The woman agreed to come to Barb's house around 1 the next day. After speaking to her, Barb wondered the whole night and into the next day if that was a mistake. What if Cal unexpectedly came home while she was there? Or what if this woman was a psycho killer, who'd been flagrantly invited in by Barb? What if Sadie told Cal about a strange lady coming to the house to talk to Mommy?

Ultimately, Barb decided, it was too late. Barb had made an agreement, and she was going to stick to it. She managed to put Sadie down for her nap just ten minutes before the doorbell rang. Hopefully her daughter would sleep through the entire meeting.

It was the beautiful woman from the store—and she wasn't alone. A slim, very pale woman accompanied her, dressed all in black: black shirt, tight black jeans, black leather jacket. Her hair was pulled tightly into two silvery buns on each side of her head. Her expression was grim, very grim. But what really gave Barb pause was the patch she wore over her left eye. Whatever had happened to her, it was brutal; jagged white scars poked out from the edge of the patch. Barb wondered if this smaller woman served as some sort of bodyguard, although her Amazonian companion didn't look like she needed protecting.

Barb managed to smile and said, "Hi! Please come in." The tall blonde thanked her and the visitors entered. Barb led them to her dining room and had them sit.

"I'm Barbara Sawyer, by the way," she told them as they got settled. "You can call me Barb."

"Cherry Carbone, nice to meet you," the tall blonde told her. "And this is my associate, Blanca Schwartz." The woman in the eye patch glanced at Cherry with a frown, but said nothing.

"So…you said that we could help each other?" Barb asked.

"Yes, I did." Cherry nodded to Blanca, and seemingly out of nowhere the smaller woman pulled out a bound stack of pages with a clear, glossy cover that had a very faint shimmer of pink to it. She pushed the book across the table to Barb.

"I can explain what's in there while you look through it, if you'd like," Cherry offered. Barb agreed and listened to Cherry's proposal, while she flipped through the rather dense reading material.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for everything to be explained to Barb; much of it was so scientific and technical she was having trouble grasping it. Eventually, Cherry was able to relay the general concepts of what was wanted from her, and when she did, Barb immediately worried that she'd gotten herself in way over her head.

But then there was Cherry's half of the bargain to consider: a new life, a clean slate. A house of her own, in an entirely new city, where she could start over and raise her daughter in peace. Cal would never find them, Cherry promised. She'd be free, to live exactly as she pleased. Oh, it was such a beautiful dream, Barb hadn't realized until that moment how much she wanted it to come true!

"So do you have any questions?" Cherry asked.

"Uh…no. I don't know. It's—it's a lot," Barb answered.

"Of course. You can take some time to think about it, if you need."

"Right. Thanks." Barb thought of something. "Would you ladies excuse me for a moment? I need to go upstairs and check on my daughter."

After she'd gone to the second floor, Barb went to the bathroom and quietly shut the door behind her, then sat on the floor and leaned over the vent. The bathroom on that floor was directly above the dining room, and if the two women spoke loudly enough, Barb would be able to hear their conversation if they had one. She didn't have to wait very long before she heard them talking.

"What do you think? Do you think she'll say yes?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know." It was interesting to her Blanca speak, since she hadn't spoken a word before; she had a motherly sounding voice, as if it was always on the brink of scolding someone. "Honestly, I don't know why you picked her out of all of the others you've been studying. No professional accomplishments among her contemporaries, average intelligence, below-average education, a lack of physical beauty—she's an unremarkable specimen. Surely you must see that."

"Of course I do! That's why I've chosen her!"

"What? I don't follow."

"You know what I'm planning to do. I'm going to show them—all three of them—what this world is capable of. I'm going to show them that the most amazing things in life can come in the most ordinary of forms. If I'm successful, my creation will force them to accept that there's a different way—a better way—to look at things. This woman saw that I was in distress and she helped me—she didn't have to, but she did."

"From what you told me, it wasn't that much of a sacrifice."

"Even the smallest acts of kindness can be the greatest ones."

"There's more to it, isn't there? You feel badly for her. Because of the situation she's in."

"What of it? A little compassion never hurt anyone. Besides, you of all people should know what it's like to be abused."

Barb waited for Blanca to fire back a retort, but she didn't.

Cherry added softly, "Why don't you stay here? Permanently this time? You'd be safe; you'd be free!"

"We both know that isn't true."

"But—"

"I know you worry about me, but it's all right. Things run smoother with me there. I can help keep her rage in place. Besides, if she ever found out that I can still think for myself…" Barb could swear she heard the pale woman shiver.

