Life's Next Chapter

by Sarah Goodman

  “He fucking hurt you, didn’t he?” I seethe at her. She doesn’t look at me, but by her trembles I can tell. “Did he lay a fucking finger on you?” She just bows her head down and doesn’t say a word. “God damn it, Leah, answer me. I’m not going to let that prick hurt you ever again.”

  “Luke, he’s my husband. This is our business, not yours.” I clench my jaw and shake my head with such force.

  “Leah, you made it my fucking business when you recoiled from my touch. Honey, I don’t give a fuck if he is fucking God, he has no right to lay a finger on you. Now, show me your arm…now, Leah!”

  She holds out her arm, but makes me pull up the sleeve to her dress. She has bruises all up her arm, some very new, and some very old ones. I immediately grab her other arm and do the same. Her arms reflect one another and the bruises are all over the place. I grab her shoulders and twirl her around and pull the collar of her dress down and look down her back. She is black and blue from the neck down. Of course the bastard wouldn’t hurt her face.

  “Leah, get in the fucking car! We aren’t staying here,” Charles screams to my sister.

  I walk around the car and pull the son of a bitch from the car. I throw him against his custom Mercedes. “Now let’s see who the bigger man is. You enjoy beating up my baby sister, Charles?” I have him by the neck of his shirt and with just a little more pressure my fist could pinch off his airway. My other hand is holding his hand onto the roof of the car. I can hear Leah’s pleas and cries to let him go.

  “Let me go, asshole. This isn’t your fucking issue. Listen to Leah and mind your own damn business.”

  I don’t know what overcame me, maybe it was the pent up frustration from Keith, and what he did to Kate. How I couldn’t do shit for her, but now, I see Leah and all hell breaks loose. I can help her, and this piece of shit will never touch her again. I ram my fist into pretty boy’s face, over and over again. I feel the blood run down my fist. I hear Leah’s cries. Then I hear more screams, this one from my other sister, Lilly. Her husband, Tyler, is trying to pull me off of the fucking bastard. I lift my leg and kick Charles in the ribs. I watch him keel over. Before I know it, my father is helping Tyler pull me away from him. Kate runs up to me, telling me to stop and to calm down. Calming down is not going to happen anytime soon.

  I’M SITTING ON the couch with Marcy, talking away. She wants to know everything about the woman who’s stolen her son’s heart, which is fine because I do what I do best and ramble. She does seem to be very intrigued with me. I look at the back door and see the girls running wild with bubbles and William. I don’t think Danika has said two words to me since we’ve been here. But it doesn’t seem to be bothering Marcy.

  However, I’m getting really annoyed Luke has left me in here for so long. Why the hell is he lingering outside? I don’t even know what he could possibly be getting from his truck. Marcy is asking about my practice when we hear blood-curdling screams. I jump up, thinking it’s one of my girls, but William runs back in with both. We all head for the front door. I ask Danika to keep the girls inside. She takes the girls into the kitchen, and I run outside to see Luke side kick some man.

  There is blood everywhere and when I see two grown men trying to rein in Luke, I do my best to calm him down. I get in front of him and place my hands on his face. “Luke…babe, STOP! Breathe, baby.” He’s fighting his father, and I can only guess his brother-in-law. His father is yelling at him to calm down. I grab hold of his face harder and I yell at him. “Luke, calm the fuck down, now. Christ you are like a rabid animal! Luke, your dad and…?” I look at the other gentleman.

  “Tyler,” he says.

  “Your dad and Tyler are going to let you go. So help me, you go after him, I’m done, Luke. I will leave. I don’t need this shit and stress, and neither does your family. It’s Thanksgiving, for Christ’s sake. What the hell happened here?”

  Everyone is looking at the person behind me. When I turn around, my jaw falls to the floor and I gasp. The last time I saw this woman she was happy and full of life. I look at her now and can’t believe she’s the same woman. This woman in front of me is sad and broken. “Leah?” I quietly ask.

  “Hi, Kate,” she softly whispers to me.

  “You two know each other?” William asks me.

