Damaged Goods

Chapter 3

"Why and how was I even thinking this could be a good idea?" Lyla wondered to herself, as she hit the punching back in front of her. She hit it again and again. She had never planned to get married again. The last time hadn't worked out well for her. When she finally had the courage to leave James, she had promised herself that she would never put herself in a position to be treated like that again. She hit the bag again, this time harder. Even though it had been almost five years since she walked away from James, just thinking about him made her feel panic and fear.

"Whoa, whoa... everything ok. Lyla?" asked the burley trainer holding the bag.

"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about something else" she responded.

"The way you were hitting this bag, seems like it wasn't a pleasant thought" he added, almost as a question. "Need to talk about anything?"

"No, thanks" she said, and smiled. "I just needed to work off some adrenaline. I'll be fine."

"Alright, you know where to find me, if you change your mind" he responded.

"Yeah, I'm gonna call it a night. I've got a lot going on tomorrow," she said as she started to gather her things and head to the gym locker room.

This gym had been a refuge for her over the last several years. She had taken multiple self-defense classes and had been working out here since the first day she arrived in town. She still didn't feel very safe, but had gained enough skills and confidence that she hoped that she would never feel as weak as James used to make her feel. These thoughts and many memories of her life after high school played through Lyla's mind as she showered and got ready to go home.

James and Lyla had eloped right after graduation. He definitely had the 'bad boy' vibe that she had been very attracted to in high school. He had completely ignored her until their senior year, when his then-girlfriend left him for someone else. She felt so lucky that he picked her, and was willing to overlook the many character flaws that should have had sent her running for the hills. But, Lyla had thought she was in love. He told me hers she was pretty, at least at first, and he made her feel things nobody ever had. He wasn't her first kiss, but he was her first pretty much everything else. It was about a year into their marriage that things started getting bad. He began to drink and party more and more, and he was not a nice drunk.

"Lyla, get me another beer!" she remembered, thinking about the first time he hit her.

"We don't have any more, you drank the entire six-pack" she had responded.

"Then go get me more, Bitch!" The name-calling wasn't new at that point. That had been going on for a while.

"We don't have any money for more" she snapped back at him.

"I know you have money, I saw the cash in your purse this morning."

"That's for rent. I have to give it to the landlord tomorrow" Lyla had said, as she walked away from him.

He stumbled to his feet, pushed past her and went for her purse that was sitting on the counter. Lyla reached out and snatched it, right before he was able to get to it, and that's when he pushed her, grabbing at it. Lyla fell to the ground pretty hard, but bounced right back up, grabbing back at her purse. They both tugged at it for a few seconds before he reached up and back-handed her in the face, harder than she'd ever been hit up to that point. Lyla fell to the floor, and just sat there for a minute in shock, watching as he rummaged through her purse, and took out $40. He threw the purse at her and stormed out the front door.

Lyla shuddered and involuntary reached up to her face, remembering the sting of that first hit. Many of the hits later were not as memorable, they all bled together in her mind during those years of torment, but she would never forget that first one. She then traced her finger along some of her scars. A few easily hidden and now only minimally showing, but several that still lingered, and probably always would.