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THE ESCAPE

Cris Stinello sat weeping in the bathroom, her arm and kidney
throbbing from her latest round with Earl. She kept asking herself
how she ended up in this situation. It was not her, she never let
anyone get the best of her. Granted they tried, but they were the
ones that ended up hurting in a bathroom. Was she that petty that
someone with a nice car and a bad ass reputation caught her off
guard? Regardless, here she was in the dirty little bathroom of the
roach infested shit hole that she was forced to call home.

Her mind wandered back to the day she first met Earl Winston.
She just beat some puny little Freshman into giving her his money,
because the new edition of Hot Rod came out today. She always got
the new issue so she could read it to her Dad and they would look at
the pictures and dream of owning a sweet car. She was walking
across the school parking lot when she saw him get out of an awesome
candy apple red, '69 Nova. Earl called her over and complimented
her for the way she beat the freshman. She was immediately floored
by his awesome car and killer body. She was immediately aroused by
his physique and his car. So naturally she took him up on his offer
to blow off school and go for a ride.

"Hey bitch, I said get out here and get me something to eat!"
Earl yelled, startling her back to the present. "Don't make me come
in their and drag you out." She got to her feet and once again
tried to think of a way out of this mess she had gotten herself
into. Chris was no quitter, but this time she had to think about
her father too. She would put up with Earl for now, once she found
a way to deal with him without it coming back on Jack, their was
going to be hell to pay.

"I'm coming," she said, with her grief turning to despair and
then to anger. "You know your damned legs aren't broken, why don't
you get your own damn food, I gotta get ready for work." She wanted
to go over and knock his teeth down his throat, no one called her a
bitch and got away with it.

"No, but yours might if you keep mouthing off, or do I have to
take a ride out to see a certain piece of trailer trash tonight?"
Earl asked maliciously as he rolled a joint. "Remember what I said,
you try to cross me and he will be begging to die before I kill
him." He grinned as he saw his words hit as hard as his
fists. "Now where is my goddamn food?"

Chris was glad that Tuesday nights were usually slow at the bar
that she tended. Her shoulder still throbbed, reminding her that it
wasn't supposed to bend backwards like it had been. She was alone
the majority of the evening, with the exception of the few regulars
who come in for a couple drinks before heading to where ever they
called home. Occasionally one would remark about her good looks and
make some sexual remark or other. She would simply ask if they
wanted to keep their teeth in their mouth, and the conversation
would quickly end. She knew that about 10:15 the support group for
battered women would be in, and she would be busy until about
11:30. Then she would have the place to herself again until closing
time.

Like clockwork the first of the support group wandered in at
10:15, and within a few minutes the rest joined in. Chris thought
this was a joke; go to a meeting and whine about getting beat up,
then go get drunk so it doesn't hurt as bad when you go home and get
beat up some more. Why bother, she wondered. She knew what they
were going through, but you didn't see her crying about it. Instead
she was just biding her time until she knew how to deal with Earl
without hurting her Daddy. She noticed a new face in the crowd
tonight, the young lady looked to be around Chris's age. The new
girl was the first to approach the bar, and order. "What the hell
is a station wagon?" Chris replied annoyed at the strange request.

"I'm sorry," the girl answered timidly at Chris's unexpected
annoyance. She then explained how to make the drink. "I forgot
that it was something a friend made up."

"I'll have to get the soda from the back," Chris said reminding
herself to be polite to the customers. When she returned from the
walk in cooler with the 7-up she found the girl had taken a set and
looked as though she planned on staying there for a while. Pain
immediately shot through her arm when Chris tried to open the
bottle, and she grimaced uncontrollably.

"What happened to your arm?" the girl asked grabbing the bottle
before Chris could pull away. "How long has he been doing that to
you?" she inquired seeing the imprint of Earl's fingers bruised
into Chris's arm. "My name is Samantha, by the way, but you can
call me Sam."

