“RIGHT HERE IS perfect.” I dropped my end of the heavy sofa onto the freshly cleaned carpet.
“Alright.” Lee followed suit and placed his end a little more gently. It was obvious he didn’t struggle with the weight nearly as bad as I did.
I looked around, exhausted, but completely in awe of everything around me.
Gracie clapped from her used, but new to her, playpen that sat in the corner of our new living room.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for everything.” I placed my hand over my heart, sure that it was going to burst out of my chest.
“That’s what friends are for.” Vicky placed a box of dishes on the kitchen counter.
“But all of these things...” I looked around my new apartment that was already well on its way to being fully furnished. “I’m just so grateful.” I forced the tear that was threatening to fall to remain in place. Now wasn’t the time to get emotional, I had too much left to do.
“You did me a favor getting this stuff out of my garage.” Lee chuckled, shaking his head.
“I can’t help it. If I find a good deal, I grab it.” Vicky stuck her tongue out at her husband.
“She’s a self-proclaimed yard sale queen. But I think she’s a hoarder.” He pulled his baseball cap from his head, wiping the sweat from his brow, as he took a seat on the couch.
“Ew, I am not. You just want the garage back for your man cave idea.” She rolled her eyes as she took a seat next to him on the sofa.
“Hey, baseball season will be here in no time; my man cave will benefit both of us.” He squeezed his wife’s knee.
“True.” She gave me a wink. “Don’t get me wrong, I like baseball. But I don’t need to watch every game that every team plays.” She shook her head with a giggle.
“It’s important to know what we’re up against,” he defended himself, and I couldn’t help but smile at their loving banter.
“Whatever you say, honey.”
“Knock, knock.” Alana poked her head inside the door and I immediately scolded myself for not keeping it locked. I couldn’t get too comfortable, not yet anyway. Aaron still hadn’t shown his face, but I didn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen. I especially had to be careful since we were finally in our own place.
“Hey there.” I smiled and met Alana at the door, locking it behind her as she shuffled her boys inside.
“This is really nice, Ryan.” She clapped her hands together in excitement.
“Thank you.” It wasn’t much. Just a small two-bedroom apartment. But it was in a decent area, close to work, and the best part was it was mine. I was thankful that the shelter had the program in place. They would pay my first three months of rent and then I was on my own. I’d been saving and watching every penny since I started working. It was a big difference from the life I was used to with Aaron. He made plenty of money, and I never had to worry about paying a bill on time. But his abuse wasn’t worth the financial comfort. I’d rather scrape every penny I had to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table than spend another second with Aaron and his temper.
This was our new beginning. Our fresh start. And I was determined to make it work.
“Andrew, Luis, be nice to the baby.” Alana pointed her index finger in the direction of her boys that were standing over Gracie’s playpen. Gracie was standing on her feet, holding on to the side, bouncing softly up and down.
“Okay, mommy,” the boys rang out in unison, and she gave them a smile.
“They’re always so sweet to her,” I reminded her.
“I know, but boys are rowdy sometimes,” she assured me, with wide eyes.
“They’re fine.” I waved my hand at her, and then remembered the rest of my guests. “I’m sorry, Alana this is Vicky and Lee, I told you about them.”
“Yes, of course. Hi, how are you guys?” She smiled and gave them a wave.
“Good thank you, it’s nice to meet you.” Vicky returned the wave, and Lee gave a quiet nod.
“We better get going, honey,” I heard Lee mumble to Vicky. “Unless you need us for anything else.” Lee stood to his feet, and gave me a nod with his hand over the brim of his cap.
“No, you guys have done more than enough. Thank you so much.” I walked over and gave Vicky a quick hug.
“It’s totally our pleasure. And I’d love to stay and help you unpack, but we promised the kids we’d catch a movie.” She seemed remorseful, which was completely unnecessary.
“Are you kidding? Go, have fun,” I encouraged her.
“Our kids are teenagers now, I’m just glad they want to be seen with us.” Vicky giggled as they walked closer to the door.
“Gotta take it while we can get it,” Lee uttered.
“Sad, but true,” Vicky replied, just as my cell phone began to ring from the counter behind me. The only people that ever really called were in this room with me, and my heart immediately began to pound against my chest.
I lifted my index finger and turned on my heel, grabbing my cell. When I saw my lawyer’s name scrolled across the screen, my body stiffened, and I had to force myself to slide my finger across the glass.
“Hello,” I pressed my phone against my ear and waited, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
“Hello, is this Ryan?” the deep voice rumbled on the other end of the line.
“Yes, sir. This is she,” I replied.
“Good afternoon, I’m sorry, I realize it’s the weekend, but I’ll be out of my office until Wednesday and I wanted to go ahead and let you know the latest news.” My throat began to tighten as I looked in the direction of my friends, who had all stopped chatting and were staring in my direction. Vicky and Alana both wearing a worried expression.
“Okay.” My voice was shaky and I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to prepare myself.
“We heard back from your husband’s attorney.”
“You did?” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.
“He’s contesting the divorce and the custody suit. The judge has set a court date for the end of November.” His voice was somber, and I wanted to break down and cry.
“Okay,” I repeated, realizing that was a month away. I was going to be forced to be in the same room with Aaron and I wasn’t emotionally prepared to do so. My body wasn’t physically prepared. I’d grown accustomed to not being used as a punching bag, I didn’t want to go back to it. I couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, Ryan. But please remember, we are going to fight this. It’s my job to fight for you.”
“Thank you.” My voice was meek.
“I’ll be in touch as we get closer to the date. I’d like to have another meeting, just to prepare.” His voice was full of confidence, I only wished I could have just a little sliver of it.
“Sounds good,” I lied. Nothing was good about this.
“Have a good weekend, ma’am.”
“Thank you. Same to you.” I allowed the phone to slide from my fingertips and onto the floor as Alana and Vicky both rushed to my side.
“What’s wrong?” Alana asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“He’s fighting it. Everything. We have to go to court,” I mumbled, unable to meet Gracie’s gaze from across the room. I didn’t want her to see the worry in my eyes. It was my job to protect her.
Leave it to Aaron to ruin my good day. My fresh start.
“I have to see him.” The tears I had been holding back began to slide down my cheeks. I brushed them away, glancing at the kids who were caught up in their own game of Peek-A-Boo. Lee stood at the doorway, with his eyes downcast.
“I’ll go with you. I’ll be right beside you.” Alana wrapped her arms around me.
“Me too. If you want,” Vicky mumbled and put her arm around me from the other side. I nodded in agreement, knowing I needed my friends with me. I didn’t want to face him alone. I couldn’t.
“You’re not going to let him control your life. Those days are over,” Alana spoke with authority.
“He won’t win, Ryan,” Vicky assured me.
I only wish I shared their positivity in this situation.
They didn’t know him. They didn’t know what he was capable of.