Chapter 4
School was out for Christmas Break. I loved Christmas time. It was my absolute favorite time of the year.
I really loved taking advantage of all the last minute sales and wrapping gifts for my family and friends.
My dad brought a white Christmas tree this year and my sister and I decorated it.
We hung lights outside, and even decorated the bushes in front of our house.
I loved Christmas. It really brought out the kid in me.
Brad and I had gone shopping together for the gifts we were going to exchange.
I don’t why, but Brad insisted that we wait until the last minute to hit the stores.
It was Christmas Eve. So far, for the past month, Brad had kept his promise of not hitting or threatening me again.
The stores in the mall were going to close earlier than usual today, but you couldn’t tell because everything was still so crowded.
We went to Norman’s Jewelers, one of the most expensive jewelry stores in the mall.
I had no idea why Brad was taking me there.
We walked hand in hand into the store, Brad playfully swinging my hand from time to time.
Brad was being a lot sweeter than usual that day. He held my hand a lot. He kissed my forehead. He was just so sweet.
A little too sweet.
Inside the jewelry store, Brad paused at the ring counter. There were so many beautiful gold and silver rings to choose from.
My eyes sparkled with delight.
You know what they say; ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’
“Can I help you?” a young sales person asked as she made her way over to us.
“Yes, I’m looking for an engagement ring.”
My eyes lit up.
Brad and I were really going to get married.
I immediately pictured myself walking down a rose petal covered aisle in a beautiful white gown.
I could see my mom and dad smiling as they realized that they had been completely wrong about Brad.
He really did love me.
The young lady was happy to show him every ring he asked to see.
Then, he found the one.
A pretty gold ring with a princess cut diamond.
Brad had proudly shelled out the eight hundred dollars for the ring before turning to face me.
“An early Christmas gift,” he said, taking my hand into his.
Then, the magic moment came.
You know that moment when everything around you stops completely.
This was that moment.
“Jennifer, I love you. Will you marry me?”
I felt the tears well up in the corners of my eyes.
My hand flew up over my mouth.
“Yes,” I breathed, waiting for Brad to stand to his feet so that I could throw my arms around his neck, “yes, I will marry you!”
Brad kissed me right there, in the middle of the store.
People in the store clapped for us. Some smiled and wished us congratulations.
There was nothing that could ruin this moment, this day.
Everything was perfect.
Or so I thought.
I was on cloud nine. Here I was engaged to the man of my dreams.
That night, I decided to stay at Brad’s.
I mean, we were getting married, right?
So, now, it was okay for me to sleep at his place.
I mean, I was going to be his future wife.
Honestly, I just wanted to thank him personally for my early Christmas gift.
My parents would never question where I was.
Quite honestly, they probably didn’t even care.
They were at the annual Christmas party at the hospital where my mom worked.
It was their yearly tradition.
I already knew they would be home sometime in the wee hours of the morning.
My sister spent the night at a friend’s, something she always did when she came home for Christmas.
So of course, I was with Brad.
We sat on the warm carpeted floor in his parent’s living room, sipping hot chocolate in front of the fire.
As I raised my mug to my mouth, I couldn’t help but stare at my ring.
It was absolutely gorgeous.
I couldn’t believe that I was going to be Mrs. Bradley Jennings. I couldn’t wait until school started back so that I could rub the fact that Brad and I were getting married in Megan’s jealous little face.
I had a lot of people to show my ring off to.
I was sure to be the envy of every girl at school.
Especially Megan.
“So, when are we going to set a date?” I asked.
Brad took my hand and kissed it.
“There’s no need to rush. I do know it has to be after we graduate.”
“That’s fine, I can live with that,” I said, gazing into his eyes.
He quickly cut his eyes away from me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, slamming my hand to the floor.
I didn’t know what I had done wrong. All I had done was look at him.
“I’m sorry,” I said, tracing his cheek with my finger.