"How much longer can you stay?"

"Not much longer. A year or two at most. They're meeting right now, and I have to make sure I'm back before they adjourn and she starts looking for me. You…haven't told the others about me, have you?"

"Of course I haven't."

"Good."

Barb got up and went back downstairs. She couldn't keep sitting there, or they'd wonder what was keeping her. When she returned, Cherry smiled at her and said, "We can talk this through as much as you need. I realize that what I'm asking for is unusual, but I promise, no harm will come to you."

Barb looked down at her hands. "Could I have a few days to think about it?"

"Absolutely. Is three days enough?"

"Sure!" Barb regretted agreeing so quickly, but maybe that was all she would need.

"Very well. In three days, at this same time of day, Blanca will drive by the house to pick you up. You will need to be ready to go. You may bring with you any items of sentimental value, anything for your daughter you may need. Do not eat or drink anything 12 hours before she arrives. And of course," Cherry leaned forward slightly, "Tell no one what you're doing."

"If you are not outside and ready to go when I arrive, I will assume that you have changed your mind and will drive on," Blanca said to her. She stared at Barb for a moment, seemingly reading her. Then she added, "Understand that this will be your one and only opportunity. You must be certain that this is what you want, because there will be no going back." The smaller woman's scar almost seemed to gleam as she spoke. Barb was frightened of her.

"Are you sure you don't have any more questions for me? I know this is a lot for a human being to process," Cherry asked her as she and Blanca walked out of the front door and onto the porch.

Barb found Cherry's choice of "human being" to use as a little strange, but she replied, "I guess my only question…isn't something you can answer for me. I wish I knew I was doing the right thing."

Cherry considered this for a moment, then looked at Blanca, who gave the barest of smiles and nodded. "The truth is, the right thing doesn't always feel like the 'right thing.' It's often the painful choice, or the messy choice. And there are times when doing the right thing makes problems, rather than solving them."

Barb frowned. "Then—then—how do I…"

The tall woman smoothed her blonde hair and sighed. "The only advice I can give you is: make the choice you can live with. And only you know what you can live with." She rested her hands on Barb's shoulders. "I'll see you soon, Barb—maybe."

And then the two women were gone. Just as Barb was shutting the door, Sadie appeared on the stairs. "Mommy? I awake now!"

Barb sighed, then smiled. "Okay, baby. What do you want to do now?"


When Cal came home, he was in a surprisingly good mood. After giving Sadie a kiss, he threw his arms around Barb and kissed her. "Break out the champagne, baby, I struck it big!"

"What happened?" Barb asked as she put dinner in front of him.

"We won the contract with City Hall. We'll be their utilities supplier for the next five years, and I've been put in charge of it-everything!"

"Oh, honey, that's great!"

"Yep!" Cal scarfed down his dinner happily. "It means more money flowing through this place. We can finally take a nice vacation. I could even start building that sunroom we've always wanted for entertaining. Honey," he took her hand. "I know I've been a grouch sometimes, but I've been trying really hard to build something here for us. And it's finally coming together! Our dreams are coming true. Thanks for sticking by me." He gave her that smile Barb had fallen for when they'd first met: shy and soulful.

Barb smiled and squeezed his hand. "Of course, honey. I'm so happy for you."

After they'd eaten for a while, Cal asked, "So how was your day? Anything going on?"

"Oh, not really. It was pretty quiet around here."

"Two ladies talk to Mommy!" Sadie suddenly burst out. Barb felt her heart start to pound but she continued to chew her food.

"Two ladies?" Cal repeated.

Barb thought fast. "You know the Bitterman's old house on the corner? The one for sale? Two women stopped to talk to me about it while I was sweeping the porch. Apparently they're thinking of buying it, but they're torn between that one and another one they're looking at. They were scouting the neighborhood to get a feel for it."

"What did you tell them?"

"That we'd moved in a few years ago and we liked it here. That it's quiet and respectable. They thought our house and lawn were very tidy." Barb knew that throwing a compliment about the lawn would help pacify Cal. He was quite vain about his property.

"Hmph," Cal grunted, taking another bite of his dinner. "Two women buying a house together? What are they—lesbians?"

"Maybe. I didn't ask, and they didn't offer any information about themselves."

Cal seemed content to drop the subject after that—much to Barb's relief.


