Raymond crossed the room before I could move.<\/p>\n
I barely had time to turn my shoulder.<\/p>\n
His hand struck my face.<\/p>\n
The force sent me stumbling backward.<\/p>\n
My hip hit the edge of the glass door.<\/p>\n
For a second, I couldn't see clearly.<\/p>\n
Then I tasted blood.<\/p>\n
My lip had split.<\/p>\n
Daisy screamed.<\/p>\n
I held her against me as I tried to steady myself.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
Not Beatrice.<\/p>\n
Not Brenda.<\/p>\n
Not even Raymond.<\/p>\n
He stood there with his hand lowered, breathing heavily.<\/p>\n
I touched my mouth.<\/p>\n
My fingers came away red.<\/p>\n
I looked at Beatrice.<\/p>\n
She was staring at me as though I had caused an inconvenience.<\/p>\n
Brenda had stopped using her phone.<\/p>\n
But neither woman came forward.<\/p>\n
Neither asked if I was hurt.<\/p>\n
I had expected anger from them.<\/p>\n
I had expected insults.<\/p>\n
I hadn't expected how little they would care.<\/p>\n
That was the moment something changed inside me.<\/p>\n
I stopped trying to convince them.<\/p>\n
I stopped thinking about what Mitchell might say when he returned.<\/p>\n
I stopped worrying about whether leaving would make the family angry.<\/p>\n
I only thought about Daisy.<\/p>\n
Her small hands were gripping my coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don't let Grandma cut it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won't.\u201d<\/p>\n
I carried her into the bedroom.<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking, but I managed to open the closet.<\/p>\n
I took out a suitcase.<\/p>\n
Then I started collecting what mattered.<\/p>\n
My identification documents.<\/p>\n
Daisy's birth certificate.<\/p>\n
Our important papers.<\/p>\n
A few changes of clothes.<\/p>\n
My savings card.<\/p>\n
Her stuffed bunny.<\/p>\n
It was a small brown rabbit with one ear slightly bent.<\/p>\n
Daisy had slept with it since she was a baby.<\/p>\n
She reached for it when I placed it on the bed.<\/p>\n
I handed it to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold this for Mommy.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wrapped both arms around it.<\/p>\n
I checked the drawer where I kept our documents.<\/p>\n
Everything was there.<\/p>\n
I put the papers into a folder and slipped it into the suitcase.<\/p>\n
Behind me, Beatrice appeared in the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPacking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're being ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't answer.<\/p>\n
She looked at the suitcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere do you think you're going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere Daisy can be warm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatrice folded her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe needs discipline, Valerie. Not another mother who lets her do whatever she wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
I zipped the suitcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe needs to feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are making a terrible mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
I picked up the handle.<\/p>\n
Beatrice moved into the hallway.<\/p>\n
For the first time that evening, she looked genuinely worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you leave through that door, don't expect us to welcome you back.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope I never have to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped aside, but her expression remained cold.<\/p>\n
I walked past her.<\/p>\n
Brenda was still on the couch.<\/p>\n
She glanced at the suitcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you're really leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood luck explaining this to Mitchell,\u201d she called after me.<\/p>\n
I kept walking.<\/p>\n
Raymond was standing near the dining table again.<\/p>\n
His cigarette had burned down.<\/p>\n
He didn't apologize.<\/p>\n
He didn't even look at Daisy.<\/p>\n
I opened the front door.<\/p>\n
The cold air from the hallway touched my face.<\/p>\n
Daisy lifted her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy, are we going somewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan Bunny come?\u201d<\/p>\n
I kissed her cheek.<\/p>\n
\u201cBunny is coming with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was enough for her.<\/p>\n
I stepped outside and pulled the door shut.<\/p>\n
I didn't look back.<\/p>\n
The elevator took longer than I wanted.<\/p>\n
Every second felt like another opportunity for someone to come after us.<\/p>\n
But nobody did.<\/p>\n
When the doors finally opened downstairs, I carried Daisy into the lobby.<\/p>\n
I asked the front desk to help me arrange a taxi.<\/p>\n
My face hurt.<\/p>\n
My head was full of questions.<\/p>\n
But I had made one decision.<\/p>\n
We were not going back that night.<\/p>\n
Outside, Minneapolis was covered in winter darkness.<\/p>\n
The pavement was cold beneath my shoes.<\/p>\n
I held Daisy close while the taxi approached.<\/p>\n
She had stopped crying.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than the screaming had.<\/p>\n
She was simply watching the street.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, we were inside the car.<\/p>\n
I gave the driver an address for a hotel.<\/p>\n
Then I took out my phone.<\/p>\n
Mitchell was working in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
I knew he would not be home until later.<\/p>\n
I wanted him to hear what had happened from me.<\/p>\n
Not from his mother.<\/p>\n
I typed a message.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then I sent it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father hit me, and your mother shaved Daisy's head because she accused her of stealing a bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
The driver turned onto another road.<\/p>\n
Daisy rested her head against my chest.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Mitchell had replied.<\/p>\n
I opened the message.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is very upset. You should go back and apologize. Don't make this into a bigger problem than it needs to be. We're family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read it again.<\/p>\n
Then a third time.<\/p>\n
I had told him his father had hit me.<\/p>\n
I had told him his mother had humiliated our daughter.<\/p>\n
And his first concern was that I should apologize.<\/p>\n
I felt something heavy settle in my stomach.<\/p>\n
For years, I had explained his family's behavior to myself.<\/p>\n
Beatrice was difficult.<\/p>\n
Raymond had a temper.<\/p>\n
Brenda liked to provoke people.<\/p>\n
Mitchell hated arguments.<\/p>\n
I had given every one of them an excuse.<\/p>\n
But now my daughter was sitting beside me with a shaved head, and my husband was asking me to make peace.<\/p>\n
I typed a reply.<\/p>\n
Then I deleted it.<\/p>\n
There was nothing I could say that would make him understand something he had chosen not to see.<\/p>\n
I blocked his number.<\/p>\n
The taxi continued through the winter streets.<\/p>\n
Daisy stirred.<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid I do something bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Daisy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Grandma get angry?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked out the window.<\/p>\n
The streetlights passed one by one.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes grown-ups do things that are wrong, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
She considered that.<\/p>\n
Then she rested her head against me again.<\/p>\n
I held her hand until we reached the hotel.<\/p>\n
Raymond crossed the room before I could move. I barely had time to turn my shoulder. His hand struck my face. The force sent me stumbling backward. My hip hit … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41464,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41460\/revisions\/41464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}