“You’re afraid to tell me something. And whatever it is, it is a big deal.”
I didn’t answer.
She flailed her arms out to the side, frustrated. “Who is he, Camille? What did he do to you? And please, remember who you’re talking to. I’m your best friend. Don’t insult me.”
She wrapped her arms around her body again, this time looked directly at me, probably just as reluctant to hear the truth as I was to tell it. Still, I tried to spare us both.
“Well ... his name’s Andrew. And you’re right. It is bad. The truth is, he’s been very” -- a lump rose in my throat -- “verbally abusive.” I compulsively looked down, blowing my cover, completely committing a liar’s suicide. “I didn’t want to tell you about it because I’m embarrassed, okay? I can’t believe I even put up with it again. But I had a good reason for not telling you. I knew you’d try to talk sense into me. At the time, I wasn’t ready for that. I just wanted to be with him, jerk or not.”
I looked up as she nodded again, then cocked her head to the side as she looked down at her feet, kicked a pebble to the side of the road. “Awfully hot to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt today, isn’t it? A one-hundred-degree heat index, and you wear a flannel shirt to pick me up this morning?”
One hot tear slid down my cheek and I nodded, knowing I didn’t need words to confirm her suspicions.
She stepped closer. “How bad is it? What did he do to you? How long has this been going on?”
“A while,” I murmured, another tear rolling down my face. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me like a rag doll, then moved her hands down to my elbows and yanked one sleeve all the way up my arm. I winced.
“We need to call the police,” she babbled, “they need to see....” She grabbed the other sleeve and yanked it up. “What did that monster do to you? I’ll kill him, I swear I will! We need to go to the police, right now. You can’t let him get away with this.”
She began to shake me again, as if trying to wake me from a deep sleep, but I pulled away. “Look Audrey, I know. That’s what I need to tell you. You have to listen to me. I know I let him do this, and I need to go to the police. But I just realized it yesterday. That I’m strong enough now. He had me brainwashed for a little while there, but I’ve snapped out of it, I promise.”
“But how do you know--?”
“He came to my job yesterday. I completely lost it. I know I have to end this now.” I swallowed, rushing to catch my breath so I could continue. To my surprise, she waited for me. “I was afraid of what he’d do if he ever came after me. Once I broke up with him, let alone if I went to the police. Not to mention what I would even tell the police. It doesn’t look good when you let someone do this to you for a year and not say anything about it. I enabled him. It takes two, that’s what they’ll think. I have a lot of odds against me.” I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated, yet it felt so liberating to let the truth pour out.
She shook her head. “I get that, Camille. But this happens to plenty of people, and there are ways out, ways to handle this. Fortunately, it’s not like you’re married to the guy.”
I breathed out a sigh, wiped my face on my sleeve. “Yeah, I know. The thing is ... I’ve tried to break up with him before, and until yesterday, when he came to my job, I hadn’t seen him in over a week.”
“He came to your job? You said you lost it. What made you change your mind to finally do something about it?”
“I don’t know, really. I was just so disappointed. I guess I thought he really let me break up with him this time. Then here he shows up at my job, telling me he’s picking me up next weekend, and I just cracked.” The humid heat was smothering me; I shrugged off the flannel shirt and rubbed my upper arms, examining the black and blue marks sprawled across them. “Him showing his face