  Turning towards William. “Yeah, kind of, I’m best friends with Beth, Elizabeth, Ethan’s sister”. Leah’s eyes come to life with the mention of Ethan’s name. They dated for so long, Beth thought they would get married. I never put their last names together. I look at her and she doesn’t look well at all. I look to Luke, who is still fuming.

  Marcy blurts out, “Wait, you know Ethan Parker?”

  I look to Marcy. “Ethan’s sister, Elizabeth, and I have been best friends since we were six years old. Ethan is like a big brother to me.” Leah looks ill with fear, dread, sadness—you name, it she’s experiencing it.

  “But that doesn’t explain why Luke beat the shit out of Charles.” Tyler gripes out. Marcy says we need to call an ambulance, or take him to the hospital.

  “NO!” Luke shouts out and startles us. He bends down and looks at Charles, who keeps spitting out globs of blood on the grass. “Charles here is going to get into his car and drive the fuck off, and never show his face around this family, or my sister, again. Leah will draft up divorce papers and you’ll sign them with no hesitation. Because so help me, Charles, I find out you fight her on this, I will drag your pathetic ass to the police and file charges for domestic abuse myself.”

  “You touched my baby girl?” William bellows when he realizes what Luke is talking about. Oh shit. Round two is going to happen. Marcy grabs William’s hand and pulls him away.

  “Luke handled it, Will. Charles, I suggest you listen to Luke and leave now,” Marcy sternly says to Charles, who stumbles into his car. Lilly is holding onto Leah, who’s crying on her shoulder.

  We all watch Charles drive off. Leah continues to cry. William grabs a hold of Leah and helps her walk into the house. When we enter the house, the feeling flips to dread and worry. Luke bypasses me and heads for the bathroom to wash his hands and pull off his long sleeve shirt.

  He comes back out, wearing just a black undershirt. Luke hands the keys to Danika. “Danika, I need you to take the girls to the park. Give us an hour to fix this. Then we will sit down and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.”

  I look at Luke in astonishment. Something has clicked in his brain, and he has switched to being calm and direct, issuing orders to everyone. He picks up the girls and walks out with Danika to help them in the car. I follow behind him. I tell the girls to listen to Danika. We watch Danika drive down the street to the local community park.

  “Luke, are you alright? You are scaring the crap out of me.”

  He pulls me into his chest and kisses my head. “I’m okay, sunshine. Not every day you see your baby sister with bruises all over her body. I wanted to kill him for hurting her. God, Kate. She is hurt, her body is black and blue.”

  “She has her family now. She’ll get better. You, of all people, know bruises heal. If she is strong like her big brother, she’ll get through this.” I stand on my tiptoes and give him a kiss. Hoping to bring him back to me for a few seconds before we go back into the house.

  He rubs his palm across my lower belly. “You okay?” He asks, finally realizing the stress we just endured.

  “I’m good…we’re good.”

  Walking back into the house is treacherous. I’ve never wanted a day to end so quickly. When we appear in the living room, the only person in there is Tyler. “Where is everyone?” Luke asks Tyler.

  “Marcy and Lilly took Leah into the bedroom to see her…her marks. Your dad is cooling off outside.” Luke kisses my head and walks to the backyard.

  I stand in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. Then Lilly comes out of the bedroom and asks me to come in. “Lilly, I don’t think I need to come in.”

  She walks to me and grabs my hand and pulls me to the bed
room. “We need a doctor’s opinion,” Lilly mutters to me.

  “Lilly, I’m a doctor for animals not people.”

  “Same thing,” she huffs to me.

  I walk into the room to see Leah is stripped down to her bra and panties. She looks so embarrassed, to be on display for us. I gasp at the markings all over her body. She’s mostly bruised, but she has a nasty gash across her ribs going down towards her belly button, and she has a blistered abrasion on her hip.

  I walk to her and give her a hug first. Try to warm her up with my trust and my body. I pull a blanket off a chair next to the bed and drape it over her back. She looks up to me and gives me a slight smile.

