DOMESTIC ABUSE

My Husband Threatened to End My Life

He was determined to stop me from leaving him

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Content warning: threat of domestic abuse.

I came to a stop in the doorway. My eyes flickered from the ice cube tray on the tile floor, surrounded by a puddle of water, to the chair turned on its side lying helplessly next to the sink, to last night’s leftover sticky chicken and vegetables spread across the kitchen counter. A fly crawled across a piece of broccoli. It probably entered through the back door that stood wide open, sending a chilly breeze through the room. I tugged on the bottom of my oversized t-shirt as goosebumps formed on my legs.

I felt nothing as I strode across the room, past the empty bottles of beer standing on the kitchen table, past the spoiling yogurt pot with a fork shoved in it, to the back door. I felt nothing as I picked up the empty whiskey bottle in the doorway and placed it outside with its twin before closing the door.

All the anger, sadness, confusion, and despair had left my heart on a different morning, exactly like this one. And now there was nothing.

My mind busied itself with idle thoughts as I got to work on restoring the facade of a perfect family kitchen. A familiar nursery rhyme I couldn’t place hummed repeatedly…