"It's none of your damn business what happened to my arm and what
makes you think there is a He anyway?" Chris answered annoyed at the
nerve of this girl to stick her nose where it didn't belong. She
knew she shouldn't talk to the customers like that, but her personal
life was just that.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I know what it's to be knocked around
and feel powerless," Sam answered taken back by the gruffness of
Chris's tone. In the meetings, they told her to expect this from
women who have not gotten to the point of admitting they needed
help. "I just thought that we could talk, You look to be about my
age, and thats what I would like." Sam replied shyly. "The other
ladies from the group are great, but they are so much older that
it's hard to relate."

"Well don't butt into my personal life then," Chris said. "I'll
talk about whatever, but what goes on at home is my business." She
was tired and didn't want to argue, and a small part of her thought
it might be nice to have someone to chat with. Chris hadn't made
any friends since she and Earl fled to Reno. Partly because she was
ashamed of what she became and mostly because he kept a close eye on
her. More than once he told her if she opened her mouth about the
robbery in Vegas he would make sure she went down with him, but he
would kill her father slowly. She believed he had killed once, so
she didn't doubt he would do it again.

Over the next couple months Chris and Sam became friends. Sam
often came to the bar when Chris was working, and they would talk
for hours when it wasn't busy. Sam told how she got mixed up with
burnt out loser who only thought of her as a sex toy and a punching
bag. She was on the verge of suicide when she was convinced by a
neighbor to go to a shelter and that is where she got sent to the
support group. Chris told small details of her life, but not enough
to give Sam any clue as to what was going on. Chris liked having
someone to talk to while her shift was slow, but she still longed
for her old life with the one person who meant everything to her,
and she still intended to get back home to her Dad.

On one of her nights off, Chris was at home taking care of the
cleaning while Earl was out with his friends. She was in the middle
of putting the laundry away when the front door burst open and Earl
came staggering in. When he came into the bedroom and she saw the
half empty Jack Daniels bottle in his hand, her heart sank. She
knew it was going to be a long night, whiskey always made him very
violent. He took one look at her and that wicked smile appeared on
his face, and she knew she was in trouble. Earl came across the
room and grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. She
tried to push him away, but he just swung the bottle striking her
upside the head. Dazed by the blow she was easily thrown to the bed
and he climbed on top of her and began to wrestle with her clothes.
After he had his way with her he rolled off her and was soon out
like a light, while she just laid there sobbing to

herself vowing revenge. When she calmed enough to move she grabbed
the bottle of Jack Daniels and went to the bathroom where she sat
under the steaming water and finished the bottle. Looking at the
now empty container she was enraged and smashed it against the side
of the tub, she was covered with shards from the exploding bottle.
As she looked at the jagged neck that was still in her hand she
considered putting an end to her misery once and for all. "Not
before I put an end to that no good son of a bitch though," she said
to herself. She got up and was immediately reminded of how much she
had drank, when she fell face first across the bathroom floor.
Chris just laid there and passed out.

She was awakened to a sharp pain to her side the next morning.
Her head felt as though a marching band was using it for practice.
She was disoriented and the pain kept returning to her side. When
she could finally open her eyes and look up, she saw Earl standing
over her, kicking her. "I said move your ass so I can take a leak.
Then you better get this mess cleaned up!" Chris almost vomited
when she drug herself to her feet. As she stumbled to the kitchen
to get the broom and make a pot of strong coffee she cursed herself
for passing out. She kept this incident to herself, trying to
forget it even happened. But Sam could tell something was wrong.

Two months after that horrible night, Chris was beginning to
worry. She hadn't had her period yet, either month. So she
secretly bought a home pregnancy test and when it showed she was
pregnant she was filled with conflicting emotions. She was
ecstatic that she was going to have a baby to love and shower with
affection, like her Daddy did with her but she was terrified of how
Earl would react. She wanted so badly to call Jack Stinello and
tell him the wonderful news, but she knew that she could not. So
she decided to keep this to herself for the moment. Now more than
ever she knew she had to do something drastic. Little did she know
how soon and how drastic.

