Samantha

knowing One's Limitations

Samantha pushed me off of her with surprising strenght.
And I watched her with a growing feeling of uneasiness and concern.
I did not need an explanation.
Only a handful of people knew my brother's darkest secret;
A history of violence!
And from the looks of it;
Samantha found out the hard way.

I could see all of her emotions reflected in her eyes;
Fear, anger and a growing hatred.
I wondered if any of them were directed at me and just what exactly my own eyes reflected.

"What happened?" I began, choosing my words carefully.

"Did Trent Hit you?"
A stupid question.
I already knew the answer.

"My own fault", she started.

"I should have never upset him".

I knew all too well that my brother had a short temper.
And that one wrong move was all it took for a person to be on the receiving end;
However, that in no way justified his recurring acts of violence.

"Tell me what happened".
I prompted, desperate for answers.

Samantha Sighed as she sat down again and began to speak.

"It happened a couple of days ago".

"We were out on a date, and his phone just kept vibrating over and over again".

"I asked him who it was and he assured me that it was just one of his friends".

She gave me a faint smile and I could tell how much it pained her to remember.

"Afterwards", she continued.

"We went to my apartment".

A sudden realisation moved in as I realised just what she was about to tell me.

"After we finished", she said nervously. And I was grateful that she didn't go into detail.

"He went to take a bath, and his phone started to vibrate again. This time I took a chance and had a look". Surprise Surprise", she said with a hardening tone.

"Unless one of your brother's male friends is called Olivia, I was pretty sure he was cheating on me. I was angry and was just about to pocket away the phone when I heard a voice behind me":

"What are you doing?".

"I turned around and saw Trent. His body was still wet from taking a bath and he was wearing a small towel around his waist. He looked furious, But I wasn't intimidated. I threw the phone in his face and demanded an explanation. We argued and I slapped him".

I stared at her in disbelief as I realised just what that action would result in.
She didn't notice and continued speaking:

"I turned around and started walking away; when it happened. I felt a searing pain on my back and fell to the ground. It was only then that I realised what had happened. He hit me. He couldn't slap me in the face so he chose my back instead. He leaned in closer and for a moment he loomed over me like a demon. I held up my arms defensively; fearing that he would try to strike me again. Then something unexpected happened".

I held my breath as Samantha continued.

"He knelt down beside me and hugged me. His eyes were filled with tears as he apologized. At first I was dumbstruck. But I could hear the sincerity in his voice an-".

"Don't tell me you believed
him?".
I interrupted.

If what Samantha was telling me was true.
Not only did my brother cheat on her but he also used violence.
And probably worse of all; Samantha had chosen to forgive him.

"You're not that gullible are
you?".

Samantha stood up furiously

"Do you think I'm a fool !? Of course I realise what he did was wrong. But that does not mean that he doesn't deserve a second chance! He already ended his relationship with his little whore even. He's your brother and you should have more faith in him".

She almost screamed and I prayed no-one heard her.
I waited a moment and began to speak slowly.

"Yes Samantha, he is my brother. And it's precisely because he's my brother that I can tell you with absolute certainty that he didn't mean a word of what he promised you. This will happen again. And next time it might be even worse".

She looked at me as if not my brother but I was the bad guy.
I moved towards her slowly and reached out to grab her hand.
She pulled it away and looked incredulous.
I sighed and backed away.

"Look, I started with an apologetic tone in my voice.

"All I'm saying is that one mistake is enough. He hit you Samantha. You can't just pretend it didn't happen and go back to being a loving couple".

For a moment I sensed my reasoning was getting through to her.
But then we heard my Brother yet again, and I was surprised by how much he disgusted me.
Now more then ever I wished that he could just disappear.

"I have to go". She finally said as she tried to walk past me.

"No you don't", I exclaimed as I grabbed her arm.
She shook me off with tremendous force.

"Don't think you can tell me what to do Zack!"

I was only trying to he-, I started but she interrupted me.

"This doesn't have anything to do with you".

"So stay out of it!"

She opened the door and slammed it shut, without so much as a second glance.
For a moment I stood alone in silence, trying to wrap my head around what had just transpired within the confines of my own room.
Samantha's tone was cold and final.
The message was clear :

I had reached my limit.
There was nothing more I could do to convince Samantha.

This . . .

Was not my fight!