Stop agreeing that the abuse is a joke when it hurts so bad.

“His First Joke” 

She had poor vision so she needed to wear her glasses. At nights, when she go to bed, she would put them on the night table that was next to her side of the bed. On mornings, when she got up, they were the first thing she reached for. 

One morning, when she got up and reached for them, they were not on the night table, so she checked the night table on her husband’s side of the bed, but it was not there. A fretful feeling crossed her mind, because she was home alone. Her husband was at work, and if she waited until he came home, to help her find it, she would be late for work. She knelt on the floor and for fifteen minutes, she slowly moved around it, passing her hands, but to no avail. Feeling aggravated, she sat down on the floor and looked around the room. Everything looked the usual way to her… blurry, but there was the shadow of a person.

“Is someone here?” She asked squinting to get a better view. There was no answer and the shadow did not move so she felt it was nothing and continued searching. Her hands touched the top of a shoe. She kept touching it until she felt an ankle. A horrifying scream came from her as she scampered away. She kept on screaming and screaming as loud as she could, hoping that the neighbors would hear her. Arms grabbed her, shaking her. “Margaret! It’s me Peter! Your husband! Calm down! Calm down!” His voice convinced her that it was him and she grabbed him, holding him tightly as her body shook violently.

“I… I lost my glasses.”

“They are right here.”

She put them on. “Where did… did you find them?”

“I came home early from work and I took them.”

“Why?”

“It was a joke...”