“Oh, yeah, he made sure I felt every punch, every kick, and every slam of my head into that wall. I actually put a hole in the wall with my head. My child sitting two feet away from me in her birthday dress, watching the whole thing go down. She didn’t know what was going on—and doesn’t even remember, praise God—but his momma saw it and she did nothing. It took the neighbor, seeing him punching me through the kitchen window, to come over. He pulled Rick off me and dragged him outside where he kicked his ass, from what I came to find out later.

“Apparently, his momma went out to help him, and I passed out from the pain. When I woke, the trailer was empty, Angie was still sitting next to me, crying, shit coming out the side of her training pants, and even though I couldn’t see out of one eye, I packed all our stuff, called my mom, and I went home. Never looked back.”

Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms and on top of him, running his hand up and down her back. “I told Rick I never wanted to see him again, and that was that. Dad drew up the divorce papers, and he married Heidi after he signed them. I was convinced I’d never see him again, but then my dad put in the request for child support, saying Rick was going to pay for his child. But Rick said he wasn’t paying for some kid he didn’t see, so then he got visitation. I tried to cry that he had beaten me and I worried about the safety of my child, but because I didn’t make the report when it happened and I had no proof other than my word, the court awarded him visitation. I thought I was done, but I wasn’t. And now I’m paying for it. Every time I have to deal with that man.”

“Lucy, you were young. How could you have known?”

“My dad told me, numerous times, the day I came home to go to the cops, but I ignored him. I was so embarrassed, my brothers were freaked out, my mom cried a lot, and my dad wanted to skin him. At first, Rick would only keep her for an hour at a time since he had a toddler at home too, and I never said anything. I got my kid and I was on my way. You know? I never pushed him for child support because I knew he didn’t have it. I was deathly scared of him. That if I asked, he’d beat me up again. He wouldn’t meet me at my mom’s, and he had a restraining order on my family ’cause he claimed they threatened him. They had, and because of that, I had to go to him alone. I was terrified of him until Angie was about four. My dad was tired of me being scared, so he took me to get a gun, and that was that. If he touched me, I was going to shoot him, simple as that. I never had problems, though. He was always rude, calling me worthless and shit, but he’d be there to pick her up, and he dropped her off. Always on time, but he never asked for more time. Angie loved playing with Nina, so I figured we were good.

“But in the last two years, it’s gotten worse. With the whole ADHD thing, her having anxiety, she was telling her teacher that she didn’t want to leave me because her daddy was mean to her. Rick would tell her she was stupid and all this other crap. The school called DCS, and when they went to their home, Heidi lied, called my kid a liar, and Rick said I was brainwashing her. I wasn’t, and when they came into my home with my family, they knew he was lying. But they didn’t have proof, and all I had was hearsay. That year was hard. Lots of counseling and lots of documenting what was said between us because they wanted proof, something I still do. When they finally got her meds right, it was awesome. From then on, she was great and she was happy, but he tells her all the time that she’s insane and that’s why she needs meds. Says it’s all my fault, which sucks, but Angie knows it’s not. Or at least, she tells me she knows,” she said with a smile, running her fingers through her hair.

“I’ve considered taking him back to court, to just cease everything, but Angie did like going over there. Though now, I’m seeing that things are different, and I’m going to have to have a talk with her, I guess, because I can’t do this anymore. I won’t do this anymore. But it freaks me out that he honestly thinks he can get full custody. Or fifty-fifty. His momma hit the lottery a couple years back, and now she thinks she has money to sling around. So I’m sure this is her doing because she hates me so, but it still makes me nervous. I’m not really sure what to do. I don’t want to drag my kid through a custody battle. Not only for her sanity and well-being, but I don’t want things to get nasty because—” She paused, looking away, the tears running down her face faster.

“Because?” he asked, lifting her face so he could see her eyes.

“Because, for once, I’m finally happy. And I’m sure he’ll drag you into it, and then you’ll be gone.”

His brow furrowed. “Where am I going?”

She gave him a look. “The other direction, surely. No one wants to deal with that.”

Still confused, he asked, “Are you in the other direction?”

“Benji, come on. You’ll hightail it away from me and Angie. Haven’t you seen custody battles? They are scary.”

“No, I won’t,” he said, louder than he meant to. Her eyes widened as he held her gaze. “I’m behind you, a hundred percent. That dude won’t chase me off. I told you, I’m digging you, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be there for you and for Angie.”

“You don’t know that, Benji,” she said then, shaking her head. “It’s easy to say now, but it could all change when it goes down.”

“Um, I do know, but I’m not arguing that with you. Here’s what I think,” he said as she looked back at him. “Let’s see how tomorrow goes. If it goes the way you think it’ll go, call your dad. If it doesn’t, when Angie comes home Sunday—I’m going with you to pick her up—then you can talk to her and go from there. You know what’s best, Lucy. You know what needs to be done, and no matter what, I’m here for you. One hundred percent.” She bit into her lip as a tear rolled down her nose, dropping onto his. Smiling, he wiped it off and said, with the hopes of making that face shine, “You’re snotting on me.”