Category : Books-Non-Fiction

Sub Category : Biography

The following afternoon. 

I opened my eyes to a faint tone of a strumming guitar in the living room. The bedroom door was closed so I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me. When I glanced over to the alarm clock with my right eye, the time read 12:30pm and the little bit of vision I had left was distracted by the gleaming rays of sunlight that flooded through the window. My vision wasn't as blurry as it was the night before but still sensitive from by the light. The ringing in my ears had subsided as well, however, I was still afflicted with pain and every single bone in my body felt broken. 

After lying there for a few minutes I finally sat up, spinning myself around and putting my feet onto the floor and making my way into the bathroom, which was off of the bedroom so I didn't have to face him just yet. 

I pulled the shower curtain open and turned the lever on, adjusting it to the right temperature. The mirror's quickly fogged over and the room was full of steam. After locking the door, I stripped down and carefully stepped into the tub, closing the curtain behind me. The sensation of the steamy water caressing against my skin was calming. After a good twenty minutes of washing and rinsing, I finally shut the water off and dried myself with a towel. I put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.  Then rolled my long black hair in a towel. Now I had to face Rich. 

As I was going to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea, I seen a dozen of  beautiful red roses in a multicolored porcelain vase. A note sat right next to it that read; 

"Baby I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you and I feel terrible about this whole thing. I love you and I promise you that it will never happen again. Please forgive me.   Love, Richie"

He just sat there strumming his guitar,  playing the song 'without you' by Motley Crew' with a melancholic expression on his face, glancing up at me with puppy dog eyes. I set the note back down on the scratched up coffee table and walked into the kitchen to fill my tea kettle with water. As I was in the process of heating my water I felt Rich put his arms around my waist from behind,  laying his head on my shoulder. He then turn me around and gazed into my battered face.  

"Baby I'm so sorry for hurting you..I promise you it will never happen again. I had a bad day yesterday and I ended up getting ripped off for one-hundred and fifty dollars." He explained, still giving me those puppy dog eyes as he's rubs the tip of his thumb across my cheek,  below my injured eye.

"Do you realize what you did to me Rich? Do you? Look at my eye,  take a look at my bloody sweatshirt in the dirty laundry basket .You promised that you would never hurt me Rich, what the fu---"

"I know,  I know,  I know okay! I promise I will never hurt you again. You have my word honey and I mean that on everything I love. I need you baby and I can't live without you, okay? 

He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me tightly and begging for forgiveness. And I did. The kettle began to whistle as the steam emerged from the spout. 

"I have to turn off the stove Rich" I said pulling away to turn knob off on the stove. I poured the tea into a coffee mug and added a squirt of lemon juice and 3 teaspoons of sugar. Rich had walked away and started to put his twelve string back into the carrying case where it sat in the corner up against the wall in the living room. I was still experiencing severe pain all over my body, especially my head. I never had a migraine that intense in my whole entire life. I wanted to cry. Once I finished making my tea and grabbed an ice pack from inside the freezer, I proceeded to make my way back into the bedroom where I could close the blinds and avoid the sunlight that was irritating my eye tremendously. My left eye was swollen shut by this time and all I wanted to do was get some ice on it to reduce the swelling.  When I applied the ice to my eye, I just wanted to scream, better yet, death would've been far less painful but I couldn't get that lucky. I sat back down on the bed, sipping on my tea. All I needed was some peace and quiet, and to be surrounded by a room full of darkness. About a half hour later my mug of tea was empty. I grabbed my purse off the bedroom floor and feeling  through it to find a bottle of Ibuprofen to ease my headache. I popped three into my mouth and took a sip of water sitting next to me on the end table. I tried to close my eyes and fall asleep but my head was pounding like a jackhammer. I was half-tempted to go to the emergency room but then I'd have some explaining to do when the E.R. staff perceived my mangled complexion. Then what? They contact the police,  they show up and want to interrogate the living shit out of you and the next thing you know you're involved in a domestic abuse case and urged to press charges. I don't think so! I had more issues than Time Life Magazine and I wasn't about to take on anymore. 

The bedroom door slowly opened and Rich poked his head in. "Are you okay honey?  Can I get you anything?" He asked. Making his way in and sitting on the bed next to me.  

"I can't get rid of this headache Rich. No matter what I do it won't subside and it's progressively getting worse." I said." My anxiety began to surface as as a result of the migraine. 

"Listen,  I have something that will cure your headache but you have to trust me ok?" I'm only allowing you to do this while your in pain alright?  I'll be right back. Getting back up and walking out to the living room. 

I'm not sure what he meant by 'allowing me to do this' while I was in pain. What the hell was he implying?  I could here the water running in the kitchen, drawers were opening and slamming closed and the flick of a cigarette lighter. Then a few minutes later,  Rich entered the bedroom with a syringe filled with a brownish colored liquid. I knew just what it was too.  

"Baby,  this will clear your headache right up and it won't take long at all." He explained, turning the syringe upside down and flicking the tube with his middle finger to get the air out.

"Wow.. Is that her--"

"Dope???  Yes it is but it hits you faster when injected." He explained. As he was pulling his belt off from around his waist. 

"Oh" I said. I was petrified of needles and rather worried when he re-entered the bedroom with it. I never administered a substance into my body intravenously and I swore I never would. My way of using  consisted of insufflating and taken orally. 

"Listen honey don't be scared, the worse part is a slight prick of your skin and after that you'll be in a better mood and out of pain.  Now give me your arm and just stay as still as you possibly can." Using his belt as a tourniquet and wrapping up my arm tightly. I can't believe I'm doing this. I broke another promise but this time it was a promise to myself. 

My arm was tightened up, I made a fist, held my breath and turned away. Then about five seconds later experienced a rush like never before. I felt like I was on top of the world. My headache diminished somewhat, It was still existent, but tolerable. I felt a warm sensation flowing through my body and I never anticipated that a high could be so intense. After that experience, things went downhill at a fast pace. 

Thanks for reading everyone. The twists and turns are soon to come. The ride isn't over yet  stay tuned and God bless. 💙