Full Molly Series Trilogy Box Set

Chapter 3: The Price of Bravery

Chapter 3: The Price of Bravery

Saturday morning, I wake up with butterflies in my stomach. It's not even my play date, but I'm excited to get to talk to Molly more. When she opens up, she's actually pretty funny and down to earth. I dress Tommy in play clothes and pack us a little picnic lunch, nothing special since I don't know what they like yet; just some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bologna sandwich in case one of them is allergic to peanut butter, a bag of chips, and some grapes. Outside the weather is perfect. It's sunny with big fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. There's a slight breeze every so often, and right now it's a balmy 60 degrees. It's going to be a nice day.

We pull up to the park, and I instantly spot Molly and Leif by the swing set. I grab the picnic stuff and Tommy, and I head over. Together, we find a good spot on the grass near the jungle gym and under the shade of a big tree. Molly spreads out the blanket, and we settle down. We sit in silence for a while, soaking up the sun and fresh air, or perhaps we're both wondering what to talk about. It is a slightly uncomfortable moment for a few minutes when I break the ice.

"So how do you like your job so far?"

"It's alright. Nothing too strenuous or anything. Dr. McCormick is nice enough. I think he wanted someone with a little more experience though, I am learning everything for the first time."

"Ahh, well you'll get the hang of it soon enough." I ponder. "Are you glad to be out of Chicago though? The move must have been hard."

"Yeah, ever since Joe left me I couldn't stand being constantly reminded of him. He was just such a...a great guy...wonderful..." Her voice was getting tight, and she looked like she was about to cry.

"It's okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked down, and from behind her sunglasses, a tear fell down her cheek. She immediately wiped away the evidence.

"No, I suck at hiding my feelings. You might as well know about it; besides, I feel like I can really trust you." She sniffled and took a drink of water. "Joe was...abusive, and he didn't leave me, I left him. I tell people he left me, so I don't have to talk about it, but I barely made it out. It got to be too much, and I didn't want Leif growing up in a house like that. It tore me up when Joe hit me in front of him. All I could picture was Leif doing the same thing to his future wife. It was toxic, and I had to save my boy."

We both kept our eyes on the boys playing. It was an awkward thing to hear, I couldn't bear to look her in the face while she recounted the hell she lived in. She continued, and I could feel a sting in my eyes, threatening to let loose the floods.

"He used to text me whenever I left the house. He would make me send him pictures of my surroundings with me holding up a pen or 4 fingers or my purse. Each time it was different to authenticate the picture, so he knew I wasn't out cheating on him. It was embarrassing. Then when I sent him the picture, he would say I was lying or faked it somehow and then call me names like, 'w***e, ugly b***h, fat ass,' and others. Then when I got home, he would go through my phone, purse, clothes, bags, and car to make sure there were no condoms, texts or pictures from other men, or I guess anything that would lead to an affair. He would make me shower before we ever had s*x and inspect my body for God-knows-what before. He knew to never purposefully hit me in the face, but when he got drunk, he sometimes forgot his rule. Most of the times he would punch me in the stomach or kick me on my back when I walked away from him.

The one time I had a job, he would call in every hour to check up on me. I was working at a Flower Shop making beautiful arrangements. It was lovely because I could get out of the house and the store owner allowed me to bring Leif to work when he was 4 months old. Everyone that came in loved saying hi to Leif. He was pretty much the store mascot for a while," she said smiling back on the memory. She was twirling a piece of grass in her hand. Whenever she talked about Joe, however, the grass was attacked. She would pluck the grass one blade at a time until there was a visible bald spot on the lawn.

"So, what happened?"

"What with the Flower Shop? After a few months of Joe calling in all the time and tying up the land line, my boss had to fire me. She didn't want to, I'm sure she guessed what was going on at home. Lord knows she probably saw the bruises and the constant bags under my eyes, but her business was suffering. I was terrified to tell Joe. He didn't want me out working anyways, but we also needed the money. So that night when I told him, he broke my nose and the crib my mother gave me when Leif was born. It was a family heirloom."

"I'm so sorry, Molly!" I all but cried at her. Hot tears started to swell up in my eyes. "So umm, how did, how did you leave him?"

She lifted her head to the clouds, "Well one night, a year or so later, Joe went out and got drunk with his buddies. They went to a strip club, and Joe came home drunk and horny. He smelled like a hooker in a whiskey bottle, so I told him I wasn't feeling good. I couldn't stand the thought of him thinking of some tramp in a bar while he was with me, I could barely stand him when he was like this to start with. It was as if he simultaneously heard me and didn't hear me. First, he beat me. This time he grabbed the nightstand and broke a leg off of it. He hit me in the stomach and then my rib cage, breaking these two ribs," She rubbed to the lower two ribs on her left side. "I went down hard, and then he kicked me in the head. I curled up in a ball and stuck my head under the bed to block any further blows. He must have thought I was presenting or something because he gave up beating me and r***d me. He ripped my sweatpants and underwear off, and it was then that I started to hear Leif crying in the next room. I pushed out from under the bed and turned to face Joe. I pleaded with him to let me get Leif back to sleep and then I promised I would come back and we could make love. For my efforts, I got a punch in the jaw that knocked me onto the bed. He r***d me there for the next 13 minutes. I counted every second of the pain and felt blood drip down my thighs and nose. When he finished with me, he staggered to the bathroom. I grabbed a towel on the way to Leif's room to clean myself.

