Chapter 14 Sunday, May 15

Marcia rinsed her mouth in the cracked ceramic sink, then ran the water to wash down the clots of blood that spit out of her mouth.She licked the loose tooth with the tip of her tongue, and Nick pinched a bruised lump on her left breast. Nick Schmidt would take it out on her every day when he came home from get off work.Last night, he punched and kicked her again before he was satisfied.Fortunately, this time he didn't rape Marcia while she was unconscious. Today will be better.Sunday will be a calmer day.The Schmidt men left the women behind to watch NASCAR races on their parents' big-screen TVs.

Marcia didn't know what she hated most in this family.Was it Nick's daily beatings, or his sister who would die for a bit of cocaine, or his mother, the stinkin' miserly woman who covered up her scars with thick make-up and often had a sandwich Hide in the living room alone with beer. On Sunday nights, Marcia was usually home alone, which meant she could sleep peacefully.Nick and his brothers would get drunk and sleep on the couch at their parents' house. Last Monday and Tuesday, when he got home, he was too exhausted to torture her anymore.Marcia wondered how dirty his clothes and boots were.She knew very well that Nick would never let himself break a sweat, let alone do hard work, if their lives had not come to an end.Not at work, let alone at home, unless he gets some extra benefit.Nick is a mercenary guy, and no one knows that better than she.

Suddenly she heard Nick's footsteps upstairs, and Marcia hurried into the kitchen, pretending to be busy washing dishes.Nick walked into the kitchen without even looking at her. He opened the refrigerator, took a bottle of milk, and slammed the door of the refrigerator. He walked to the door, turned around, looked at her fiercely and said, "I'll be there Staring at you." After speaking, he slammed the door and went out. "Go away," Marcia said in her heart.She leaned against the sink and silently prayed that he would not come back.After waiting for a full minute, she dared to lift the curtains and look outside. There was a plume of black smoke coming out from behind the small work shed of their house.After a while she saw Nick in his old car, driving up the road.

She ran into the bathroom and checked her scars in the mirror.There was still a red spot over one eye, and there was a dry streak of blood on his neck, where Nick had been scratched by a ring. The phone rang suddenly, startling her.She hurried into the bedroom, grabbed the phone, and held it to her mouth with both hands. "Hello." She said softly. "Marcia? Are you all right?" "Yes, I'm fine." She sniffed hard, "I'm fine." "I saw Nick drive out just now. I heard he hit you again last night. When are you going to leave that goddamn devil?"

"But I have nowhere to go," said Marcia quietly. "Damn it, Marcia, there's no better place to go than to stay with this devil." "Listen, Connie, you can go to your mother's. And I, I have no one but Nick. Without him, I've got nothing to live on." "I'm sorry, I will try my best to help you." Marcia's friend said distressedly. "I know, Connie, I know. I'm sorry, too. I think your mother will be glad you're home." "Have you had a showdown with him?" "not yet." "So are you ready to tell him?"

"yes." "When will you say it?" "I don't know either. But it will be soon. I want to wait until the time is right to talk to him." "Just tell him to come with me to live with my mother for a few days. If you leave him some of the money you earn from overtime work and let him buy wine, he will agree to let you go." "Okay, okay, I'll say that, but I don't have the money to go to Wildwood right now." "How much money do you have now?" Marcia cried and said, "There is no money left. The little money I saved was found by him on Wednesday, and he took it all. I will not receive my salary from the missionary's wife until the end of this month."

"Stupid girl. We only need fifty dollars total for the two of us, and I've saved enough. After this month, you bring back your wages to Nick. I think he should be satisfied." "I don't want to trouble you and your mother." Marcia tried hard to control her emotions. "Marcia, food is cheap in Wildwood, and the men buy us drinks we'll last a lifetime." Marcia took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Does your mother really mind if I go with you?" "She might not be home, Marcia. She and her girls go to Atlantic City every weekend. They like to flirt with the old men there and play the slot machines." Connie continued after a pause. , "She was very angry when she found out about you and Nick, and she will try her best to help you. She said that there are many places on the beach that recruit workers in summer, as long as you get there, you will definitely find a job soon."

Marcia took a mirror and looked at it and said, "What about winter? I can't make anything except an iron and a sewing machine." "Maybe some hotel will need a waiter by then. Don't make it so difficult." Marcia looked at the bruises around her eyes, her heart began to throb with excitement, "Really?" "Of course it's true, why not try it?" Connie encouraged. Marcia put down the phone and ran excitedly down the stairs, through the kitchen, opened the door, and sat on the kitchen steps with her old dog Tintin.She was barefoot and felt the floor was cold.She looked at her broken toenails and thought how fun it would be to paint them with colored nail polish.

There was an old, rusty truck parked in the yard, and behind the barn was a long-abandoned tractor with a hornet's nest on the exhaust pipe. The only thing around the farm that looked new was the shiny golden lock on the barn door.At first she thought the lock was overkill, like the eight hundred-dollar magnesium wheels on Nick's rusty wreck, but when Marcia climbed on top of the tractor and peeked out from the When I looked into the crack, I found a brand new crane parked inside.Nick actually rented the barn to someone else behind her back and kept the rent from her.The bastard! In two weeks it will be June.I'll show him tonight, just tonight, she thought.