For the first time in too long, Carol felt like she could breathe.
It had only been a month since that day, but it felt like even longer. She and Sophia had gone straight to a shelter after meeting with the attorney, taking the time for themselves, and they'd never gone back. Sophia missed her home from time to time, not having the same bad connections with it as Carol, but even she was happier overall.
Still, that period of waiting had been one of nerves and tension. Carol had seen Ed around every turn, had half-expected him to show up every time she left the shelter, but he never did. The only time she'd seen him was at the trial she and Sophia had just left. He had been in his best shirt and tie - she knew because she'd ironed it just before they'd left, preparing it for a job interview, she was sure, he'd never attended - and had turned on the charm. She remembered that personality from when she first fell in love with and married him, and she wondered how she'd ever fallen for it.
The relief she was feeling came, not from having left, but from finally finishing with all of the legalities. It had filled her as she heard the judge - Andrea Harrison was a stern-looking woman with blonde hair and anger in her tone as she ruled, likely, in part, due to Ed's tact in calling her "a college-educated cooze" - issue her ruling, finalizing the restraining order end ensuring that the law itself would help keep her safe.
As she walked out of the courthouse - an imposing building of aged stone and red brick - the world seemed new. It felt cliche, but the sky looked bluer, the sun felt warmer, Sophia's laughter even brighter, and the entire thing made her feel free.
Carol had never been one to celebrate - the idea of spending money unnecessarily was foreign and unpleasant to her even before Ed's "teaching" - but even she couldn't resist taking Sophia out for ice cream, both grinning and laughing as they savored the treat. The afternoon treat was followed by a shopping expedition. They didn't buy anything, but it was fun to just spend time together, to have fun without fear of consequence.
That freeing, secure feeling should have warned her. She should have known not to let her guard down, especially not after the trial. She should have remembered that Ed knew where she was staying, knew what shelter she had to be using, knew that she hadn't yet purchased a home for them.
She should have expected it, but she hadn't. She had been too busy joking with her daughter, enjoying the fresh air and the company and the freedom. She barely noticed it lurking just outside the shelter, ominous in its familiarity. When she finally did recognize it - placed the old, beat-up pickup truck with its faded brown paint verging on maroon - it was paralyzing, stopping her in her tracks.
Sophia stopped too, more confused than scared, but she stayed quiet. It was Ed's voice that finally split the tense silence, his drunken drawl spewing out violent words. "Well… lookee here. The ungrateful bitch wh' finally 'cided to sponge off sommun else. What, my dime ain't good 'nough for ya?" She didn't answer, mind too caught on the fact that he was there at all. "Got them fancy suits ta tell me that I can't see ma own wife? Like that's gonna do shit ta stop me?"
Carol was dimly aware that she was opening and closing her mouth without success. Her mind was far too focussed on sliding Sophia behind her to put together words or predict what was coming, which was why Ed's fist caught her completely off-guard, sending her sprawling to the ground before she had time to brace herself.
Her palms stung from the bite of the pavement as she caught herself, barely keeping her head from slamming down too. Her cheek was burning, the blood rushing to it as the bruise already began forming. Painful as it was, it was mild compared to some of what she was used to, and she was glad. At least he hadn't gone towards Sophia. She could take it, could distract him.
He was still talking, bending close enough to her that she could smell the putrid stench of alcohol exuding from his pores. There was so much of it that it made her eyes burn, worse than they already were. "You's got a bit too big for ya britches, woman. Sounds like I needa show ya where ya stand." Another punch, this one sending her to the ground before being followed up with a vicious kick to her stomach that left her gasping for breath. "You think them suits give a damn about ya? They ain't gonna stop me from comin' and takin' what's mine." Carol could see him through her pain-spawned tears, could see the way his eyes flickered to Sophia and stayed there, pinned on her.
No. That wasn't allowed. He could beat on her all he liked, but Sophia was off-limits to that son of a bitch. "I'm not yours, Ed." Carol gritted it out from between pain-clenched teeth, voice more steady than it had ever been, than she had expected it would be. "I'm not now. I never was."
A kick. A punch. Another kick. A series of blows falling down upon her, too numerous to count. She didn't want to, anyway, didn't try to. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that each blow on her was one blow not landing on Sophia, each kick wasn't bruising or breaking young skin, wasn't traumatising the one innocent thing in either of their lives.
Ed stopped, crouching in front of her and worming his hands into the short length of her close-cropped hair and pulling her head up. His rotten, fermented breath was washing straight over her face and she knew enough to keep her eyes down, a sign of submission that wouldn't set him off further. She fixed her eyes on his dirty, stained wife-beater - that almost made her laugh hollowly, bitterly, but she restrained the urge - and tried not to wince at the pain in her scalp.
"You're mine, bitch. You always were. You always will be." He paused, looking down at her with cold, violent eyes. "Now, I'm gonna keep teaching you a lesson. And at some point, them fine folk from that shelter 're gonna get off their fine asses and call them cops. And I's gonna be long gone before they get here." He paused, a hand passing roughly down her face to grip her chin and force her to make eye contact with him. "And ya gonna go ta the hospital on their dime. Gonna get a taste of tha' fine livin'. And then ya gonna come back home and we'll see what ya can do ta make this month up ta me. Ya hear?"
Carol didn't answer. Couldn't answer, what with the sheer amount of blood running down her throat. She tried to nod, a motion that sent her oscillating from trying to pull her already-bruised chin from his vice-like grip to pulling her own hair, but it wasn't enough. It never had been before, and she knew it wouldn't suffice.
"Can't hear ya. Unless ya want me ta go find our brat from wherever it is she's run ta…" A dim part of her, buried under the part concerned with surviving, gave a sigh of relief to know that Sophia was safe. "...ya better tell me now." He paused, then shook her again. "Say it, bitch!"
Carol could feel blood and spittle oozing out of her mouth, but she bit out the words. "Yes, Ed. I'll be back."
"Good." Finally, he let her go, her arms buckling under her and sending her chin slamming to the pavement again. He stepped back again, watching her for a second with calculating eyes, a little intelligence seeping in behind the glaze of booze. "Time ta make sure ya remember."