_+_+_+_+_Carol_+_+_+_+_

A lean woman with short cropped reddish hair and down turned lips sighed and looked down at the photo album she'd pulled out from stashedaway.
Two women, one with curly red hair the other with kinky black hair.
They had always been the best of friends, Carol and Michonne.
All through their Highschool days.
Both having been members of the 4H club and both active in the FFA.

She ran her hand over the photo of the two happy young women on the cusp of a new life.

It had been four years. Four years since graduation. Somehow to Carol it didn't seem like it had been that short a while ago, it seemed so much longer. A lifetime longer.

After they'd graduated, Michonne had gone out. Looking for a bright new world.
She'd always had fire, always wanted to travel and be seen and be heard.
Carol had looked all around this town, but all she'd found was Ed.

He'd been so lovely, at first. Dashing and kind; always buying her flowers and trinkets.
It had been a whirlwind romance.
And soon, she found herself married with a tiny house in a busy neighborhood.
Things had always been strange. Tight, one might say.
Like new skin over an old wound.
Ed had become frustrated with her.
And at first, she thought she'd change.
That she could make him happy. Ed had always been strict. Always. So what was to stop him from doing such when they were married?

It wasn't two years after she got married, that Carol started getting abused.
She'd put on dark glasses, and wear long sleeved blouses (even in the dead heat of summer) and makeup to cover the bruises.

But being young, with no money and no way to live, she saw no options. As long as she'd kept her head down, did her chores and kept him fed he was alright.

Things were okay.
Now and again, she thought about it.
Thought about how easy it would be slit his throat while he slept, or how easy it would be to stab her domineering husband in the spine as she cut his hair each month. But she never left their tiny house that always seemed to be in a constant state of ''remodel.''
And when a tiny girl named Sophia came along- she couldn't bear to leave her child without a father.
She'd lost her father when she was such a little girl. Carol knew what it was like to live with a mother and no father, to lack that love and compassion that only can come from a Daddy.
So she'd suffered. Suffered and smiled, without so much as a grimace when the beating's got bad.

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Carol jumped away from her thoughts, slamming the book closed when Ed screamed her name, his face popped into the livingroom, sour and mean as ever.

"Keep a lookout for the Roofing guys. Shoulda been here an hour ago." He shook his head, muttering 'useless bastards' and 'never taking Merle Dixon up on an offer after a night at the bar' "Make sure they don't step through the ceiling. God knows-" whatever he'd been about to say had been cut off with the slamming if the front door as he made his way to work.
She nodded, muttering an "Of course, dear."
This house. This damn house was always in a state of remodel.
That was Ed's idea. He always wanted something more, something different, something changed. Nothing was ever good enough for the man.
But she knew the routine and she knew what her jobs were, so with a sigh, Carol tucked the book away before going to wake up Sophia to start the day.