Love You to Death by Melissa March

it to the table. Her eyes flickered
with pity and anger.
    “Let me tell you what I know. You’re a
virgin, right?”
    I nodded, amazed she knew that.
    “Surprised? Don’t be. All Cass’s girls are
virgins. At first they were his age, but the older he gets the
younger his girls are. We thought they were gold diggers, but after
so many years, and so many break ups, we started seeing a pattern.
These girls started out fun and happy. Then little by little we
noticed the bruises and long sleeves in the middle of the summer
and how they quickly turned into quiet little mice. Then they were
gone. Not like Ellen, the dead girl. The first round of girls left
him and went back to their families. But Ellen didn’t have any
family. She was an orphan raised in foster homes. Cass plucked her
out of the system and helped her get on her feet. She fell in love
with him though. That girl had a screw loose. She liked the
beatings.”
    “Kara...” Marge gasped.
    “Mom, I know you hate hearing this, but it’s
true. Ellen was a little warped.” Kara spun her finger in circles
above her ear. Cuckoo. “Anyway, Cass found out she wasn’t a virgin,
like she claimed. I heard him hollering at her when I went over to
drop off a recipe she’d asked for. He was a crazy man. I’d never
heard him like that before. I left before they knew I was there. It
wasn’t long after that they went to Mexico.” Kara finished
quietly.
    She didn’t have to elaborate. I knew exactly
what she was talking about.
    “I’m leaving him. I just need to get enough
money to go so I can get far away.” I told them.
    Marge began crying harder into her handful of
tissues. Kara rolled her eyes.
    “How much is enough?” she asked.
    “I don’t know.” I lifted my shoulders,
letting them fall in a quick shrug. “I have about four hundred
right now.”
    “Is it worth your life?” Kara didn’t pull any
punches. I knew she meant well. In her place I would be saying the
same thing to a girl in my position.
    I twirled the ring around my finger. It was
gorgeous. When the light touched it brilliant sparks shot
everywhere. I hated it. I was going to hock it when I ran. It had
to be worth at least two grand in a pawn shop.
    “Don’t wait,” Kara warned.
     

 
    Chapter
Eleven
     
    The sun was sinking into the cool waters of
the Chesapeake Bay when the reverend married us.
    “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
    The cheers went up around us like a death
knoll in my ears. I walked in a daze with my arm linked through
Cass’s. The reception was filled with people; all friends and
family and acquaintances of Cass. None of my family and friends
attended. Not that I had any. In the middle of all the happy chaos
I never felt more alone.
    I thought of my mother.
    “It’s not always fairy tales spun from
head to heart.” She had once said.
    My face hurt from keeping a stupid grin on my
face. I needed a break. As soon as the normal series of events
unfolded (the pictures, the first dance, the tossing of the garter,
the cutting of the cake), I bolted for the terrace, snatching a
glass of champagne as I went. I leaned over to stare down at the
water.
    Don’t wait. Kara had said.
    But stupid me... I waited. The ‘accidents’
got worse. Cass found my nest egg hidden in a shoe in my closet. I
tried to tell him I was saving up for a wedding gift for him. He
didn’t believe me. He broke my arm that night. The next day he sent
me roses with a card that read, ‘I’m sorry I love you.’
    The missing comma—clearly a typo — was more
true than if they’d written it correctly. I was sorry he thought he
loved me too.
    Once again, I was broke and had nowhere to
go. Cass knew every shelter in Baltimore County. I knew running
without money made it impossible for me to leave. I started fudging
my schedule so he wouldn’t know I was working more than I was. I’d
cash my check and give him what he thought was my full pay. I had
almost a thousand dollars saved up. I was