“Don’t touch me,” he snapped. Then, he stared at me with those eyes. Those eyes that I was afraid of.
Those eyes that he swore I would never see again.
Those were the eyes I would see right before he hit me.
I knew that I should have left after that, but I decided to stay.
I mean, if I was going to be married to guy, we needed to learn how to work out our problems, rather than run away from them, right?
“I’m going to go lie down,” he said, frowning.
Now I was confused.
How could he just change towards me like that in the blink of an eye?
I followed him. I needed to know what was wrong.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.
“Brad, babe, what’s wrong?”
He turned to face me. His eyes burned into mine.
I could tell by the look in his eyes that there was definitely something that he needed to get off of his chest.
“Look, Jen, Megan is pregnant.”
My face dropped.
I wasn’t even sure that I had heard that right.
“What?” I asked, hoping, no, praying that what I had just heard was just my ears playing a really bad trick on me.
“I said Megan is pregnant Jen. She’s going to have my baby.”
I closed my eyes not wanting this to be true.
Why now?
Why tonight?
After having such a beautiful time with him, why was he trying to make me hate right now?
“How could she be pregnant? I thought you said that the two of you didn’t sleep together.”
Brad shook his head.
“I lied, Jennifer, okay. Megan is going to have my baby.”
I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that at that very moment, I couldn’t stand to look at Brad.
I turned to leave.
I already knew that leaving right now would be much easier said than done.
“Where are you going?” He asked, snatching me by the wrist.
“I’m not going to stay here, Brad. I’m going home.”
“No you’re not!” He yelled, picking me up by the waist and throwing me over his shoulder.
I was short and slender so this was no problem for him.
He took me into his room and slammed me on the bed.
I thought he was going to rape me. But he didn’t. Instead, he just stood up over me. He was breathing so hard, it scared me. He was like a monster.
“Brad, what did I do?” I asked, as he walked over to his dresser. He pulled open the drawer and pulled out something. It looked like a knife.
I tried to move, but I couldn’t. I was frozen.
He came back over to the bed.
“I’m sick of you, Jennifer. You have been nothing but trouble since th
e day we met! I have always loved Megan. The only reason I ever talked to you was to make her jealous.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Why didn’t he just go back to Megan then, instead of talking to me in the first place?
And the ring? Why in the hell did he propose to me?!
I shook my head.
“I don’t understand Brad. Why can’t I just go home, and you go back to Megan. I won’t say anything.”
Brad began to stroke my hair.
He always said that I had the softest hair.
I loved my hair.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Jennifer,” Brad said as he kissed my lips, “I love you, too. It’s just that, Megan and I belong together.”
All I wanted to do was go home.
Being with Brad at this very moment was really starting to make me sick.
He smiled at me, right before he yanked me by the hair.
“Oww, Brad, what are you doing? Stop! That hurts!” I screamed.
I didn’t understand what was going on. How could someone say that they love you with their mouth, but let their actions say something totally different?
I closed my eyes, just as Brad sent his fist flying into the side of my head.
I already knew what was going to happen to me.
I remember looking up at the ceiling over the bed that I had spent so many nights staring up at since Brad and I had gotten together.
It was a white ceiling with little gold flecks dancing in it.
I loved the little gold flecks.
Brad traced my cheek with his thumb, wiping the tears that had started to stain my cheeks.
“You are so beautiful Jen,” he said.
He had always told me that.
In fact, I had heard that a lot in my day. My mom always told me that I had the most beautiful brown eyes. My dad said that I had a beautiful creamy complexion.
Brad said I had the most beautiful baby soft skin.
He kissed my lips.
Usually, I would kiss him back.
But at this moment, all I wanted to do was get away.
I wanted to go home to my bed, to my own room.
I didn’t know what was going on with Brad at that very moment.
All I could remember was that his breath was hot, and reeked of alcohol.
When did he have time to drink?
I remember Brad smiling at me one more time.
And what happened next was like something right out of a movie scene.
Chapter 5