My Simple Marriage

Chapter 3: Big Day

I changed out of my red dress and shoes and into a long white night gown that reached my ankles and also covered my wrists. I helped mother clear the table and clean the home. I didn't dare speak or bring up anything from dinner because I knew he'd do it first.

"How fucking stupid can you be? Daydreaming at the most important event of our lives?" He'd begin ranting. Here we go. Our lives, funny. "I won't be surprised if he drops you for an actually beautiful and intelligent girl." Father would scream at me in Uuad. Whenever he was truly angry, he'd switch between languages, truly terrifying.

"Are you even fucking listening?" He'd walk up to me as I held a plate from dinner and grabbed my right wrist, causing the plate to fall and break against the floor. Oh no, this was bad.

"You see what you do?" Father would scream in my face and tighten his grip on my wrist until I physically couldn't take it anymore. I felt like he was two seconds away from breaking my wrist in half. A cry caught in my throat as I began screaming in pain. He slapped me across the face with his remaining hand for reacting to the pain.

At this point you might be thinking, what about my mother? She's just as bad as him. Except the poor woman is deadly afraid of him. She would never dare raise her voice at him or protect me. It was either he takes it out on me or her, and she's always picked me. She will always pick me.

Father threw me to the ground behind the glass shards and stormed away.

I raised my sleeve and my wrist was a deep purple color that I could barely move. Unwanted tears streamed down my cheeks and onto my gown from pain and shame. I was used to father's behavior; he had been extremely abusive for years, but this was worse than usual.

Growing up and seeing his behavior, and the behavior of my uncles, I deemed this normal. Violence and controlling through fear was a manly trait. Then there were submissive and quiet women.

I learned to not let it truly affect me or see them cry, but he was very angry. Tonight was important to them, I know that, which is probably why he got so riled up. I always made excuses for his filthy behavior.

I stood up and my mother quickly cleaned the plate shards away, not even glancing at me once. What a "mother" she truly was, right? The best.

I ran to the bathroom and put water on my wrist and face before brushing my teeth. Our beds were two mattresses on the ground separated by a divider in the same room. Our home was extremely small.

I fell asleep with no blanket as father never gave me one because I "didn't deserve it." I hope Naashad isn't like my father, but honestly, it would be a miracle.

~**~

TBE