It was a very slow night at the bar that night, so as usual Sam
was there keeping Chris company. They were talking about music and
arguing about which was better the hard rock Chris listened to
country which Sam preferred. Sam jumped up and ran to the jukebox
exclaiming that Chris had to hear the song that Sam heard today.
Sam stuffed a quarter into the jukebox and hurried back to her
seat. She began to laugh and told Chris she would love this as the
Dixie Chicks began to sing "Goodbye Earl." By the end of the song
they were both doubled over with laughter. Neither saw the man
sitting in the back of the barroom. After playing the song another
half dozen times, it was time for Chris to close up and go home.
When she left the bar she was in the best spirits she had been in
for a long time.

Chris was surprised when Sam hadn't showed at the bar for over a
week. So when the women's group came in for their usual after
meeting meeting, Chris called one of the women over and asked if
they heard from Sam. The lady looked at her in disbelief, and told
her that Sam's body was found beaten to death two weeks prior.
Chris's heart sank, and she felt like she was going to faint. She
dazedly finished the night and went home, her head still spinning,
trying to make sense of the news.

Earl was sitting in his chair when she entered. He looked at
Chris and told her she was late. With all the things running
through her mind, she was not in the mood for him. "I had a rough
day, so I took a walk," she said sharply.

"Watch how you talk to me," he replied vehemently. "I got things
to do and your interfering with it." He got up and started toward
her. "Don't let it happen again," he said as he punched her in the
stomach.

"Hey, you son of a bitch, watch my baby, and if you must know I
just found out my friend was

murdered a couple weeks ago," Chris hissed at him. As soon as it
came out, she realized her mistake, she let Earl know she was
pregnant. The shocked look on his face gave way to one of rage as
he realized what she just said. He smacked her across the face hard
enough to send her sprawling across the room.

"Oh you mean that mouthy little tramp that you were carrying on
with at the bar?" Earl spat out the words. "I had to teach her what
happened to mouthy little skanks who like to make fun of me, so I
knocked her around a bit and she fell down some stairs. I told you
to watch it, I have friends all over." He knelt down to stare her
right in the eyes, "Now I think its your turn!" With that he
brought his fist down hitting her square in the mouth, and the
coppery taste filled her mouth. He stood up and brought his booted
foot down as hard as he could on her abdomen. "No way are you going
to try and use a baby against me," he roared. Chris shrieked in
pain and almost instantly felt the blood rushing from between her
legs. She fought with all her might to keep the black wave from
engulfing her, for she knew if she let it take her she would never
wake again. With her body screaming its protest she kicked up as
hard as she could, connecting directly with Earl's groin. He
immediately fell to his knees hitting high notes she had never heard
before.

It took every bit of will power to get to her feet, and she
thought she was going to pass out from the blaze that was consuming
her midsection. She knew she had to move before he got up. She
managed to stumble to the kitchen, where she collapsed over the edge
of the sink. Once again she felt the grip of unconsciousness
threaten her, but she immediately felt the more powerful rage
explode in her when he burst through the door screaming that she was
going to pay. That was when she saw the butcher knife laying in the
sink and she grabbed it. She was totally consumed with rage when
she turned and lunged at him bringing the knife down with all her
might. Had it not been for her balance being off from her injuries
she would've planted the knife through his throat, ending him right
there. But, her aim was off and she buried the knife deep in his
right shoulder, rendering it useless. Earl howled in agony, and was
brought to the floor by the force of Chris's attack. As they
crashed to the floor, she grabbed an ashtray that fell with them and
began to pummel him with it. When she felt her consciousness begin
to slip away, she drug herself to the front door and weakly said "Na
na na good bye Earl." She clung to the railing as she stumbled down
the stairs.