"That night after Joe passed out, I took Leif and a bag of our clothes and went to a hospital in Evanston, Illinois. It's a little north of Chicago. I was there for a month recovering. Afterward, I stayed at a women's shelter in Waukegan for a few months. Then I moved to a women's housing building in Madison, Wisconsin. There I got a job and had a place for Leif to go while I worked. Life was great for a while. The place I was staying at helped us get back on our feet, gave us free therapy and rent was based off our income. The women there were supportive and friendly.

"I called my mom and let her know where I was. She said Joe was worried sick about me and that he didn't know why I ran away. He had her fooled, and it broke me. As soon as she told me that, I knew I had to cut the conversation short. I was worried that she would tell him where my location was and debated moving again or not. A week later I received a letter from my mom. I thought it was a sign she would keep my whereabouts a secret until I took it to my apartment and read it. It was a letter from Joe."

She paused for a long time. I considered asking her what it said a few times but decided to let her take her time. The boys were playing on the swings and seemed to be having a blast. I looked over at her a couple minutes later. She was zoned out staring at Leif's baseball hat. She must have noticed my movements because she broke out of it and gave me a half smile.

"Sorry. Umm, yeah so it was from Joe. I keep it in my purse to remind myself why I can't talk to my mom for a while and for those times when living alone seems too hard, and I start to want to go back to him. I remind myself what kind of man I left." She reached around into her purse and searched for her wallet. Inside she pulled out a paper that looked like it had been unfolded and refolded many times. The edges were worn, and the ink on the paper was slightly faded. There were some water spots on the paper that could have only come from tears. She held it in her hands for a moment. "Here, I want you to read it."

"No, I don't have to! Don't feel obligated to have me read it. I believe you, and I feel terrible that you had to go through that," I sympathized.

"No, really, I want you to. I want us to be close friends because you’re the first person that has cared about me or even been nice to me since that last women's shelter. Plus, I just need someone else to see it. See that I am not crazy and that this really happened. Sometimes I imagine it was all a bad dream or that I made it all up. But then I look at this, and it makes it all real. Please."

"Okay, I will." I conceded.

"I'm gonna go check on the boys," she said. She stood up and sauntered over to the swings. As soon as she saw Leif, a smile spread across her face, but it didn't reach her eyes. She started playing with them, and I grinned. I'm glad we met them and that Tommy has a good friend now.

I looked down at the paper and unfolded it. The paper was crisp and took some careful handling to open it without ripping it. It wasn't a very long note, but the handwriting was cramped, small, and dark. I tried to imagine being Molly, reading this for the first time. Expecting a loving note from her mother and then seeing these words. A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about what kind of man Joe was and how that type of scum was still allowed to breathe. Somewhere this man was free, probably abusing another woman by now or still searching for Molly and her impressionable son.

My Sweet Molly,

Your mother came to see me today and informed me where you went. I am coming up there next weekend and expect you to be waiting for me outside. You are going to pack up all the clothes that you stole and sit your fat ass down in the corner and wait until I show up. I am so heartbroken that you would irresponsibly leave your hard-working husband and steal our child from our home.

When we get home, you are going to the doctor to check for any diseases that you most likely picked up from all the bastards you have slept with since you've been away. After getting the medicine you don't deserve, you will go back home, and that's where you will stay for the next 6 months. You will cook for me and clean my house because of all the trouble and embarrassment you have caused me. You have no idea what your little stunt has done to our home and our marriage. I don't know if I can ever trust you again.

For the sake of your mother and our child, you will be waiting for me outside that Harpy Home you're living in next Saturday at 9 am sharp. You will wait there until I show up. I cannot believe you have done this to us and you should be ashamed of yourself. I shouldn't even be taking you back, but I am a loving man and want our son to be raised right and not by some w***e.

I'll see you soon Molly.

I must have had a shocked look on my face because Molly came walking back over. I didn't know what to say. She took the note from me, pursed her lips, and refolded the note. She stored it back in her wallet and secured it in her bag. She sat down, and there was another long pause while I processed what I read.

Finally, I broke the silence and asked, "Umm, are you...okay?"

She gave a half-hearted laugh and said, "I was about to ask you the same thing!"

I gave her an incredulous look.

"Don't give me that look, that was all ages ago. Seriously, I almost never look at that note anymore, and as you can see, I have a fresh start. I'm all healed up, Leif is safely away from that monster, and he has a real shot of growing up good now. So, don't worry about me." She gave me a small smile but again it didn't reach her eyes.

"Why didn't you ever go to the cops, Molly?" I asked a little too harshly."

Because. You know Joe was a good man, once. His father died right after Leif was born and he didn't take it well. Besides, maybe it was me after all-"

"No! Don't say that Molly!! None of that was your fault. No one ever deserves to get beaten, abused and r***d! Especially by their husband!" I countered. She hung her head and nodded.

"Okay. I know that somewhere, but I just didn't want him to rot in jail. Part of me still loves him, but don't worry. I know I can never go back to him and what we had before his dad died is gone forever. Let's just leave it at that okay?"

"Alright," I said defeated. I wanted to push more that she should have at least gotten help for him but I could see that she wanted to close back up, and my words would be falling on deaf ears.

We returned our watch to the boys, and after a while, we talked about normal things again. Work, Beth, Marty, recipes; anything that wasn't too heavy or too personal. There was already enough of that today.