Set Fire to the Rain

1 ½ Years Later

This has been a big year and a half for us. It’s been rough, but filled with great things too. The first big accomplishment was Marguerite graduating with honors from High School and being accepted into NYU for art and music. We are all so fucking proud of her! My divorce went through thankfully, though David did everything he could to change my mind at first, and when that didn’t happen he made my life a living hell. After the first meeting we had, it was quite a while before I heard anything from him, which is odd behavior for David. So he had been talking to the kids via text and calling them on their cells. I was ok with that as long as they didn’t come to our place, and didn’t tell him about where we lived. I was very impressed by his ‘nice’ behavior after a while, so when the kids had asked if I could go by the old house to pick something up for them that had been left there when we moved out, since I knew David wouldn’t be there, I said no problem. That was the first mistake I made. David had heard that I was coming by and had decided to work from home so he would be there when I stopped by. With his car being in the garage, I had no idea he was there. It was dark when I walked through the front door, and eerily quiet. Placing my purse on the front table and turning on the small lamp that sat there, I started towards the stairway leading upstairs, immediately getting an off feeling, like I was being watched I glanced around quickly, but saw nothing and continued on my way. My nerves had me on edge and jumpy, and I would normally be out the front door right now, but I knew that David wasn’t home, so there was no reason to worry. When I took the first step up something, or rather someone stopped me dead in my tracks.

“What, no hug hello Lizzy?” David asked in a low voice from the far end of the now darkening living room. I caught a glimpse of him sitting in the loveseat, with his hands clasped neatly in his lap, leaning in a seemingly relaxed position, when I turned towards his voice from the small table lamp that I had switched on in the entry hallway. If the room hadn’t been almost completely dark, it may not have freaked me out as much as it was, but as it stood, I was in shock and scared shitless, and I didn’t move from where I stood.

“I didn’t know you would be here David. I only came by to pick up a couple of things for the kids and I will be on my way. So if you will,” I turned to walk up the first few steps of the staircase, when David continued on with the conversation that I thought I had ended. I was trying very hard to seem indifferent, unfortunately for me, David knew me way too well. So David being David, he took full advantage of the situation.

“Come on now Lizzy, we are both adults here, why don’t you come have a seat and fill me in on how the kids are doing,” he spoke slowly with a small smile on his lips, as he looked up at me from the other side of the room. His dark hair was pushed up into a messy style, and I saw his light blue eyes that never seemed to hold any sparkle; all I ever noticed behind them was anger, rage, and mistrust the same as today. David slowly unclasped his hands and began to pat the space to the left of him very slowly in encouragement. “Please don’t make me beg you to sit and chat, now Eliza.”

I sighed quietly, knowing there was absolutely no way I could get out of this now. My chance to run was gone, so the only thing I could do now was to make the best out of the situation and pray it didn’t go south. As I started to slowly walk from the entry into the living room my phone started to play “Love Shack” by the B-52’s from the small bag I had placed on the table in the entry. I looked at David with a fake sympathetic smile and he groaned out loud in frustration. “David, I am really sorry, but I have to answer this. I have been waiting on Scott to call me all day and you know if I don’t answer he will continue to call me every 5 minutes.” It was actually the truth. Scott was one of my best friends in the whole world and he worried like a mother hen. So when I don’t answer my cell, he will call every 5 minutes until I do. I love that man, and his partner John is just as great. He’s gay, and that’s part of why David has such a distaste for them, that and they hate David with a burning passion, but the main reason he hated them so much was because we were best friends.

“Answer it and be fast about it.”

“I will.” With that, I answered the call.

“Hello?” I said not in my normal way. I never just said hello to Scott.

“Shit what the fuck is wrong? Do I need to rescue you my love?” He asked me.

“No, I ended up not going to the mall I had to pick up a few things from the old house for the kids.”

“Fuck me! He’s there with you isn’t he and you can’t talk right now can you? I am going to call you in half an hour and if you don’t answer, John and I are coming over with the cops do you understand? I don’t trust this piece of shit bastard prick fuck. I love you, keep your cell on you and call me a.s.a.p.” He spoke with all sincerity.

“Yeah, I am really sorry about not getting that, maybe later on, but I will call you when I am done here. Love you too.” When I ended the call I slipped my cell in my rear jean pocket and placed my bag back onto the table in the entryway.

I walked back into the living room where David was looking extremely inconvenienced and very pissed for having had to wait for me. When he heard me come into the room a smirk grew on his lips and a strange look came over his face that I couldn’t place, I hadn’t ever seen it before and it scared me. I continued to walk towards the loveseat, but changed my mind at the last second and decided to go sit on the couch opposite him and he didn’t like that at all. As I went to sit down David stood up and clenched his fists and asked in a growl, “Just what do you think you are doing? I very nicely asked you to sit and talk with me and you are sitting over there!! How dare you disrespect me!”

