One day, Ed seemed to actually be in a pretty decent mood. He'd been talking with the neighbors, about nothing, really, but still...at that point in their marriage, Carol was just so grateful for anything or anyone that took her husband's attention away from her, however briefly.

Ed looked over his shoulder, and saw Carol playing with Sophia. "Damn it, woman! Where's your goddamn manners? You so busy playing with your little brat that you forget to be polite to our company? Bring John and me here a couple of beers."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see John looking at her, maybe even with sympathy. It didn't matter. He didn't have to live with Ed.

As quickly as she could, she brought out a couple of ice cold beers. "I'm sorry, Ed." She didn't even look up at her own husband.

"Hi..." John made eye contact with her. "I'm John. My wife is Susan. We have a little one on the way ourselves. Our first one, actually. Just found out it was a girl. We're new around here, and my wife, she doesn't really know anyone. Maybe sometime soon you can come over with your daughter and give Susan some advice. I know she'd appreciate it, and I would too. She asks me so many questions like I'm Dr. Spock or something!" he laughed.

For a split second, Carol forgot where she was. She actually smiled, but then that smile quickly faded when she saw Ed glaring at her. She didn't say another word. She quickly gathered Sophia and decided to play Barbies with her for a few minutes before getting her ready for bed.

But before Carol could even pull out the dollhouse and make herself comfortable, something happened which she had not been expecting. Out of nowhere, Ed had stormed in, and right in front of Sophia, he pulled Carol back by her hair, pulling it back by her scalp. She started screaming, pleading for him to stop.

But he wouldn't.

"You stupid slut! You think you're so clever, making eyes with that man across the street right in front of me. What's the matter with you? You think I'm stupid or something? You think I wouldn't know about my wife wanting to fuck the first man that she comes across..."

"Ed, no," Carol pleaded. "Not in front of Sophia! Please...we can talk about this. I just...not in front of Sophia. Please!" She started crying because the more she plead with Ed, the harder he seemed to pull at her scalp.

Sophia said nothing. She held on to her Barbie, and began to suck her thumb. Apparently that was the only way she knew to keep herself from crying and making her daddy even more mad at her mommy.

"Ed! Please..."

Before she could stop him, he threw her to the ground. Holding her down with one hand, she could feel him fumbling with something. Oh, God. He wouldn't do that, not in front of Sophia!

But then this strange noise filled the room...it took Carol a few seconds to realize what was going on. Her hair! Ed was shaving off her waist-length hair...the one thing she did get compliments on in her life.

"Ed- please, no, stop! It doesn't have to be this way. Just ...just..."

But her crying and pleading had no effect on him. He wouldn't stop, not until she barely had an inch of hair on her head left.

But then Ed grabbed her by the arm, and he shoved her into the bathroom, where he forced her to look at herself. She didn't want to- she hated what she saw. But he grabbed her jaw and squeezed her until she had no other choice but to look.

"Go on, get that brat in bed. It's Tuesday- you know what that means," Ed growled. "I expect you to be thanking me. Ain't no man in the world, even if you were the last woman alive, gonna look at you now."

It took her a few minutes to compose herself, but she knew she had to check on Sophia.

When she got there, what she saw stunned Carol.

Sophia had taken the clippers and had clumsily shaven most of the hair off her barbies. Every one of them.

Carol knelt down to face her daughter. "Why'd you do that, honey? I'm not mad. I know how much you love to brush your Barbies' hair."

Sophia ran to her mother's arms. "I love you more, Mommy."

And for that moment, Carol held on to Sophia for as long as she could. No matter what happened to her- how mean Ed was to her, what she looked like, whatever...she had her daughter. Sophia loved her. Just to mean something to someone else- well, at that moment, Carol knew she would rather die than anyone, even Ed, hurt her little girl.

As she tucked Sophia in, Carol brushed Sophia's hair out of her face. "I love you. Don't you ever forget that. One day...it won't be like this. I don't know how...but we're going to get through this. It can't be like this forever, you know? One day you and I, we'll go far, far away, and we're going to find a place where we can be happy. We can play dolls all day long, and we won't have to worry about anyone or anything hurting us, ever again."

Sophia just smiled then closed her eyes.

Right then and there, Carol vowed to herself to see her promise to Sophia come true, if it was the very last thing she did.

The end