The Shadow Grove Chronicles - Book I: Fated Reunion

I - Breakfast at Allie's

I was up before the alarm, like always. Derrick, my husband, was still asleep next to me, his brown hair looking tousled. I smiled as I thought about holding a pillow down onto his face. He came home the night before belligerently drunk and smelling like he’d gone through a whole pack of cigarettes at the bar. I had sent my daughters upstairs before he walked through the door. They would hear his yelling through the walls, but I refused to let them watch as he would throw these childish tantrums. It was the same old argument but with a new focus. He suspected me of cheating on him with someone he had caught me looking at, three months ago…

Every time this would happen, far too often, I would try to calm this delusional paranoia of his. This has been a staple of our relationship from pretty much the word go. Soon after we graduated college and were married, he became increasingly jealous. At first it was yelling, then came thrown items or broken furniture as he raged over the men whom I supposedly f****d behind his back. His temper had only gotten worse over the years, escalating violently as his delusional imaginings became more easily triggered.

I touched the sore spot on my cheekbone where he had backhanded me hard with a closed fist. Cold anger rushed through me and I almost did try to suffocate him. I caught myself before the down-stuffed pillow in my hands, mere inches from his peacefully slumbering face, was shoved into his nose and mouth. It would be better to just deal with him and his nastiness than with the certain nightmare that would ensue, destroying my girls’ lives, if I killed Derrick while he slept.

I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the vanity light. I looked in the mirror; yep, there was a bruise and it was a doozy. I took a quick shower, letting the hot water massage my back and flow down my legs. After toweling off and brushing my teeth, I covered up the bruise with concealer then slipped into a simple house dress and a robe before heading down to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. Jessica, my oldest, was already there, the smell of coffee filling the kitchen. She is such a good girl, I thought. She had been helping me with the house since the age of six, helping me fold clothes or do dishes. Fifteen now, Jessi was often up before I was, cooking breakfast for the family and I greatly appreciate it.

Two cups were already filled with steaminging coffee on the counter. I took the full cup, cream and sugar already mixed in, and kissed the top of her head. She was stirring up scrambled eggs and sausage in a large skillet and the tortillas were on the counter, still in the bag. I pulled down four plates and spread them out, while she paid attention to the eggs.

I dealt the tortillas onto them, waiting for the scrambled mix to be finished. I got shredded cheese from the fridge and set it down next to the plates, opening the seal. As she spooned out the mixture I would sprinkle the cheese and roll the tortillas into breakfast burritos. Once done, she set the skillet in the sink and we sat down at the bar, eating in silence.

“Momma,” Jessi started. I raised a hand to cut off what I was sure to hear from her.

“Before you start, I’m going to tell you that what happened between your father and I is none of your business. It’s bad enough y’all have to hear us fight. It’s worse for me knowing you can hear it, you have no idea, but I’m glad you don’t have to see it or be part of it.” I could feel tears welling up, I closed my eyes to try to head them off.

“Why do you keep putting up with it, Momma?” I heard her voice breaking.

That was all it took. The dam burst. I took her into my arms, and all the pain and frustration came out in a silent wail. Inaudible sobs wracked my body as she held me and shame washed over me in waves as I thought to myself: This is supposed to be my job. She shouldn’t have to console me… I’m her mother.

“Both of us love Daddy, honest, but Tammi and I don’t like it when he comes home drunk like that. It scares her… I just want to take the skillet to his head… Then again I’ve been hearing it longer.” I chuckled at that, still crying against her shoulder.

“Sweetie, I love him too. He’s given me two beautiful little girls. He works hard to provide well for us. We have a beautiful home and I can devote myself to you two and to keeping our home. Not many women can say that, Jessi.”

“Yeah, but you still shouldn’t have to use makeup to cover that bruise.” I looked at her questioningly.

“What bruise, dear?”

She reached up and touched my face gently, causing me to wince. What did I say? Smart girl, just like I was at her age.

“You did a good job covering it up, but you can't change the way it swells only part of your face. I can see the difference.” I kissed her on the forehead. “I worry about you, Mom, and I don’t like to see the sadness behind your eyes.” I looked down and pushed some salsa around with a burrito.

“When you’re done, go get Tammi up. I’ll get the lunches ready.”

