A Bad Night For Spaghetti
By: Rebecca
I don’t even remember what the fight was about. I try to remember it sometimes, but I can’t. I just don’t recall what made him that angry. This happened so long ago, but I still very much remember the pain and the fear that I felt during that night. I remember being upstairs, doing some work stuff before logging off for the night. Like I said, I don’t remember the fight. But I remember him shoving my computer to the edge of the bed. He leaned over me and slapped my in the face, knocking my glasses off. I don’t remember what I said, but I remember that it made him mad enough to punch me three times as hard as he could in the leg. I leaned back to avoid the blows, and I ended up landing on my glasses and breaking them. The blows to my leg was such an excruciating pain, and I had massive swelling and bruises on my thigh afterward.
He ended up leaving, and I remember him saying he was going downstairs to make dinner and I “better not go anywhere.” Out of fear for my life, I put on my shoes and a jacket and game planned what I would do to grab my keys from the kitchen table. When I walked downstairs, he was finishing the pot of spaghetti he was making. He looked at me and asked me if I ever do what I was told. That is where he began treating me as if I was a kid. He forced me to sit at the table and repeatedly told me not to move or I would die. I reached for my phone to call 911, but he ended up taking it away from me and setting it on the counter behind him. I was constantly thinking about ways to get out and ways to call the police. I was trapped there, like a child in timeout. Then I decided on what I would do.
Without thinking it through, I ran to my phone and maneuvered as fast as I could to run back up the stairs to the bathroom. I knew I wouldn’t make it to the front door, so I was going to lock myself in the bathroom and dial the police. As I was running up the stairs, he threw a cooking utensil at me. He missed, and it ended up breaking one of the railings on the staircase. I locked the door instantly and called the police. I was afraid that he would try to knock the door down, but the only thing he said was ‘shit’ before walking back downstairs. I stayed in that bathroom until the police arrived.
In the end: It took my years to end things with him. I still live in the house where this occurred and I just remember feeling so heartbroken, because I couldn’t even remember what the fight was about. It must not have been that important, since I can’t remember it. The railing on the staircase is still broken from where he threw the cooking utensil. It was difficult to learn how to forgive myself for what happened. But I did learn a very important lesson when I left. NO ONE should force you to do anything. No one should treat you as if you are not your own person. And more than anything, no one you are dating should harm you or make you feel unsafe in any way. I learned to accept what happened and to move past it. And honestly, it was the greatest thing I ever did.