She Chose Her Abuser Over Me

01

“If you dare call the cops on my boyfriend, I'll kill myself right here in front of you!”

I stood there holding the medical report on her injuries, one step away from handing it to the police.

But my daughter had a knife pressed to her own wrist, screaming her lungs out to protect the little thug who'd put her in the hospital.

I looked at her, at that face ready to die for love, and asked her coldly:

“Did you forget how he pinned you down in the bathroom last month and slapped you until you couldn't stand?”

“I finally got every piece of evidence together. Why would I drop the case?”

“Because he's the only person I've ever loved! He just never got enough love growing up. Someone like you who only knows how to make money, some cold-blooded freak, you'll never understand him!”

“You have to pick this exact moment to ruin his whole life. You don't deserve to be anyone's mother!”

I stared at her for a long time, then set the report down on the table.

“Fine. I'll give you two choices.”

“Either I call the police right now and Eugene Dickerson goes to prison.”

“Or I don't call, but starting today, we are no longer mother and daughter.”

My daughter didn't hesitate for even a second.

“Then we're done!”

“As long as you let him go, I'll pretend I never had a mother like you!”

I looked at her, this hopeless, lovesick girl beyond saving, and nodded calmly:

“All right. I won't call the police.”

I just hope that when he's gambled away every cent and hands you over to settle his debts, you'll still be able to save him with your love.

……

The words were barely out when Evelyn Summers dropped the utility knife.

She couldn't get her phone out fast enough, crying as she called Eugene Dickerson.

“Babe, my mom agreed not to report it.”

“I gave up my own mother for you. Come hold me, hurry.”

Less than ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Eugene strolled in like he owned the place, a cheap dollar iced coffee in one hand.

He shoved the drink into Evelyn's hands and slid an arm around her waist.

Right in front of me, he leaned in and kissed her.

“Baby, I knew you'd never give up on me.”

Evelyn's tears started again.

“Eugene, you're all I have.”

He patted her on the back and lifted his eyes to me, wearing the look of a man who'd won.

“Don't worry, Aunt Chloe Henson. I'll love Evelyn with my life from now on.”

I was so angry I laughed.

“You cracked her ribs. That's loving her with your life?”

Eugene curled his lip, not caring in the slightest.

“Couples fight. Who hasn't lost it once or twice?”

“She was standing there chatting with some guy from her class, and I got jealous and lost my temper. That's only because I care about her so much.”

Evelyn jumped in the second she heard it.

“Mom, you hear that?”

“He just loves me too much. He didn't hit me on purpose.”

I looked at the left side of her face, still swollen, the bruise not gone yet.

Whatever softness was left in my chest went out completely.

To raise her, I'd walked away from the divorce with nothing.

Accountant at a company by day, doing the books at a restaurant by night, taking freelance bookkeeping jobs on weekends.

She said she wanted a better high school, so I paid two hundred thousand a year to put her in a private international high school.

She said her classmates all wore designer labels, so I ate plain dinner rolls for two straight months to buy her a thirty-thousand-dollar down coat.

And she was nineteen and still hadn't graduated, skipping class constantly, until she just moved in with Eugene.

Six months ago, she got pregnant.

Eugene said he had no money and sent her to a back-alley clinic in an alley for the procedure.

By the time I reached the hospital, she was lying in the emergency room.

And Eugene was at an internet cafe, playing games.

I found him with the emergency bill still in my hand.

“Evelyn almost died. Why didn't you take her to a real hospital?”

He didn't even turn his head, eyes locked on the screen.

“Real hospitals cost a fortune.”

“Besides, the kid wasn't only mine. She enjoyed it too, didn't she?”

I slapped him across the face right then and there.

But when Evelyn woke up, the first thing out of her mouth was blame for me.

“Who gave you the right to hit Eugene?”

“He already feels terrible about it, and you keep pushing him. Are you trying to drive him to his death?”

Last month, when he beat her into the hospital, I couldn't take it anymore and filed for a protective order.

Before the hearing, Eugene gave her a silver ring and called her his wife a few times.

She changed her story on the stand, told the judge she'd fallen and hurt herself.

Then she got down on her knees and begged the judge not to tear them apart.

The thing that finally killed any hope in me was the gold necklace my mother left me.

It was the one keepsake my grandmother had left her, and I'd kept it locked in the safe.

Evelyn stole it. Her excuse was that her boyfriend needed capital to start a business.

“A necklace is just a thing. People matter more.”

“If Grandma knew I'd found real love, she'd support me too.”

The memory stopped there, and my stomach turned over.

I pointed at the door.

“Get out.”

But Eugene didn't move. He held out his hand, brazen as ever.

“Aunt Chloe, cutting ties is one thing, but Evelyn's hundred thousand in startup money, you'll need to transfer that over first.”