Slap.
Kick,
Kick.
Punch.
Mama hits this combo again and again in lightning fast moves. She's heaving and panting, but she hasn't broken a sweat yet.
Grab.
Lift.
Throw.
The table smashes in pieces, splinters are everywhere, and nails stand at attention.
Slap.
Pinch.
Squeeze.
A choke hold.
Mama is in training for the octagon, except she isn't an MMA fighter, and her opponent is not even a close match.
Her opponent.
He's laying on the floor, barely breathing, ribs on fire.
He's trying, mama has him in a vice, a grip unbreakable.
He's turning red, wheezing.
Mama sees this.
Smash!
Something breaks.
A bone?
Two bones?
Or more?
She's breathing heavily, the bull ready to gouge out the insides of the bullfighter.
He's cowering in fear.
She's a raging inferno.
Roar!
Wood is hefted from one palm to the other, balancing is a tricky act,
Mama is a pro at balancing things,
He slides on his buttocks, away from her,
She stalks him, her feline ancestors cheering her on.
He's shaking, and each slide across the tiled floor leaves a red smear.
Knock on wood, hands raised high.
No!
A child's shout.
A distressed shout, an afraid shout.
No child should be able to tell the future with such clarity.
But I can.
I see Mama spiraling out of control, Papa's burial clothes, they dress him in his favorite color, purple.
They will do it to please his wife, and to grudgingly accept in his death what they couldn't in his living.
And so I scream.
Loud, piercing.
The baby wakes too,
Our voices in orchestrated harmony.
Splat.
Bang.
Grunt.
One last kick.
A weak sigh,
And then silence.
And I hear her voice, steel wrapped in satin, cool water rushing over death traps, her fingers running over my face, they smell like rust.
"You know I love you, right?"
Papa wheezes, he's looking at me.
A weak smile, bloody too.
I do nothing.
I say nothing.
He doesn't know about the gun hidden in the baby's cot.
The End.
P.S. You guys! I felt like shooting the she-monster myself!
P.P.S. Domestic violence isn't only against women. Men have their stories too, but our society has a gag in their mouths.
Support men, help women and love children.
Say no to abuse.
Report abusers, it is not a gender thing.
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