Melody's Melodies

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Melody lies in her yellow, light blue and green bed, with a Ziploc bag full of ice pressed to the left side of her face and she takes a deep breath, which hurts her ribs. Her eyes close and she thinks of the last time she saw her mother.

It was seven years ago, Melody was only ten. It wasn’t a good night for her mother, Amara.

While Melody laid in her pink princess canopy bed, her parents were in the next room, the office.

They seemed to be arguing over money.

It wasn’t anything new to Melody, they fought just about every night, but that night was different.

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“You can’t keep doing this to me!” Amara yells. “Think of our daughter, she shouldn’t have to go through this!”

“Shut up Amara, you make the choices and I just give the punishments,” he says sternly.

“Please, Griffin. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I just, I really wanted Melody to have something to do after school and ballet seemed to be the best thing for her to do, she loves it. Don’t you want our child to be happy?” her voice is pleading, but it’s also tired.

Amara has been dealing with this since their daughter was born, because Griffin has become so jealous. She’s been through this time and time again, constantly arguing over everything.

“Don’t make me sound like a horrible father!” he yells.

Then Melody can’t make out any other words. It’s just muffled yelling, then banging and slams, crashes and screams. Her mother screams and cries and begs for him to stop, but he doesn’t.
Amara gets beaten weekly, but Griffin never beats her where the bruises can be seen by strangers, co workers, acquaintances, distant family members, until now.

Later that night around 2am Melody is awaken by her mother.

Amara’s long wavy golden hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail, her right eye has been blackened and there are long red scratches running down her neck and across her collarbone.

“Sweetheart,” Melody’s mother says in a hushed tone.

Melody looks at her mother with large eyes, afraid to say anything, because she just may cry seeing her mother hurt so badly.

“My sweet child, my love, I need you to promise me something okay?” Amara asks softly.

Melody only nods, not making a sound.

“I need you to promise me that you will stay strong for mommy okay, I need you to stay strong for me, because. . . I’m going to be gone, but only for maybe two or three days.”

“Where are you going?” Melody asks, afraid.

“I’m leaving, I’m going to find a nice home for you and me to live in and we’ll be happy and
everything will be great, because it’ll be just us.”

“You’re gonna come back for me?” Melody asks in her little girl voice.

“Of course my little ballerina,” tears well up in Amara’s eyes as she smiles down at Melody.

“You promise? I don’t want to live with daddy all by myself.”

“I promise, you are my everything sweetheart and I don’t want to leave you, but I can’t take you with me just yet. I’m not sure where I’ll be going.”

“So, I keep my promise and you keep yours?”

“That’s right,” Amara wipes a tear from cheek. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“Okay mommy.”

Amara kisses Melody on top of her head and pulls her little girl close.

“I have to go now sweetie. Whatever your father asks or says, you don’t tell him anything. All you say is you don’t know where I am okay honey?”

Melody nods and hugs her mother one last time.

"I love you my sweet girl," Amara says in tears.

"I love you too mommy."

Then Amara stands up and leaves the room.

The next morning, she woke up to what sounded like a lamp being thrown against the wall in the living room. She was hoping that it was just a dream and that her mother was still here, but something told her that this was all reality.

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