Breathe Again

"Breathe Again"
By
W. P. Gerace

Macy could not believe she finally dared to leave this abusive relationship she had been chained to for the past ten years. Nearly fifty years old, she needed a change. After tonight's brutal beating with sore hands, split lips, and blood seeping from her head, she was determined to escape the violent bastard she had been with for ten years. Paul came home with a fire in those steel gray eyes of his. He was let go from Amazon due to a recent Alcohol and drug test, both positive. Paul could not deal with failure, change, or anything in his life. The end results were always the same: an hour-long or more torrential beating on poor Macy's frail body.

Tonight, though, something went off in her mind. She heard her mother, only gone three months now, Jean calling her in that soothing voice, probably the same she used as a first-grade teacher who earned numerous awards and Teacher of the Year. Unable to attend her mother's funeral back in Michigan for fear of Paul's rage, she denied herself many things because of his hateful spirit. Just as Paul was about to take his wooden baseball bat and smash it across her back, probably fracturing or even killing her, the calm serenity of her mother's presence came to her. Honey, I cannot stand to see this. He is an evil man and needs to be taught a lesson. Macy had not even a moment to speak when her mother appeared in the last outfit, she remembered seeing her in when she left Michigan: a rose-colored blouse and skirt. Paul fell clear over the dining room table with one kick of her blue-heeled shoe and split his head on the wooden floor. Bleeding and unconscious, this was her time to leave this dreadful torture.

Here she was a few hours later traveling along Route 23. Crossing over into North Carolina, only gone from Orlando, Florida, for a few hours, she was entering the peaceful serenity of the Pisgah National Forest. She remembers passing this nearly thirty-four years ago when moving to Florida. Macy did not recall the stunning beauty back then. She was such a different woman than she is now. Gazing at the lush green hills and towering pines of the scenery, Macy felt renewed and reborn. Pulling alongside the road, she stepped out and breathed in the vibrant smells of pines and forest. It was refreshing to hear birds chirping, fluttering by in the perfect teal sky above their melodic tunes, a sign of hope. A few miles down a stream gushed from the grayish brown rocks into the river below. She would love to stand there and bathe in the water's never-ending flow of purity. To breathe again, something she had not done in nearly ten years.

Deep in her thoughts, breathing in the fresh mountain air, contemplating her new life back home in Michigan with her sister Annie and her husband Rory, a fresh start, Macy had no idea that her phone was bleeping away. In all capital letters were texts from Paul WHERE ARE YOU YOU BITCH!! I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS REAL GOOD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! YOU CAN NOT HIDE FROM ME MACY !! The twangs of her text message alerts plucked away at her newly formed tranquility, chipping away at her spirit with each blast. Macy could feel the tightness of her chest choke her even though she was several miles away from him. Another alert, this one not as harsh, Macy recalled setting different tones for those who contacted her, so she was always aware. This one was Annie. Are you OK, honey? Me and Rory are worried. You said you left a few hours ago. We have yet to hear from you and are just checking on you. Macy responded that she was on her way and immediately blocked Paul.

Hours passed as she drove along the famous Route 23, nicknamed by many in the country world as Country Music Highway. To keep in spirit with the moment, she put on Country 105, and sure enough, the upbeat tone of Chris Stapleton played through with his song "Starting Over." Tapping her steering wheel, she absorbed every word from his lips. Passing through Kentucky, the famous singer's stomping grounds, Macy suddenly felt a new chapter in her new life come upon her. Courage.

Macy knew she was only a few hours from Polly's Grub, a rest stop in Ohio. Her stomach grumbled, not eating in nearly 12 hours or more. She couldn't wait to taste some of Polly's famous fried chicken and waffles, some of the best around. The bright green digital clock on her dashboard read 12:00 p.m. Creepers, she thought she had nearly been on the road nonstop for nine hours. Not too much longer, Macy thought. Tomorrow, she will have experienced her first sunrise in Oscoda, Michigan, with her family and the ones she loved.

Crying, she could not believe how much of a mess she made of her life. She left her family when she was just sixteen to be a model, getting hooked on drugs and alcohol. She finally got herself clean nearly five years ago. Still, the toxic relationship she was in was destroying everything about her.

"Honey, I am so glad you are coming home. Things will be alright now. You will see." Sitting next to her was her mother dressed in her Sunday church outfit, a saffron blouse.

"Mom, do you think so? I am afraid. "

"Trust me, sugar, you will be fine. "Pinching Macy's cheeks, her hands felt so warm.

As quickly as she appeared, she was gone. Looking up, Macy saw a vast white billboard advertising Polly's Grub with Polly's jovial face and red rouge splashed all over her plump cheeks. Almost home. New life. To breathe again, finally.