Barb agonized over the choice she had to make that night and into the next day. Cal was so happy, so loving, and affectionate. He'd worked hard to win that contract, and things were finally falling into place. Maybe that was the end of their rough period. Maybe Barb could talk to him about things, and they'd work together to make sure the abuse never happened again.

But hadn't she been down this road before? Hadn't she gone through periods when Cal seemed wonderful, and everything was fine, and it only took one thing to make him turn violent again?

She wished she had someone to talk to. But she had no one. Her mother was gone. Any friends that she might have had she'd lost contact with when Cal insisted they leave their hometown and move hundreds of miles away. Finally, while she had a moment to herself, she retrieved the slip of paper with the number Cherry had given her and dialed it again. She hadn't gotten to the fourth digit before the operator came on and informed her that the number couldn't be completed as dialed. She whimpered as she put down the phone.

When Cal got home and saw dinner on the table, he scowled. "Why'd you make dinner?" he demanded.

Barb felt her cheeks flush. "I—you don't want dinner?"

"We're going over to Abel's house tonight, remember? I told you yesterday." Abel was Cal's co-worker and best friend.

"Oh! Sorry, honey. I completely forgot."

Cal smirked. "What a ditz. Go put this stuff away and get yourself and Sadie ready. And wear your blue dress."


Abel's house had never been a place Barb had liked going to. It was always crowded, noisy, and there seemed to be a cloud of something hanging in the air, like pollution. Everything (the furniture and surfaces) looked like it was greasy too. That night Abel had two more of their co-workers and their families, as well as his brother and sister-in-law and their two kids, over for dinner. It seemed like utter pandemonium; the kids were all boys ranging in ages from 5 to 12, and they all played viciously and rough. After Barb had made a plate for Cal and brought him a beer, she sat on the edge of the sofa and kept an arm around Sadie.

After a few minutes of eating and gabbing with Abel, Cal noticed this and said, "Barb, for God's sake, go eat something and let Sadie play with the other kids."

"Oh, I don't know. She's so much smaller than the others," Barb protested.

"She'll be fine. They'll go easy on her. Won't y'all? Huh? Huh!?" Abel called out around the corner, where the boys were growling and hitting each other with plastic swords.

"That's okay, Abel. She's happy here with me." Barb hugged her daughter to her.

"Sadie, go play with the boys," Cal told their little girl sternly. Sadie slowly pushed herself off the sofa and went around the corner. "And you—you go into the kitchen and make yourself something to eat," Cal ordered Barb.

"Barb? How have you been?" Abel's wife, Sherlene, asked.

Barb had stationed herself in the kitchen in just the ideal place to closely watch Sadie playing in the hallway with those small, amped hooligans while she plowed through her plate of pork barbeque and potato salad. She turned back to her hostess and smiled pleasantly. "Great, Sherl. You?"

"Oh, wonderful! Isn't it great that Abel and Cal got that contract?"

"Yep," Barb tried to drink her iced tea as quickly as she could without causing brainfreeze.

"Oh! I found a fantastic recipe in TV guide the other day for a cheeseburger casserole. I tried it out last night and Abel and the boys loved it!"

"Did you?"

"Oh yes, and it was so simple! Remind me to write it down for you before you all go. Uses all the stuff you already got in the fridge: ketchup, pickles, onions, mustard…"

Barb tried to look interested as Sherlene spoke to her. Abel's wife—with her perfectly coiffed blonde hair, polka dot dresses, enthusiastic hand gestures, and kewpie doll voice—seemed too sweet to be real. And that wasn't too far from the truth. Barb remembered talking to Sherlene not long after she and Cal were married. Sherlene's kindly manners and her tendency to lean into Barb and seemingly confide in her on all matter of things made Barb think that she could trust her.

Cal had already started showing violent tendencies, and she didn't know what to do. One Saturday, Sherlene invited Barb over to help her make truffles for Easter, and as they worked, Barb admitted that Cal could sometimes be "harsh" with her. She didn't delve into how he'd shoved her into walls or broken things in their house, but she did admit that Cal had a temper.

"Oh Barb, don't let that worry you! He's a good man. Abel gets testy sometimes too. Remember: their jobs can be really stressful! Just focus on being a good wife."

Barb tried to take this advice to heart. Just a few days later, Barb was bringing up a basket of laundry from the basement, when Cal met her at the stairs, a look of pure rage in his eyes. "You've been talking about me behind my back. You've been saying things to my friends," he growled.

Barb felt her heart go numb with fear. "Cal…" she began.

