radio next to the entrance. He turns it off before looking up at us once again. "Well I wanted to surprise you and take you out to that one nice restaurant you like, but it looks like," he looks over at Tanya for just a second before turning to face me once again. "You surprised me," he looks over at Tanya once again and smirks as he takes a few more steps in the room. "Tanya Rogers, it's been a while since I've seen your gorgeous face around. You still look ravishing."

She scoffs. "Why thank you, if only I could say the same about you."

He shakes his head in amusement. "I seemed to have forgotten how big of a bitch you are. Now see if you were my wife you wouldn't have that little bitchy attitude of yours. You'd be the perfect wife like Stephanie here," he says gesturing towards me. I quickly look down at my feet once again. "I've taken great care of her and taught her how to be the perfect wife that she should be. Well...considering the face that she let an animal into our house I obviously need to teach her another lesson."

Tanya and I both knew what he meant when he said he needed to teach me another lesson...

I peek up at Tanya as she scowls over in John's direction. "Yeah you've done a great job at teaching her! The bruises covering her skin are great evidence!"

I look back down and roll my sleeve up just a little bit to look at my bruised wrist. I could feel Tanya's eyes on the side of my face. I could tell she was looking at my bruised face since I didn't bother to put on makeup.

The sound of John clearing his throat once again caught our attention. He didn't speak until both of our eyes were on him. "Stephanie, why don't you walk your guest to the door? And make it quick."

I could slowly see his face going from slightly amused to angry, so I knew it was time to get Tanya out of here before he exploded.

"Come on Tanya," I said quietly as I looked down and exited the living room. Tanya followed right behind me until I opened the door and she stepped outside. I closed the door just a little bit and poke my head out. Tears slowly fell from my eyes when she gave me a sad smile.

"I can just call the---"

"No you can't. Just.....just please don't tell anybody about this. I don't know when I'll see you again, but I want you to know that I will always love you and I will never forget you," I say as more tears fall from my face. "Promise me you won't call the police, or come knocking at the door if you hear any screaming. I don't want you to hear what is about to happen so please just leave as quick as you can, okay?"

She nods her head slowly. "Okay I promise."

I nod my head and give her a small smile before blowing her a kiss. I slowly shut the door and lock it before resting my forehead against the glass. I stand there for a few seconds before slowly turning around. I gulped once I noticed John standing right in front of me and open my mouth to speak. Before any words can leave my mouth, the back of his hand connects with my cheek causing me to go down to the floor. I let out a small scream and look up at him as he stares down at me with eyes filled with anger. I quickly move away, but he comes after me.

"No please stop!" I scream when he picks me up by my arm. I scream when he throws me into a table with a picture of us on our wedding day sitting on top of it. The picture falls off and the glass breaks to pieces.

I cry out in pain when he grabs me by my hair and drags me by my hair into the living room. I scream and try to pull my hair out of his grip, but it's too tight. I cry out when he lifts me up and throws me on the couch Tanya and I were just sitting on moments ago.

"Who do you think you are bringing her into this house? I've told you about answering the door! Do I have to teach you another lesson?" he asks before balling his hand into a fist. I close my eyes tight just as his fist comes in contact with my eye. A sob leaves my lips and yells in frustration. "And then she disrespects me in my house! Two rules broken Stephanie. You just love being bad don't you?"

He continues to throw blow after blow until finally I get the strength I need to push him off of me. I quickly move towards the arm of the couch before climbing over the top of it. I fall on the wooden floor with a thud before standing up as fast as I can and running out the room. I make it to the bottom step when he hits me right in my back which causes me to fall and hit my face. I scream out in pain before covering my bleeding face with both of my hands.

"Where do you think you're going muffin? I'm not through with you just yet," he says as he wraps his hands around my wrists and tugging me up the stairs. I scream and try to lift myself up, but I fall right back down.

Once we make it into our bedroom he throws me into the side of the bed. I look up with tear filled eyes as he takes off his belt. "No," I whisper while shaking my head.

Once he finally gets it off and folds it in half he lifts it up and I immediately put my hands up to try to block the hit. My skin still stings when he hits me. I scream and try to go underneath the bed, but he grabs me by the hair and drags me out.

He hits me for about another minute before stopping. Once he stopped he stood above me breathing heavily while I laid there on the floor in a fetal position sobbing.

"I don't want you leaving this room for the rest of the day, do you hear me?" he asks. I nod my head slowly. "Good. Now, I don't want to hear any noise coming from this room."

He slips his belt back on before exiting the room and slamming the door shut on his way out.

Later that night I laid there on my side with my hands pulled into my chest and my hands resting underneath my head. I was staring blankly at the wall wondering what it was like on the other side of it. I've been to outside, but every time I was with John. I wondered what it was like to be on the other side and free.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard the bedroom door slowly creak open. My whole body freezes and my eyes widen with fear.

"Stephanie?" he asks. I don't answer him. I hear him sigh and make his way towards the bed. I feel the mattress dip before I feel his arm wrap around me. "Stephy I know you're up."

I continue to lay there frozen for a couple of seconds before letting out a breath of air. "Yes?"

He sighs and rolls over off his side and sits up so his back is resting again the headboard. I look over at him and try to keep my tears from spilling. "Baby I'm sorry for earlier. It's just that you know better than to let people into the house. You shouldn't have even opened the door!"

A sob leaves my mouth and he quickly rolls me over and pulls me into his chest. "I know, but I was lonely and I was just curious. I just needed a friend."

He rubs my back in small circles before cupping both sides of my head and planting a kiss on top of it. "Baby, you don't need anybody when you have me. I take care of you now alright?"

I sigh and sniff. "Okay."