"I know what Vince does to you," Danny told her the next evening when he was alone with Lindsay in the locker room after their shift had ended.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Danny," Lindsay replied as evenly as she could.
"Lindsay, don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"No, I don't," she insisted. "And, I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave me alone," she turned abruptly and left the room.
"Something wrong, Linds?" Stella asked as she passes her obviously angry friend in the hallway.
"No," Lindsay answered a bit too quickly.
Stella grabbed her by the shoulder to stop her and turn her around and Lindsay fought to stifle her gasp of pain. Stella saw the fear and pain that replaced the light and life that had once occupied Lindsay's chocolate brown eyes. "You sure everything is ok?" Stella asked, "How's Vince? Anything wrong back home?"
Lindsay forced a smile. "Really, Stella, everything is fine. Vince is great, and so is my family. I'm just tired, that's all."
This excuse wasn't quite good enough for Stella; it was obvious that something was wrong, but it was also obvious that Lindsay wasn't going to tell her what was up. "Ok," she smiled faintly, "Try to get some moor sleep tonight."
"I will. Goodnight, Stella." Lindsay said goodbye to her friend and began the dreaded journey home. Home, she mused to herself, if you can call it that. Out of desperation to be away from Vince for as long as possible, she decided to walk home instead of taking the subway. It was a pretty long walk, but the time alone and fresh air gave her time to clear her head. She thought about her relationship with Vince – if you could call it a relationship. How it started off great, but changed drastically one day when he had gotten drunk after a bad day at work. She had accidentally knocked a glass filled with water off of the counter and he had gone ballistic. That night was the first time that she had been intentionally hit in her life. Her parents didn't believe in hitting children to punish them, so she had never even been spanked before. Vince apologized profusely the next day when the alcohol had worn off and promised that it would never happen again, but it did. He hit her and slapped her and kicked her and had even bit her once. She tried to break off the relationship, but every time she did, he hurt her even more and threatened to kill her and her family. If it had been anybody else, she probably wouldn't have taken him seriously, but she knew what Vince was capable of, and how he wouldn't stop until he felt that he had fulfilled his mission. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that Vince would say to do and then not complete.
The walk was too short. She arrived at her apartment in about a half an hour, but that wasn't enough time. She regretted having walked home the second she walked into the apartment.
"Lindsay! Where have you been?" Vince shouted angrily. "I am starving!"
"Haven't you ever thought of making dinner for yourself?" Lindsay snapped. She regretted her statement when Vince's hand came into contact with her face.
"Don't you ever talk to me like that!" he ordered.
"Ok. I'm sorry," she whimpered, hoping that he wouldn't hit her anymore. It was almost as though he was bipolar – one minute he'd be perfectly happy, the next, hitting Lindsay around like a rag doll.
"Get dinner started. I'm starving," Vince said through clenched teeth.
Wiping away her tears, Lindsay did as he told.
A/N Ok, a short chapter, but I promise that the next one is gonna be good. No DL action yet, obviously, but trust me, I'm as anxious to get there as you are.
xoxo
Lia