Chapter 19

The next day, Bonnie did her best to ignore David, though she did make his usual breakfast. She also gave Sandy the information she had about the shelter.

"They are already expecting you. All you have to do is show up."

"Okay, Mrs. D. Thanks.

"You can thank me by showing up."

"I will, Mrs. D; I promise."

"Good, because I can't have you keep coming here all bruised up like that anymore." She added the last part to ensure that Sandy knew she was serious, and by the look on the young woman's face, Bonnie was confident that she got the message.

Bonnie didn't have a chance to call Jen again until after she got back home, and as soon as she heard Jen's voice, she apologized for not calling earlier.

"Actually, I'm the one who should be apologizing," returned the waitress. "I thought it was you who called the other day, but I was busy and couldn't get to the phone. I should have called you right back."

"It doesn't really matter," replied Bonnie.

"No, I guess it doesn't. Anyway, you said you wanted to talk?"

"Yes, and if you don't mind my asking, what was your husband like?"

"He was a control freak. He had to know everything about me all of the time. He used to even time me whenever I did any errands, but it wasn't like that all of the time. The longer we were married the worse it got. Then before I even realized it, I didn't have any friends anymore, no extra money to do or get anything that I wanted, and he made all of the decisions about everything."

Bonnie thought about the fact that she didn't have any friends anymore either, except for Liz and Shelly, and that was because David hardly knew anything about them. He knew them of course, but he didn't know that Bonnie met them almost everyday during lunch.

The more Jen talked, the more Bonnie realized that David was exactly like her husband. Ben, Jen's ex-husband was a little more extreme than David was about some things, but Bonnie could clearly see how David was slowly progressing along the same lines that Ben had.

"For the longest time, I was so afraid of doing something that would cause him to leave, and break up the family," said Jen, at the last.

"I feel the same way," replied Bonnie, in almost disbelief of what she was hearing.

"But you know, as hard as it is at first, it does get better, and you and your kids will all be so much better off after it's over. The hardest part is taking that first step, and until you do, things will only keep getting worse."

"But David is a pretty good father to the boys. I'd hate to see him stop spending time with them," replied Bonnie, worriedly.

"Hey, if he really cares about your kids, then he'll keep doing the things that he does with them, and if he doesn't? Well there's really no big loss then, right?"

That was only part of what they'd said to one another, and when Bonnie glanced up at the clock, she couldn't believe how long she'd been on the phone.

"Thanks for talking to me, but I have to go and get dinner started."

"I understand, and hey, you can call me anytime you want to talk. Just remember, I get off from work at four."

Bonnie thanked Jen again, and promised that she'd call as soon as she had another chance to.

'Damn, ' she thought. 'There's not much time to get dinner together before David gets home.' She didn't even want to imagine what he'd say if it wasn't waiting on the table for him when he got there.

'What am I thinking?' she asked herself. 'After last night, who gives a shit what he thinks!'

She then grabbed the hot dogs and hamburger out of the refrigerator, and began frying them. She made a quick salad, threw some frozen french fries into the oven, and made a bowl of instant pudding for desert.

She sent Tommy and Corey downstairs just before David came home and prepared herself for the worst. 'What's he going to do anyway?' she asked herself. 'Walk out on me? It sure would make things less complicated around here if he did!'

She closed her eyes when she heard his car pull into the driveway, and taking a deep breath she said, "Here we go!"

"What did you make for dinner?" asked David, wrinkling his nose as soon as he came into the house.

"I made hamburgers and hotdogs. There's some french fries and a salad, too," replied Bonnie, matter-of-factly.

"Why the hell did you make that for? You know I don't eat that stuff. I'm a grown man and I need real food for dinner, not this ... this kid's crap."

"Because I'm tired and it was an easy, quick meal. Besides, I thought the boys would love it."

Bonnie watched as her husband's face twisted into a snarl, and just as he was about to yell for the boys to come upstairs, she interrupted him. "And don't go bullying the boys into agreeing with you either."

"What do you mean?" he snapped. "I don't bully them."

"You know exactly what I mean. You've gotten them so afraid of you that they'll say anything that they think you want to hear!"

"For Christ sakes, Bonnie! What the hell has gotten into you? Has somebody been feeding you a bunch of crap?"

Instead of answering, she went into the kitchen, and began setting the table.

"Oh I get it!" shouted David after her. "This is all about yesterday isn't it! Well I'm the man in this house, and I don't have to put up with this shit! In fact, I refuse to!"

Bonnie ignored him, and went to the top of the basement stairs and called for Tommy and Corey to get washed up for dinner, but as she went back towards the kitchen David suddenly grabbed her arm hard. Then slinging her around until she was facing him, he yelled, "Listen to me; God damn it! Don't you ignore me! I'm your God damned husband, and you'd better start treating me like you're supposed to!"

"Let go of me!" shouted Bonnie, as she tried to twist out of his grasp. "You're hurting me, David!"

"It serves you right!" shouted back David, without letting go of her arm.

"Let go of her!" shouted Tommy, who'd just walked into the living room. Corey was right behind him, and began crying.

David let go of Bonnie, and reached up to backhand Tommy.

"Don't you dare hit him!" screamed Bonnie, and turning to her son she said, "You and Corey go upstairs, and get ready for dinner like I told you."

As soon as the two boys were out of sight, David glared at Bonnie for a moment before pushing her hard against the wall. A moment later, he stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him.

"And good riddance to you too!" shouted Bonnie after him. She knew that that wasn't the end of it, and after she heard David start his car she rubbed her arm where he'd grabbed her mumbling, "Well so much for round one."

It took her a few minutes to calm down enough to finish putting dinner on the table. It was very hard for her to get her hands to stop shaking, and look normal again in front of Tommy and Corey.

"I'm sorry," she told them, as soon as they'd sat down to eat.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, and Corey said, "That's okay, Mommy."

Tommy shushed him, and Bonnie said, "From now on, we can talk whenever we want to during dinner. In fact, I like talking during dinner, remember?"

It wasn't long before Bonnie had Corey talking about what he thought about going into first grade, but Tommy remained quiet during most of the dinner.

Bonnie got them to take their plates into the kitchen, and after Tommy put his in the sink, she pulled him into her, and stroking his hair, she said, "I'm really sorry Tommy; I now your father's mad, but he's mad at me, not you. You and Corey didn't do anything wrong, and I'm sorry you had to see that."

"That's okay Mommy," he said, softly.

It had been a while since he'd called her "Mommy", and she could only hope that he hadn't been too traumatized.

David didn't come home that night, and Bonnie wondered if he drove the thirty miles to his parent's house, or stayed at a hotel. She thought about what Jen had said about her husband controlling everything, and once again she wondered how come David always seemed to have extra money for the things he wanted, but was always yelling at her for spending even a little money for the few things she bought.

The next morning, Bonnie was glad that the boys were still asleep when she got ready for work. She thought it was strange to not have to make David's breakfast, and it made her feel somewhat out of place.

'This is the first morning since we've been married that David isn't here, ' she thought.

"I did what I promised, and went to the shelter, Mrs. D," declared Sandy, coming into the kitchen.

Bonnie didn't tell her about David, but she suddenly felt a new kindred spirit with young woman and smiled. "You're going to keep going there, too, aren't you?" she asked.