“David! Wow, I didn’t mean any disrespect by anything, I just felt like sitting here. You know that this was always my favorite place to curl up. Nothing more was meant by it. Really.“ I was trying very hard to keep him calm and to keep him from going over that edge. One thing I knew was that once he went over the edge, there was no going back and I would be fucked. I don’t know why I did what I did, maybe I just didn’t want to be anywhere near him, or it was because what I had said to David was indeed the truth, I don’t know. I watched as he clenched and unclenched his fists slowly. Not good signs.

“I think that maybe I should get what I came for and I will talk to you on another day David. I really need to get home for Jake and MJ so I can make sure they do their homework.” Using the homework excuse I was praying that David would allow me to get the fuck out of here before anything went down.

“Alright Lizzy you can go get the things from upstairs, just come find me before you leave. I will probably be in my office.” He said as he turned and stalked out of the room towards the office down the long hallway.

That, I wasn’t expecting at all. I have no idea what the hell is going on here, but I just want to get out of here. I went upstairs and found what I had been sent to find, and headed back downstairs. I placed the items I had put into a box and put it by my purse, then made my way towards David’s domain. No one was allowed in here for any reason so I was a bit surprised he wanted me here.

“Did you get what you came for?” He asked me while he stood looking out one of the windows of the large dark paneled room. It really was a typical ‘office’.

“Yes, thank you for letting me grab what I needed. The kids appreciate it.”

“I miss you Lizzy. Don’t you know how much I love you, that there isn’t anything I would do for you and our children?” Still looking out the window, he asked me questions I had already answered numerous times since giving him the papers via my lawyer. He just refused to listen, and it’s beginning to piss me off.

“David, I am sorry you miss me, but I am not coming back, I don’t love you and that isn’t going to change. I really need to get going.”

“Please, Lizzy! I am begging you, I need you so badly, and I can’t live without you. I need you here. God, I have been so miserable without you! Come home, please!” I hadn’t realized that little by little, he had made his way from the window to stand directly in front of me. So I took a step back being that he was a little too close for my liking.

“David, sign the papers and let’s end this so we can move on with our lives. We both deserve to find happiness someday, and I can’t find that with you. I don’t love you, I am not in love with you and I haven’t been for a very long time. You destroyed me! Don’t you understand that! I can’t be” At that moment I was backhanded across my right cheek so hard that I lost my balance and fell to the ground.

“You don’t love me! You want me to sign the papers so you can move on huh?! It sounds to me like you have been keeping secrets!” David screamed at me, now bending down to grab me with his strong hands and pulls me into a standing position. His left hand snaked its way to my neck beginning to squeeze slowly, while throwing me up against the nearby wall, with my head cracking into the wood paneling. I was just waiting for the blow that I knew would come, I just didn’t know where it would land. Punch one was to my abdomen and was bad enough to knock the wind out of me, then he went for my face, chest, face, abdomen, and all the while he was slowly constricting my neck. David was going on a tirade the entire time, and at first I had been kicking and punching/scratching at him to try and get him to let me go to no avail. He only squeezed harder.

“David, can’t…breathe…” I gasped and begged for David to let me go.

“And you’re taking my kids away and divorcing me isn’t hurting me Lizzy! Huh? It doesn’t feel too good now does it? Guess I need to teach you a little lesson don’t I. You need to forget this stupid fucking idea of yours about leaving me baby, nobody leaves me!” His hand continued to squeeze tighter and I was literally gasping for air.

“… Stop!” I was throwing my arms around and trying to kick at him, do anything to get him to understand how desperate a situation I was really in at the moment.

“Lizzy, you are mine. It is never going to be any other way. If you try again, I can’t promise how I will react. You will never be rid of me you fucking whore! You are mine, do you get that! There will never be anyone else for me! Do you know what you are? You are nothing but a used up bitter old piece of shit, stupid fucking whore, who isn’t fit to lick the shit off the fucking bathroom floor! Nobody will want to touch your skinny ugly fucking skanky ass, you are disgusting! No one will ever appreciate you, and love you, like I will Lizzy. All that will happen to you if you leave me is you will end up all alone, an old fucking maid, poor, piece of fucking shit! And I will make you pay Lizzy! I will always make you pay! ” The squeezing continued until I was on the edge of darkness with punch after punch still coming and then I was no longer standing on my feet and was on the floor.

“Fuck, now Lizzy look what you made me do to you. You think I enjoy doing this shit to you? Now stop this bullshit, bring our kids home, and we can be happy again sweetheart.” I was vaguely aware of him leaning in and placing a gentle kiss me upon my split and bleeding lips, before passing into black completely.