"You don't talk about me behind my back!" he shouted, and then shoved her. Barb tumbled down the stairs, and when she landed, she landed right on her foot. It was broken and wedged underneath her. Cal locked the door behind her and left her there, sobbing on the floor with a broken ankle, for the rest of the night and into the next day. Barb managed to crawl up to the top floor and pound on the door, begging Cal to let her back in. She cried and screamed for hours, until she was hoarse. Finally, he opened the door.

He stared down at her coldly. "You listen, and listen good. What happens in our house, in our lives, is no one's goddamn business. It stays here, between us, you understand me?"

Barb just looked up at him mutely and nodded. Cal gathered her up and took her to the hospital to have her ankle treated. After that, Barb understood that no one in Cal's circle was to be trusted. Anything Sherlene heard went to Abel, which then went to Cal. Or maybe it went to Cal directly, Barb didn't know for sure.

Unfortunately for her, Cal's circle was the only circle she had. So she smiled and nodded while Sherlene babbled on, then she finished the last of her food and quickly excused herself so she could sit in the den alone. Barb leaned back in a chair and closed her eyes, thinking of Cherry's promise once more. Where would she go to start her new life? Would she be able to make new friends there? Would Sadie be happy? So many unknowns. Was it really worth giving up her entire life for a range of possibilities?

"Hey! There she is! Hey Cal—I found your girl!"

Barb opened shut her eyes and groaned inwardly when she heard this. Less than ten seconds later, all the adults had come and crowded into the den around her. "What are you doing sitting alone in here?" Cal demanded as he sat down beside her.

"Oh, just resting my eyes. I was feeling a little tired. Sorry, everyone," Barb replied.

"Feeling tired? Ha! Why would you feel tired? You don't work all day like we do!" Cal retorted. Andy and the other men laughed at this.

"Oh, now Cal. A woman's work is never done!" Sherlene argued in that sweet way of hers.

"Yeah, right. A woman's work: spending our money," Abel retorted, earning more guffaws from the men—and even some from the women.

"You're not kidding, man. You know what this one did the other day?" Cal gestured toward Barb, "Gave out our money to strangers at the market."

"Huh? She was?" Cal's co-worker, Donnie, asked.

"Cal," Barb protested.

"Yeah no lie! Just taking out dollar bills and handing them out to random strangers. I'm telling ya: common sense isn't one of Barb's strong suits. Ha ha ha!" The entire den erupted in laughter.

So this is how Cal decided to punish her for giving Cherry five dollars. Instead of beating her or breaking another one of her china figurines, he was going to humiliate her. He was going to make her look like an inept fool.

"I didn't just take out dollar bills and hand them out to a bunch of people. There was only one: a woman in line who didn't have enough money to pay for her groceries; she was five dollars short. I gave it to her because I was trying to be kind." Barb looked at all of them. "Isn't that what they teach us in church? To be kind to those who need it?"

There was nodding and murmurs of agreement. Cal looked at her. On the outside, he seemed calm and collected, but Barb knew that look in his eyes. He was seething with fury. Less than a minute ago, everyone at the party was on his side, laughing at Barb's expense. Now she'd turned the tide and he felt like a fool. Barb also knew what his eyes was promising: that she would pay dearly for defending herself.


Three hours later, after they'd left Abel's house, gotten home and Barb had put Sadie to bed, she sat on the floor of her bedroom, staring at the carpet. Cal had gone downstairs to watch TV. She ran her fingers along her gumline and looked at the blood she'd swabbed out. She also noticed that one of her bottom teeth was loose. Cal had punched her in the mouth, but fortunately that had been it. It hadn't felt like a blessing when she'd fallen to the ground, of course, but now Barb realized that it was.

The day after the next—Friday—Blanca was going to come pick her up. Barb would make her donation, and she'd start a new life. But she realized that if Cal had been more aggressive with his beating, Barb might have been so badly hurt that she wouldn't have been able to get out of bed—and then her chance would be gone. That would have been unbearable.

Barb slowly pulled herself to her feet and got to the bathroom, and cleaned herself up. She washed her face and swished some water around her mouth, watching the thin red threads of blood swirl around the sink and disappear. She looked at herself in the mirror, and found herself smiling. For once, she was grateful to Cal.

After he'd struck her and she fell, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head backwards so she had no choice but to look into his icy blue eyes.

"Look at me!" he snarled. "You need to do better!"

Cal was right, Barb realized. She needed to do better. She would do better.

She just had to make it to Friday.