TW sexual assault
******
Danny ran his fingers through her hair, and pressed his lips against her forehead. She closed her eyes in bliss. She felt so safe and loved when he did that. She loved it when he'd run his fingers through her hair, especially if they were making slow, sweet love.
It was such a contrast to how she felt about her hair right now. She wanted to rip it out, make it short enough so no one could push it behind her ear.
Jack pushed her hair behind her ear, running his fingers through it to the ends. He twirled a piece of hair between his fingers, "you're beautiful."
Linda didn't say a word. She just closed her eyes, willing Jack to go away.
He smoothed his hand over her hair, then buried it in the blonde locks. "Come on, Linda, smile. You like your hair being played with. I know you do."
She felt rage course through her body when he scratched the nape of her neck. Only Danny was allowed to do that! And somehow, probably in anger, she brought her knee up and jammed it between his legs. He loosened his grip, and it gave her ten seconds to escape.
But Jack was quick. He grabbed her arm and slammed her against the counter. Her head hit the edge of the cabinet. He yanked on her hair, hard, and memories she had long since buried came flooding back.
"Stop," she cried. He held her arms tight enough to leave ugly bruises.
"No. You know our agreement, bitch." He slapped her ass hard; so hard that it even stung his hand a little bit. He would slap her face, but that would leave evidence, and he absolutely could not do that.
"Jack, please," she begged, chest heaving with sobs.
He yanked her hair again, "no! You weren't a good little girl, so now you're going to get punished!"
"I'm sorry," Linda closed her eyes as Jack dragged her to a more private part of the apartment. She thought of everything else while he spanked her with something hard (she didn't want to know what he had grabbed), and bit her lip so hard it bled when he shoved his fingers into her.
Once he was done, he pushed her to the floor. He leaned over, hand still in her hair. "See what happens when you don't behave?" He gave her hair another hard yank, and at that moment she wanted to shave it all off. "Bitch."
She curled into a ball on the floor as he left. She didn't know how long it took her to finish crying and get off the floor.
She went to the bathroom, almost on autopilot, and turned the shower to scorching hot. She pulled on a shower cap and yanked her clothes off, hoping the rip she heard would be repairable.
**********
She was dressed in new clothing after her shower. She wouldn't say she felt better, but she felt... more acceptable. Like with her shower, she washed away any and all traces of what happened earlier.
Linda stared at herself in the mirror, disgusted that she let him do those things. She looked down and grabbed Danny's razor. She was about to do it when a voice in her head said, "he'd be so disappointed in you."
She could cope with Danny being mad, but not with his disappointment. So she opened the small drawer and tossed it in. She was about to close it when she saw the hair scissors. She grabbed them and looked at herself in the mirror.
She hated Boyle touching her hair, but if she cut it off, there'd be nothing for him to touch. Quickly she divided and tied her hair into two even sections, then braided each section. After she tied off each braid, she took the scissors and sawed off her long hair.
It was still too long. Jack could still touch it. He could still grab it and yank it. He could still bury his hand in her hair and scratch the nape of her neck.
So she kept cutting.
*********
The hair dresser looked a little horrified at Linda's home haircut. It was very short in some places, and longer in other places. "I can fix this, but it'll be short. Pixie cut short."
"Good," she sneered. "Can you re-dye it too?"
"Same blonde?"
"A shade lighter."
"I can do that. With pixie cuts, we usually have bangs—"
"That'll be fine. I'll take the pixie. Just.... Do it. Please."
She heard the slight desperation in Linda's voice, "whatever you want. Follow me to the sink."
*********
Did she regret it? Yes, she absolutely did. She liked her long her. But she would've regretted cutting herself more, so she chalked the haircut up to a win. Besides, it was about to be summer in New York, and summer in New York was unbearably hot. She'd have short hair for the summer, and let it grow out during the fall and winter. She pretended that was her plan.
She tugged at her shirt, hoping she could lie convincingly when the family asked what the heck did she do to her hair.
**********
"What the hell did you do to your hair?" Jack asked as soon as church was over.
Danny turned his head to look at her, as if he had just noticed the huge haircut.
"I cut it," she answered cooly.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to." To piss you off. I cut my hair, thinking that you, specifically, would be pissed off.
"It looks cute," Joe butted in, feeling the hostility.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, it looks good," Danny agreed. "A sassy cut."
"What do you know about haircuts?" Erin asked with a tone he couldn't decipher.
"That's what the commercials say. Bold and sassy."
"It's summer, so I cut it short," Linda lied convincingly. "It'll be a lot more manageable."
"I like your hair, it looks nice," Erin smiled.
The men agreed, but she could tell they all liked it longer. She didn't care. Their opinion didn't dictate her hair choices.
Besides, if it stops and pisses off Boyle, then it's a win.