She finished her plate quickly and was soon bounding up the stairs. I heard the shower run after Tammi stumbled into the bathroom, yawning loudly. While Jessi got their stuff together, I filled their lunch bags: turkey sandwiches, some cottage cheese, a small salad, and some juice. As the shower turned off and Tammi walked back into her room to dress, I heard Derrick’s alarm go off, then his heavy footsteps as he stomped into our bathroom, severely hungover.

Jessi and Tammi came down first and sat at the bar. Jessi nursed her coffee and scrolled through her phone while Tammi dug into the food on her plate. Derrick came down some time later, smelling clean, except the faint lingering scent like an ashtray in a brewery that surrounded him. He must have had so much to drink last night that I could literally smell it in his sweat. I placed his plate in front of him and he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his lap. He kissed me, like nothing happened last night. I gently pushed away, mostly to get away from the acrid smell still clinging to him, but he held me fast. I glared at him, his grey-blue eyes flashing annoyance at my attempted escape from his grasp.

“Jessi, would you please hand me your father’s coffee?”

She passed it across and I handed it to him. Derrick took a long swig from the large ceramic mug before setting it down on the counter. I managed to wiggle out of his lap as he started to pay attention to his food and I was able to stop breathing from my mouth. I sat down on the other side of the bar, and refilled my cup. I sipped at it as I picked up my tablet and checked it’s notifications. About a dozen odd emails waited for me. I would check those later.

Opening up my social media account, I started scrolling through a sea of cat pictures and random s**t posts from my small circle of friends. As I clicked the like button on an empowerment meme, the alarm I had set for the girls so they would make the bus on time went off. I walked them to the door handing them their lunches and they both kissed my cheeks as they left. Derrick, engrossed in his plate, didn’t notice that they had even gotten out of their seats.

Sitting back down across from him, I watched him eat as I thought about all the things I wanted to say to him. I had said them all before and it hadn't done any good then either. I refilled his cup and went back to reading my news feed. When he was finished he left the kitchen and I gathered up the plates, rinsing them off before I put them in the lower rack of the dishwasher.

Derrick didn’t even say goodbye as he left for work, as usual these days, and I listened carefully as his work truck crunched up the driveway on his way out to his current project on the other side of Fort Worth. I let out a sigh of relief as he turned onto the road and the sound of the engine drifted off into the distance.

I opened up my email client. There were newsletters from some of the organizations I was part of; our church, the PTA, etcetera. One was from my high school alumni society about the upcoming twentieth class reunion back in Waco. I wasn’t really able to go to functions like that. I can just imagine the ration of s**t from Derrick that I would have to deal with if I were to go. I did manage to go to the reunion soon after I got my Bachelor’s Degree, which I never got to use as a housewife. This was soon after we were married, and he used it against me for the next three years, accusing me of wanting to get back with old boyfriends and a bunch of other nonsense. I never went again, just wanting to avoid dealing with the after effects. I guess I’ll just have to miss this one too.

Most of my inbox was spam, advertisements for this or that I was too lazy to opt out of. Deleted. One caught my eye, “!!! - You probably don’t remember me.” Joanne Darcy? I didn’t recognize the name so it too went into the trash. With my inbox cleared out, I went back to the bedroom, set my phone on the bed, and got dressed for the day: a pair of close fitting jeans and a bright kelly green satin top speckled with flecks of orange and white. Cute but dignified, I thought, looking at myself in the full length mirror in the corner. I entered the bathroom and finished my makeup to better cover the bruise. As soon as I finished putting on the final touches, my phone rang. I ran into the bedroom to answer before it went to voicemail.

“Hey, girl!” It was Rebecca Reiner, my best friend. Well, she was my only friend, the only person who could come visit me without me getting screamed at because of it later by Derrick. Everyone else I invited over, Derrick would say I was cheating on him with and it didn’t matter if they were male or female. I never understood why he tolerated her. “Are you coming or what?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way out. Just finished getting ready. I’ll see you at the bistro in about half an hour.”

“Alright, hon. I’ll meet you there.” My phone beeped as she hung up.

I slipped into my shoes and headed back down the stairs. I gathered up my purse and got my keys ready as I stepped through the heavy wooden front door, locking it behind me and arming the security system with the fob on my keyring. My car came to life as I hit the engine start button on my key, unlocking the car doors. I heard the radio playing the local mix station through the car’s closed windows. I climbed in and nestled into the driver's seat, threw the car into drive and pulled out of the driveway onto the road to go meet up with the crazy red-headed artist before going shopping together. This should be a good day.