against all odds

chapter 5: fear

She started to panic. Her wrists were losing feeling but she knew that Lucho was too strong to fight off on her own. "Lucho, STOP!" She yelled out as loud as she could, hoping that Lucia would hear her.

Lucho figured out what she was trying to do and shoved his hand over her mouth, causing her head to smack back into the wall and her vision went blurry. 

"Shut up Valentina" he said again through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice down. A moment later, a light knock was heard from the other side of the door. Lucia spoke through. "Everything okay in there?"

Lucho leaned in close to Valentina's ear. She cringed and tried to move further away from his hot breath against her neck, now smelling the strong scent of alcohol that wafted from his mouth into her nose as the side of her face now pressed against the wall.

"Tell her everything's fine. You wouldn't want to worry your family, would you?" He whispered to her with a smirk.

Valentina panicked, knowing that he was right. She didn't want to get Lucia involved. She grimaced before replying. "Yeah, Lucia! Everything is fine, Lucho and I are just talking!"

She could hear Lucia hesitate at the door, not wanting to leave. "Are you sure?"

Valentina was becoming desperate and just wanted her to leave. "Yes, Lucia everything's fine! Please, go!"

After a few moments, they finally heard Lucia go away from the door and click down the steps further into the house. Suddenly Lucho shoved Valentina closer to the wall and held her there. She grimaced as a tear rolled down her cheek. She was incredibly afraid now, not knowing what Lucho was going to do next. Whenever Lucho drank, he was unpredictable—he would act irrationally and lash out, making Valentina fear for her life.

Just get it over with

"I'm serious Valentina, you need to get it through your thick skull.." he tapped his finger hard against her forehead, "....that there is nothing that should matter to you more than me. I am your priority, you got that?" He was now spitting venom at her.

She didn't say a word though, trying to hold her ground even though she was deathly afraid of him now. He was getting even more angry with her unwillingness and went back to grabbing her wrists before suddenly throwing her across the room, her back and head smacking against her wooden bed frame in the process. Her head was now aching, spinning her around the room as a small pinching was felt on her left side. She couldn't focus.

She watched as a blurry Lucho stomped towards her. Once he stood at her feet, he raised a hand at her like he was going to smack her. She weakly lifted her arms up in defense but it was no use. His full palm came across her face in an instant. She cried out from the pain as tears now streamed down her face.

"I'll call you tomorrow, ungrateful bitch". He said, spitting on her before quickly leaving her room and slamming the door behind him.

Valentina lay on the floor, her knees tucked into her chest as she weeped. Her body ached, feeling a stinging still eminent on her cheek and the side of her eye. She was in shock at what just happened. Her body was shaking from how hard she was sobbing into her knees.

She wasn't sure how long she laid like that until Lucia came running into her room, instantly falling to her knees to cradle Valentina in her arms. She leaned into the woman's embrace, tears still streaming down her face.