I wanted to cry for Brooks as he continued yelling and pacing, but the more he yelled, the more furious I became with her for hurting him on purpose. She would verbally abuse him in public. So I didn’t have to imagine what went on behind closed doors. If she was that comfortable to degrade him in public, it was worse at home when they were alone. And she wasn’t afraid to take her rage out on others. I made her vengeance list, probably somewhere at the top. She had no problems degrading me and provoking a performance in public, over her lack of affection for her own husband. I was sorry for falling in love with a married man, but evidently, she didn’t appreciate her own husband. He wasn’t the person she created him to be. And now, sitting here, seeing him in his fit of hatred and rage, I saw her.
“Brooks, please!” I yelled for him to hear me. “Stop.” I rose from the bed and started towards the door. He flew towards me, slammed the door, and forced me back on the bed.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing! You wanted to talk, so we’re talking, and now you just decide the conversation is over? Just like that, you’re done. You just want to hear enough until it suits you, and suddenly you call it quits.”
“No, that’s not it at all,” I threw back.
“Then what is it, Erika? Enlighten me please. What is it? Just a few minutes ago, you were reassuring me and asking me if I wanted to talk about it. You know what? I don’t want to talk about anything right now. Sometimes, we just need to cry. Men can grieve too, you know!”
“I never said once that men can’t cry. What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like this,” I pointed at him. “Why are you pacing and screaming at me? What did I do to you?”
“You left me, Erika...”
“Oh. My. God.” I glared at him. “Are we really going to have this conversation again, Brooks? Really. We agreed the past is the past, and we’re starting over, forgetting all that had happened!”
“No!” he spat and leaned in closer to my face. “You!” He repeatedly poked my chest with his finger. “You decided you wanted to forget everything in the past and just carry on like nothing happened. Haven’t you learned a fucking thing yet?” He ridiculed as he paced in front of the bedroom door. “You can’t ignore what happened in the past and think that it will all just fade, and everybody around who was stung in the process will also forget about it. It doesn’t go like that.”
“I didn’t say that.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “You’re just like her!”
“Who? Who am I like, Brooks? Your ex-wife? Cause she’s a piece of shit in my eyes if you want to know. But since we were together then, you already know how I feel about her. You know how I feel about her and right now, I despise her even more!” I was now shouting at him.
“You have no idea about a damn thing!” he roared as he thrust his fist against the door.
It stunned us both when his fist went right through the door. He pulled his wrist back through as blood dripped to the ground. He clutched his wrist and twirled around to glare at me. “What the hell, Erika! Why did you have to drive me to this!”
“I didn’t force you to do anything!” I wailed as I stood and strode towards the bathroom to get a towel, but he lunged forwards and thrust me back onto the bed and knelt over me.
“Now you want to leave?”
“Get off me!” I shrieked. “I was going to the bathroom to get you a towel! Brooks! What is going on? Why are you treating me like this?! Get off me!” I struggled to shove him off as he held me down. I could feel blood dripping down the side of my face. It felt warm, and it wasn’t tears, so I assumed it was the blood from his hand. “Let me go!”
“Where? Where are you going to go, Erika?” he imitated me. “Where are you going to go? Your car won’t get you far. You know what? Take my truck. Yes, take my truck. You might get a little further with that. But like you expressed the other night, you doubt it would make it to the county line before ending up in the ditch. Your words, not mine,” he pointed out as he got off me and headed into the bathroom.
I bolted from the bed. raced across the loft to my bedroom, slammed, and locked the door behind me. I collapsed onto my bed and cried, unclear if I was crying over Brooks, the way he was treating me right now, or the past and how I hurt him. It was everything blended together.
Chapter Eight
I remained locked in my room the rest of the night. Brooks never attempted to come in or knock on the door in the middle of the night like last time. Whatever I did seemed to upset him so much, it was the breaking point for any chance at a future together.
I reached under my bed, grasped the binoculars, and wandered to the window. There was no movement from Easton’s at the moment, but I noticed a narrow trail being shoveled towards my house. It amazed me that he listened to me that night, but I was also nervous because Brooks told me all about his intentions