  “Leah, how long has this been going on? I need to know, so I can assess any internal injuries. I’m not going to look, but I am assuming by these marks, he’s hurt you in other ways…sexually?” Dear God this has got to be the hardest situation I’ve ever been in. My mouth is so dry, and I feel like I could start to dry heave any second.

  Leah, slowly nods her head yes. Her eyes are downcast to the floor and the tears drop onto her thighs. Looking at the gash and the blister, I tell Marcy I need a few things to clean this up before she goes to the doctor.

  “I can’t go to the doctor. Kate, you know they will report this and Charles will lose his medical license.”

  “Leah, for Pete’s sake, he deserves to lose his balls for what he has done. Don’t cover that man’s back for what he has done to you,” Lilly spats out.

  I tell her mom and sister I’ll do my best with what we have for now. But if she runs a fever or the gash starts to look worse, then she’ll need medical help. Leah whispers a thank you to me. While cleaning up her wounds, she tells us Charles cut her with a knife in one of his rages a couple days ago and the blister is a burn mark. The abuse has been going on for years, but in the last year it has gotten worse.

  She asks her mom and sister to leave, but she wants me to stay for a minute. They leave and she thanks me.

  “Kate, you can’t say anything to Beth or Ethan about me. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Leah, I would never tell someone your business. Ethan doesn’t live in Florida anymore, he moved.” Her face grows sadder at the news. “What do you mean you don’t know what to do? Are you telling me you want to go back to Charles?”

  “Kate, Charles and I have been together for ten years. How do I give up on that?”

  “Leah, I’m not going to tell you what to do. But I will say, if you go back to that abuse, you’re a bigger idiot than I ever thought you could be. You have family here that loves you and will help you. You go back, especially after what Luke did to him, you can kiss your family goodbye, since they’ll be planning your funeral—a man with enough rage to beat his wife will kill his wife. It’s just a matter of time.”

  She bows her head and cries some more. “I…I know you’re right. What do I do?”

  I wrap the blanket around her tighter and sit next to her. “Leah, I’m the last person to give relationship advice. You have to fight this, fight against him. Now that your family knows, they’ll support you, and I will have your back, too.”

  Leah calms down and leans her head on my shoulder. I stroke her long wavy light brown hair. “Kate, have you ever had so many regrets that you don’t even recognize the person in the mirror?”

  Damn it to hell! Where are my psychology books when I need them? “I don’t know if I would call them regrets. I believe we all make mistakes for us to learn from and better ourselves.”

  She wipes her tears and looks at me. “I don’t have mistakes…these are regrets, and my regrets have hurt so many people.”

  I turn a little so I can look at her. “I’m lost, Leah, what are you trying to tell me?”

  She takes a big breath. “My biggest regret is cheating on Ethan with Charles, for picking Charles over Ethan. I’ve kicked myself every day for the last ten years for that mistake. I regret not listening to my mother when she had concerns about choosing Charles over Ethan. She wasn’t impressed he was so much older than me. I regret everything about Charles. I hate him! He broke my foot this past spring. It’s why I didn’t come to Danika’s graduation. I was so embarrassed. He made it so I can’t dance again. Kate, dancing was my life. He’s ruined everything for me: my dreams, career, self-worth, integrity, and my self-esteem. I just don’t know how a man can turn like this. He was never this brutal, but as the years went by, it got worse, and I allowed it. I’ve become so weak, and I hate myself. Do you realize how vicious the man is? I wanted a baby years ago, but he refused. He didn’t trust me, so he retaliated by injecting the DEPO shot into me while I was sleeping. Kate, what the hell have I become?”

  “I can’t even imagine. I’m so, so sorry you had to endure that terrible experience. Especially by a person who claims he loves you. Leah, you will have a second chance at someone loving you, completely. Have hope and faith. Know that you have your family, and me. Luke almost killed for you; he’ll protect you, no matter what. Today is Thanksgiving, and I’m thankful for having you back in my life, and so very thankful you’re alive and well.”

  We talk some more; she wants to know more about Luke and I. She shares more information of when things got bad between her and Charles. About ten minutes later, her tears have dried, and I have seen a smile or two form on her swollen lips. She stands up from the bed. I follow her lead and we lean into each other for a hug. “Thank you, Kate. I’m so happy for my brother, he’s a very lucky man. I’m going to get dressed and enjoy this holiday with my loved ones. Thanks for showing me I still have reasons to be thankful.”

  I leave the bedroom to see the family standing in the kitchen. Luke walks up to me and pulls me to his side.

  “How is she?” William asks me.

  “She’s distraught and embarrassed. Physically, I think the bruises and wounds will heal just fine. She needs nourishment and rest. She’s getting dressed now and wants to enjoy dinner.”

  Marcy walks over to me and gives me a hug. “Thank you, my dear, for what you did in there. You helped her, and Luke. This day could have ended so much worse.” I nod my head in acknowledgement to her.

  Luke and I hear his truck pull up. I leave his side and walk to the front door to see my girls. I just need to hug them for a second after everything that has happened.

  Once we are in the front yard, I look at Luke. “Babe, we can’t tell you parents about the baby, not today. Maybe we can invite them over to my house this week for dinner, they can see firsthand what beautiful work you do. I just need you to promise me we won’t mention the baby today.”

  I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him hard. He kisses the top of my head. “Alright, we’ll do dinner later on in the week with them.” I look up at him and smile. He returns the favor with his beautiful smile.

  My girls run to me, looking like they played tug-of-war with pigs. I don’t understand how girls get so filthy, aren’t they supposed to be prim and proper? Well, my girls aren’t. I know they’re spitting replicas in personality with me. They’re such tomboys, and I love it, but I hate the mess!

  “Whoa, girls, look at you. How did you get so dirty?” I ask as I wipe the dirt smudges off their faces.

  “Sorry, Kate, I kept telling them to get out of the dirt, but they would rather dig then swing.

  “Dani, that’s fine. They get dirty no matter what. I’m not worried about it,” I reassure Danika.

  “They’re just like their momma, country girls, huh?” Luke says to me with a wink.

  DINNER WENT AS well as it could go, given how it started. The conversations went smoothly and when there was a lull, all anyone had to do was look at the girls and everyone would laugh. I’ve never been more thankful for my girls’ crazy and witty behavior. Luke ate with one hand and kept his other on my thigh the whole time. Looking around the table, at all the love everyone had for one another, pulled on my heartstrings, and made me think that next Thanksgiving we would have a baby at the table. Our baby
.

  William was the king of his castle. He was proud of his family and it was obvious by how proud and tall he sat at the head of the table. Marcy was on cloud nine to have her children and extended love ones by her side. Lilly and Tyler were pure professionals; you could tell they were married to their careers as well as each other. They had no clue what to say or do when it came to my little ones. Despite having the same color hair and bold green eyes, Lilly and Luke couldn’t be more different. She’s my size, and it baffles me where Luke ended up with an extra foot on her. He’s even taller than his father by several inches. Their personalities are so different; I would have loved to see these two when they were little.

  Leah and Danika talked a lot. You can see they have a tight bond. Danika looks to me with pure annoyance. I feel if things progress with Luke and I, the relationship between Danika and I will only get worse. I know she knows about the baby. I would love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation between her father and her. I know I need to talk to her.

  Our ride home is just Luke and I with the girls. Danika decided to stay with Leah at her grandparents’ house. I’ve never been more relieved to be going home. The girls were already asleep by the time we left the neighborhood. Luke is deep in thought while driving. It’s times like this where I freak out the most. I’ve been with Luke for almost three months and seeing him today was the scariest I’ve ever seen him, and the thing that has me undone is I totally could see him even worse than how I saw him today.

  “Can I ask you something?” I say quietly, turning in my seat.

  “Sunshine, you can ask me anything?” He takes his calloused fingers and gentles brushes against my cheek.

  “Okay, we’ll start with that. Why do you call me sunshine? Don’t get me wrong, I love it, I just want to know where it comes from.”

  “You were the bright light that came into my life. I’ve never needed the sunlight and warmth more than I did when I met you. I never want to go back. You brighten up my days, baby.”