The horns and halos

Part 1: Chapter 1: Happiness Is Not Possible

Every time my birthday comes around nobody celebrates. We just go on like every other. It's a normal day. I wake up, get dressed in my long skirt and long sleeve shirt black of course. All of my clothes are black except my tennis shoes, those are gray. I hate it here. Mom brushes my bleach blond hair. Not that, that's my real hair color because my hair color is a really deep brown. I hate the fact that I have to dye my hair. Dad says that I have to dye my hair blonde so I can get married into a rich family.

"Mother, what will I be getting for my birthday this year?" I asked her expecting to get the taste smacked out of my mouth. But she didn't, she just started talking very quietly.

"Dylan Spades and his father are coming over tonight for dinner. You will marry him. So when he proposes you need to act very happy to be proposed to if you do not your dad will beat you and I mean it." She Stated as she went to the stove to finish the green beans.

"Do you understand me?" She asked.

" Yes, Mother, you are understood." I said

"Alright, now go to your room and get changed, ok?" she said.

"Ok, Mother." I replied.

That's my birthday present? A marriage proposal? From Dylan Spades. I hated him so much. He smelled of rotting garbage and the things he says about ladies' bodies are not okay to say. They are just plain disrespectful to women of all ages. Dylan, they wanted me to get married to Dylan. Nioma Spades. Oh hell no. That was not happening. That night they came over while I was in my garden. Mother called me in to get my clothes changed. "Nioma, go get your church clothes on now! I mean it. Alright?" She yelled to me from the kitchen, which was dimly lit with only one light bulb. There were two others in the places where they needed to be but they had gone out a while ago. I think it was roughly a 1 year ago that they went out. I went to my room to get dressed in my "pretty clothing". There was nothing pretty about them, they were ugly. I hated them so much. They were all gray. But anyway when I was in them I felt ugly. Sometimes I just wanted to run away just to get away from it. Maybe someone else would care about my birthday or how I felt in these clothes. Maybe not. Everyone around here is the same. All of the women wear the same clothes, that is, except for my mother. Which to be honest I thought was really weird. I always wondered why the Master didn't punish her for not wearing her gray clothing in church. Father always told her to but she didn't listen to him. She always wore a really pretty sparkly black corset. I wanted to dress like that. But I know that I would not be able to pull it off whatsoever. I needed help to get away from this place. This really sucked. After I got dressed I went downstairs and saw him. Dylan Spades. And his father.

"Nioma, please come sit." Father said as I came to the last step. I smiled at Dylan and continued to my seat next to Mother. Mostly because I didn't want to look like I was disobedient because I really wasn't.

"No, Nioma, sit next to Dylan and his father please." Mother stated. Oh that made me mad but I did it anyway.

At the end of dinner I asked to be excused, Father let me. I got up and cleaned the dishes off the table then went to wash them. Dylan came in, dropped to his knee.

"Nioma, will you marry me? I can give you so many things that you wouldn't be able to have here. And I love you. Please marry me." I was baffled, that was nice I mean really sweet. Nobody was ever that nice to me. Not Father nor Mother. How was I supposed to answer this?

"Answer me you little brat!" He yelled.

"No! I will not, I'm sorry. Ask me again in a few months, alright? Please. Just wait a few months, if you love me that much you will wait a few months you know till the end of the school year. Right?"

"But my dad wants me to marry now!"

"We can act like I said yes right? You can give me the ring now and act like I said yes... We'll tell everyone that I said yes when you asked because if we don't your day will yell at you and my dad will probably beat me!"

"Ok, I can do that if you really want me, too." he said.

Later that night after I had taken my shower and gotten my bed clothes on I was called down to the kitchen where Mother and Father were standing.

"What the hell? Did I not tell you to say yes to poor Dylan?" Mother shouted.

"Mother, you don't understand, I did say yes to him, look at the ring. Isn't it beautiful?" I said in fear. Did he tell them that I told him I wanted to wait a few months. Fuck. I really hope he didn't. Father looked at me in disgust and then smacked me really hard.

"Go to your room, I will be up in a minute. Do you understand?"

" Yes, Father!" I cried as I ran up the stairs. I got upstairs and sat on my bed waiting for my father to come up and beat me but when he did come up he did something that I would never have expected. 

"Listen Nioma, you can't be doing things like that come on." He said as he pulled out my chair from my desk and hit me with it, flinging me into the wall. I cried out with pain.
"Father please stop." I cried loudly. He took off his belt and his me with it hard. SNAP!  It hit my skin hard. It felt like my skin was absorbing the pain like a sponge absorbs water or any liquid. The pain was to much. I fell to my knees with my back to him. He hit me many more times. So many in fact that the fabric of my shirt ripped into two pieces. Then he kept hitting me with his belt. Finally the pain was so bad the I kind of just faded away. Not like death or anything. I passed out. The next thing I knew is when I awoke the pain was gone and there were flowers on my dresser that I hadn't put there. Maybe father put them there because he felt bad. I highly doubted that but it was possible for him to do such a thing.
      "Father did you put flowers in my bedroom?"
      "Why the hell would I do that? I'm the one who beat you last night why would I fell bad! Also why are you not limping around you had welts all over your body, you should be in excruciating pain. Why are you not?"
      "Father I'm not really sure, the pain just kind of went away while i was sleeping. Isn't that weird?"
     "No this can't be happening but the wedding is today so so get your dress on now!"
     "Father I told him I wanted to wait and he understood, please no. I don't want to get married!" I screamed. I thought to myself. "No, no, no I'm not getting married! I'll go up to my room and pretend to get the dress on but really just jump out of my window." I thought to myself. But when I looked out of my window there were bars. 
     "Your getting married tonight so suck it up young lady! Good luck trying to get out of your window. There is now no way you can leave this house without going pass us. Now get on you dress!" I heard mother yell to me. So that's what I did, I got on the dress, went downstairs with a sad face.

     Father came to me when I got to the bottom of the stairs with a proud smile. Then he frowned. 

     "Cheer up pumpkin, put a smile on your beautiful face. Your going to need it when you have to kiss Dylan later today." He smirked at me and mouthed "Everything is going to be ok." Then he gave me a thumbs up. 

" Ok good, the dress fits you." Mother says with a big smile as she walks over to me.  "Mrs. Nioma Spades. That sounds good. Not good, great!" She said smiling even bigger. All of her teeth were showing. What hell is wrong with her. She never would have wanted this to happen.