KACE. When I woke up, my face felt as if it were stuck to the tile floor. I lifted my head from the large spot of dried blood on the floor. My mouth was throbbing. I reached toward my face and felt my lips. They were both mangled. I had a piece of Josh’s boot heel in my mouth. I spit it onto the floor.

White.

I picked it up and looked at it. I blinked and looked again.

Oh no. He didn’t.

I circled my tongue around my front teeth. It caught on an opening in the front.

I looked at what I held in my hand.

That motherfucker kicked my tooth out.

I could hear the video game playing as he screamed in the other room. I looked around the kitchen. Two empty beer cans sat on the kitchen counter. The cookies were gone. My bowl sat on top of the counter where I had left it.

Who beats their girlfriend to a pulp on the floor, kicks her teeth out, and then takes a beer and cookies into the other room to play video games while she lie in a puddle of blood on the floor?

Fucking Buster. That’s who.

I stuck my tooth in my jeans pocket.

I picked up the bowl and felt it in my hands.

Not heavy enough.

I opened the bottom cabinet and looked inside. I quietly pulled the largest cast-iron skillet from the cabinet. Oh yeah. This should work. I tip-toed out of the kitchen and to the rear of the living room. He was sitting on the couch, facing the television and playing video games. His back was toward me.

This could be just perfect.

Fucking cocksucker.

I could see the back of his head over the top of the couch. I knew if I walked in behind him, he might see me and catch me. As he screamed at the television, I ran as fast as I could toward him - the cast-iron skillet held high above my head with both hands. As he looked to his right, his mouth began to open and his eyes were as big as saucers.

The skillet came down hard. When it hit his forehead, it made an awful thud. I hated to, but I smiled when it bounced off of his head.

I stood over him and admired my handy work.

I dropped the skillet on the floor behind the couch and looked at him. His forehead already developed a knot the size of half a baseball. His head was split open, but not as bad as my lips were. I looked at him and how he was slumped into the couch and shook my head. Although my heart was beating at a very rapid pace, I was surprisingly calm.

I walked to my bedroom and grabbed my purse, Kindle, and cell phone. I walked into the living room and checked Josh. He was still unconscious. I reached down on the floor and grabbed the cast iron skillet and took it with me as I walked into the bedroom again.

I opened the closet door and pulled out the largest piece of luggage I had. I unzipped it and began stuffing all of my work clothes into it. I ran to the dresser and grabbed socks, panties, and shirts. When the bag was almost full, I shoved in as many pairs of shoes as I could. I zipped the luggage and drug it into the other room.

Still unconscious.

I dropped the luggage on the floor and walked back into the bedroom and grabbed the skillet.

Slowly, I walked toward the couch. I reached down and picked up his cell phone from the floor. I stepped back and thought as I looked at him sprawled out on the couch. The crotch of his pants was soaked.

Fuck this asshole.

I leaned over his body and pushed my hand into his pants pocket. There we go. I pulled out the keys to his truck. I looked to the side of the couch toward where he had removed his boots and smiled. I slid my purse over my shoulder and walked toward his boots. I dropped the keys and phone into his boots and picked them up. I walked back, grabbed the luggage, and pulled it behind me to the front door. As I opened the front door, I looked around the house. I needed nothing else. I guess, ultimately, what Shane had said was right.

When walking away from something we were once committed to, we often hesitate. Deciding to make a major change in life is difficult. But we all reach a point when we’re done. Done giving to a world that only takes. Until then, you’ll want, you’ll wait, and you’ll contemplate change. When you’re truly done, you’ll know. You’ll know when the time comes.

You’ll know when the time comes.

The time has come.