Because of His Love

Chapter 10: Allyson - Savior

Saturday is Michael's gym day, but I convinced him to skip it after his seizures last night. He still doesn't look like his happy self even though he assures me he's fine now. In reality, I think he wanted to skip it because it didn't take much effort on my part to convince him.

We are playing cards in my kitchen when Tyler comes in from work. He's early. I look at Michael in a panic. Tyler is angry. I can tell.

He walks into the kitchen and starts yelling at me. He grabs my hair and yanks me out of my chair. He hits me hard across the mouth. I can feel the blood dripping down my chin from where he split my lip. He prepares to slam my head into the cupboard.

"Get your f*****g hands off her now!" I hear Michael yell a second before I see his fist hit Tyler in his jaw. "Don't you ever f*****g touch her again," he continues as he punches Tyler in the nose. I hear a pop sound and I know Tyler's nose is broken. He's so surprised that he drops me to the floor when he lets my hair loose.

My eyes widen when I get a glimpse of Michael's face. He's beyond pissed at my brother. The knuckles on his right hand are already swelling from the impact of his fist and my brother's face. I scramble up from the floor, which isn't easy to do with only one good arm. I grab a few paper towels and some ice from the freezer.

Michael is standing close to my brother. My brother has fear on his face. Michael's fists are still clenched. "Don't even move," he says. "You're going to jail. Babe, call the police," he says to me. I do as he instructs. Then, I press the ice to his knuckles.

I can feel the anger radiating from his body because he is emitting heat, a different heat than when he was aroused last night. I keep trying to hold the ice to his knuckles, but he keeps flexing his fists. I push him into a chair. My brother is far too scared to move now. He's just sitting on the floor.

Michael tells me to put ice on my lip. He doesn't take his eyes off my brother once. My brother looks defeated. I mean, sure. He can pick on his own sister who is five foot three and weighs about a hundred pounds. Michael is six foot tall and about 190 pounds. Tyler isn't close to his height and definitely nowhere near Michael's weight. Tyler is skinny for his height of five foot eight.

The police arrive a few minutes later. They start taking statements from everyone involved. Tyler tries to play innocent. They don't fall for his act. One officer looks at me and asks how long the abuse has been going on. Since he moved in I tell him. He sends a female officer into my bedroom with me because they have to document the bruises for the police report.

I strip to my bra and panties like she instructs. She gasps when she sees the bruises all over my body. They are no longer fresh so they're more yellow and brown than the deep purples of fresh bruises. "Why didn't you call us sooner on him?" she asks. I watch her take pictures of my bruising and I bite my cheek.

"I was afraid that nobody would believe me."

"How long ago was the last time he hit you, besides today?

"About a week. I wasn't home long enough for him to hit me more than once that day. He had to go to work and was running late," I say, pointing to a bruise on my ribcage.

"Is he the one who broke your arm?" I nod. She stops taking pictures to jot it down in her little notepad. After she takes pictures of every inch of my body, we go back to the kitchen.

The officers ask a lot of questions. Most of them are directed at me. I answer every question they ask. They both make notes of the questions and answers. My brother hasn't moved from his spot on the floor and Michael still hasn't taken his eyes off my brother. The situation is tense.

They ask if I want to press charges on Tyler. Michael tells them I do. I guess they see Tyler's ankle monitor for his house arrest. They stand him up and cuff him immediately. I am asked if they can search his room. I nod at them. They assure me that he will be going to jail.

Melody is still in his room when they enter his room. She cries out in surprise. They drag her out into the kitchen and ask me who she is. I tell them. The officer then asks me a question that chills me through my bones. "Were you aware there is drug paraphernalia in Tyler's bedroom?"

"I was not," I say simply.

"We caught her in the act of shooting heroin," he says. "We're taking her to jail also." I nod. They give me a business card before they take Tyler and Melody to their waiting cruisers.

Michael texts someone after we watch the police drive away. He grips my chin gently in his hand to get a better look at my lip. It's swollen now where Tyler hit me. He kisses my cheek. "I'm so sorry your brother's an i***t," he says. "You and I are going to my mom's for the night."

I nod. He sends me to my room to pack an overnight bag. I hear him go up to his apartment to do the same. The policewoman taking pictures made me feel exposed and at the same time relieved. Someone believed me. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my soul.

Michael's dad arrives to get us. He puts our bags in the trunk.

"Hello, Mr. Kennedy," I say.

"Hey, princess." I like how he calls me that. Michael fusses over me and the seat belt. I shoo his hands. He gets it fastened and he settles in the car.

"Thanks, dad." Those are the only words spoken for the whole car ride. We go to a hotel instead of Michael's parents' house. I don't even question Michael. He checks us in and we go to the room.