Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,46
finest trying to work out how to cook everything to perfection.
The day had started out well; Dale was sober and on good form. The meal had been OK, not a roaring success but edible at least, and all had been going swimmingly – until her Dad had suggested a round of poker.
Not being a particularly good card player, she had opted to sit it out but watched from the sidelines, as her parents took on Dale in the traditional battle of poker face and wills. At first Dale was winning and although they were only betting small amounts, he was beginning to clean her parents out. Just as he was about to finish them off though his luck changed, and, before long, he had lost all of his money. Never one to be a good loser, he started calling both her parents cheats before slamming out of the room and then out of the front door. He hadn’t returned for several hours by which time he was well and truly drunk.
Her parents had left shortly after Dale, both trying hard to hide their concern for their daughter’s wellbeing. In the end, her Dad had opted for patting her on the shoulder and telling her that there was always a home for her with them. She had smiled weakly, reassuring them that all was fine and that Dale was just highly strung sometimes.
Since that day her parents had never been back to her house and Dale had restricted her visits, only allowing her to go to them once a month. The whole thing was ridiculous and, to start with, she had argued with him – telling him that he had absolutely no right to tell her when she could see her own parents. Dale did not see his parents, and failed to see why she needed to have contact with hers.
After she had defied him and managed to fit in three visits one month, he had taken her up to their room and proceeded to force himself upon her in a way that only a man can – that had been the very first time that he had raped her.
Unfortunately that day had been just the beginning and since then he had used his physical strength to overcome her on a regular basis, teaching her ‘lessons’ until she started to behave in a way that he saw fit. It was becoming increasingly difficult to please him as time went on; the rules changed on a daily basis and as a result, she became more a product of Dale than of herself. He had broken her spirit over the years, changed part of who she was and now she was just too tired to fight.
A plate smashing in the background snapped her out of her reverie and she almost flinched as the full force of Vaughn’s angry glare connected with hers.
“Five years, Elise!” he nearly bellowed, “Five fucking years! Jesus Christ!”
He took a moment to steady himself; no doubt becoming aware that they were still in a public place and whilst deserted, there were still plenty of ears around, taking in every word.
“Five years....” he said again, more calmly than before, “five bloody years....”
Elise sat silently; there was really nothing she could say. Vaughn was still staring at her, almost as if looking at her for the first time. She could see the cogs whirring but she had no idea what he was thinking. Did he despise her now that he knew the truth....think that she was weak? Maybe she was weak, but who was he or anyone else to judge? It was her life and until anyone else lived it exactly as she did, they were in no position to comment on her decisions.
“Why, Elise?” he asked softly, “Why would you put up with that for five years? God help me but I really don’t understand.” His gaze was imploring, calm now and she felt compelled to offer some kind of explanation.
“It hasn’t always been bad.” she said. Now was not the time to go into all of the sordid details but she didn’t want Vaughn to think that she had been a complete pushover all of the time.
“We met at University and at the start it was brilliant - everything I had ever wanted. Dale had a career lined up here and I was more than happy to take on a supporting role. A few years into our marriage, things ....changed.” She hesitated “And since then, Dale has struggled with