The forgotten wolf

I’m awoken by the sound of jiggling keys and the struggling of the front door being opened I hear a low grunt and “ah f**k” as the keys hit the rotting paint chipped deck. Glancing at the ancient alarm clock on the nightstand I can see it’s just shortly after three in the morning. I guess he didn’t get lucky tonight. I roll to the side staring at the peeled yellow daisies on the wall. I hear Tommy kick off his boots a loud thump and a bang as he stumbles into something. “f**k!” Along with some incoherent mumbles coming from the hall. I shut my eyes and squeeze them tight, pretending to be asleep as I feel the bed dip beside from his weight and his hand on my hip I’m enveloped by the sickening smell of cheap beer and whiskey as he kisses my neck and whispers “you awake ely?” My stomach twists as I keep my eyes shut fighting the urge to gag as I pretend to be asleep. Success fills me when I feel the bed shift and Tommy rolls over still in his jeans and alcohol drenched clothes(he must of had a couple drinks “spilled” on him) . Loud snoring fills the room and relief sweeps over me. Most wives don’t pray for there cheating scumbag husbands to get lucky after a night of binge drinking. Back when I still loved Tommy (or more accurately was infatuated) I would worry he was cheating and when he would come home smelling of alcohol and perfume I’d throw a fit. I learned to accept it after a few nights of being slapped punched and kicked. A memory of the first time flashes through my mind Tommy had been out all night I called him 20 times or more but his phone was off. When he finally stumbled through the door it was almost 6:00am I marched up to him but he towered over me him being 6’2 and me being 5’1 there was no competition. But he had never laid hands on me before and so i was stunned as my nose exploded when his fist made contact. He punched me so hard my nose was broken and blood gushed. I dropped to the floor expecting him to show some remorse but he just walked around me and went to the washroom to relive himself. That had been the first time I had had many black eyes busted lips bruises and even some fractures after. I tried going to the police once but it did no good Tommy was one of their drinking buddies his father had been on the force for years and died in the line of duty. That it was not easy growing up with out a father I’d hear them say. Tommy’s father officer Thomas McKnight was beloved in this small town he died saving a child who had fallen through a crack in the frozen lake. He was perolling the street when he saw a kid walk out across the lake it had been an unusually warm winter and the ice wasn’t as frozen as it normally is. When the kid fell into the frozen water with out hesitation he ran after him yelling for whom ever could hear him to help. The neighbours ran out Officer McKnight grabbed the boy in the water and held him until someone with blankets had come to wrap him in he handed him off and as soon as he did he felt the ice crack again. “Get off the ice now!” He demanded everyone had made it off except him the ice like thin glass had shattered into hundreds of pieces beneath his feet. There was no way to get to him and the chunks of ice made it impossible for him to resurface. He drown with in minutes. He was a hero who had left his wife a window and his son fatherless at 7 years old. Because of that the force along with a lot of other people in town made excuses for Tommy and turned a blind eye when he had to many to drink and got behind the wheel, showed up to work still drunk or beat his young wife. The sound of snoring continued snapping me out of my memories back beside my alcoholic cheating scumbag of a husband. I looked over at him his jeans were dirty his once white tshirt was staid red with splashes of what looked like wine that was thrown at him. His hair was pushed back and greasy and his mouth hang open as he drooled and snored. I loathed this man, I rolled over and looked back at the pealed yellow daisy wallpaper and counted down from 1000 hoping sleep would come, but it wouldn’t I checked the clock it was now 4:30 am my shift started at 6:30 at the dinner but sometimes I’d go early bake a pie or two for the day and hide away. It was a safe place for me and today I needed to go I knew if Tommy woke up again I might not be as lucky to pretend sleep and would be forced to have s*x with him and if I turned him down or I struggled then I’d be going to work with a busted lip and bruises all up and down my throat that I didn’t want to have to cover up. I already still had a black eye from last week when I was late coming home from work and Tommy accused me of cheating on him. It was fine for him to f**k any thing with a v****a but if I even spoke to friendly to a customer I’d get backhanded and spit on and called a w***e .so I quietly got out of bed and went to the bathroom brushed my teeth threw my hair up grabbed my uniform and makeup bag i normally got ready at work anything I could do to avoid Tommy.