Love Never Wanted Me

18

I don't understand it. Why would Marcus beat Elsa? I know that he has a temper, and can make a scene, but I honestly never thought he'd go so far as to hit someone. No, not just hit; he beat her. Her bottom lip is cracked, and she has a huge black eye. I'm assuming there are more bruises along her arms and maybe her legs, but she's wearing these baggy, gray sweats, so I really can't tell.

Rose and I literally ran into her in the market. She was finishing up at a self-checkout kiosk and we were right behind her. We bumped into each other as she was leaving. She had on these big black sunglasses, but I could tell that she was just as surprised to see us as we were to see her. Actually, she seemed relieved, like she was glad to see familiar faces. Odd that she would be somewhat happy to see me. Last I checked, she blatantly hated me.

I could tell that something was wrong, even if I couldn't see her eyes. It was the way that she knelt down and hugged Rose that gave her away. She had started to cry and place kisses on Rose's cheeks. It was like she was being reunited with someone she thought she'd never see again. When they parted, Elsa removed her sunglasses and gave me a soft look. I was of course surprised to see the black eye, but it was her words that shocked me the most:

"Help me," she had whispered, "Please, help me."

I agreed to hear her out. I wasn't going to turn her away, even if I deep down wanted to. I don't like the woman, that's no secret, but she was turning to me for help. What was I going to do? Say no? What kind of a person would that make me? So, I told her that I would listen to whatever she had to say. I also assured Elsa that whatever she needed to talk to me about, she could do so in front of Rose. That little girl can handle anything; she's pretty much eight going on twenty. So, once we were in the car, Elsa told me everything.

She told me about how Marcus had seemed to change ever since that day in front of the house. He was more agitated and more untrusting of her, checking her emails and texts and constantly popping up at her apartment to 'see what she was up to'. She was afraid of him and his controlling attitude. She wanted to break free of him, in every way, so she decided to abort her pregnancy. She told me that she felt that the baby was just going to be something Marcus would use to control her. She was afraid for the child's life.

When Marc found out about it, he got furious, started yelling at her. Elsa had tried to calm him down, but there was no use for it. Marcus slapped her across the face. She was in such a state of shock that she ran out of the apartment. She told me that she laid low at a friend's house for a few days, but Marc found her. He immediately apologized and vowed to never do it again, but obviously that was a lie.

Their arguments became more frequent and more violent. Elsa tried to fight back, but Marc always overpowered her. She tried to break up with him, but Marcus had always found a way to charm her back into giving him another chance. Last night, when he gave her the black eye, Elsa had decided that enough was enough. She packed up her car with just a stuffed suitcase and called her office to take a few days off for personal reasons. She hit the road with no particular place in mind. She was at the market buying a few things for a long drive when we ran into her.

I told her to follow me back to the house. Marcus would never guess that she would come to Patrick or myself for help; she could lay low with us. I could tell Elsa was nervous about it, but I assured her that she would be safe with us. When we got home, and after Patrick became much more awake, Elsa told him her story. He was completely emotionless when Elsa was telling him everything. For a second, I didn't think he was actually listening to her, but when she told him about the abortion, I noticed him tense up.

After she was done, Patrick told her that he was going to call Brendon in the morning. It was clear that the next step would be for her to take some sort of legal action against my brother and Patrick assured her that Brendon would be willing to help. She was hesitant at first, obviously, and wanted to take the night to mull it over. That's when Patrick suggested something that I never would've thought he'd say: