Page 33 of Break

“Making a plan for lunch.”

“Why?”

“It’s 11:30,” she tells me, like that’s all the answer that’s required and I should have known.

Tilting my head to the side, I study her. “You don’t need to do that.” I certainly don’t want her to feel like she owes us for helping her. If anything, we oweherfor not seeing Danny for who he really was all these years.

“…W-what? What am I supposed to be doing, then?” Her gaze looks around the kitchen, looking for something else that she should do instead.

“Not serving us,” I grunt out.

She swallows nervously, clearly at a loss for words. I realize that this is the role she’s been taught to fill, the stay-at-home wife who cooks and cleans. Then she asks, “Can I make it anyway?”

I hesitate. It’s important that she knows she has no obligation to work for her room and board here, but it’s also obvious that she needs to do something. Since I have no suggestions to offer instead, I give her a slight nod. “If you’d like.”

Her body relaxes when she gains my permission, and I bite my tongue to take it back. This woman doesn’t need anyone’s permission to do a fucking thing, and already she’s seeking it. Seeking approval.

I’m out of my depth, so I stay silent as I continue to watch her. My mind whirling with questions I want to ask her.

Why did she marry Danny? What did he do to make her think she had to ask permission to perform mundane tasks? Why didn’t her parents teach her how to stand up for herself? Was the other night the first time Danny ever put his hands on her?

Apparently, I have no filter, because my next question comes rushing out. “Why didn’t you leave?”

She pauses from slicing leftover steak from last night’s dinner. Both she and Walter turn their heads to eye me like I’m an intruder in the kitchen. “Umm…” Her answer tells me she doesn’t understand exactly what I’m asking, so I clarify.

“Danny. Why didn’t you leave him earlier?”

She looks at the steak, and frowns down at it, considering my question. “He was my husband.”

Her response pisses me off because it shouldn’t matter. If someone is hurting you, there’s no reason to stick around.

“I assume that wasn’t the first time he put his hands on you. Why didn’t you try to leave the first time he did it?” I know my question is coming off as accusatory. It’s not my intention, I’m just trying to understand why she would have stayed with him.

Mina sets the knife next to the half-sliced steak and attempts to look at me, but after a moment, she looks away. Playing with the end of her braid, she tells me, “I-I did try… a couple of times. I went to the police to ask them for help, but they said that if I left, I would make a big mess of it for lawyers. I s-spoke with one, a lawyer I mean, but without funds, he couldn’t help me. I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“You and Danny are struggling financially?” I ask her, wondering why she wouldn’t have any money to seek legal advice. Danny has a good job, making more than he probably deserves with his father.

She looks embarrassed when she says, “I don’t think so. The accounts are in his name, so I wasn’t able to sign the checks.”

Jesus.Who gets married and doesn’t allow one partner access to their money? That’s some 1950s shit right there.

“You couldn’t work? They’d have to write you a check, which means you would need to have your name on an account to deposit the funds.”

Her demeanor shrinks away from me as I continue to ask questions. Before I can apologize for asking and let her know she doesn’t have to tell me if she doesn’t want to, she answers. “Ididhave a job… in the beginning. But Danny… he thought it best I stay at home when he bought the house. He said that running the house is a full-time job, and it better suited me.”

“What changed then? Why are you here now?” I wince when I hear how that came out. Her face completely falls with my apparent annoyance that she’s staying with Max. Holding up a hand, I stop her from speaking. “That came out wrong. I’m trying to ask ‘why now’? What gave you the strength to run from him this time?”

A hint of anger flashes across her face before she wipes it away. Picking the knife back up, she continues to slice the meat as she tells me what drove her away, and it’s fucking sickening.

“A few days ago, I found out that he had another affair. When I confronted him about it, I told him I couldn’t keep turning a blind eye to his indiscretions and I wanted to separate. He was livid. Told me that when I married him, it was for life - for better or for worse - and that it was my duty,as his wife, to forgive him. When I told him I couldn’t, he swore to me he would change and it would never happen again. That night, when he came to bed, he told me he knew how to fix everything. That it was the only way for him to prove to me he was a changed man.”

Scoffing, I cross my arms.Danny is a fucking idiot. “What was his plan?” I ask her, assuming his suggestion would have been counseling or something. Instead, my jaw drops when she answers.

“A baby.” She continues to slice the meat, then gathers all the strips in her hands and places them into a bowl. Grabbing a few bottles filled with sauces, she mixes together a marinade to soak the meat with.

“What? What did you say? A baby is a terrible idea for fixing a marriage.”

Glancing at me, I’m surprised by the anger lacing her words. “I said no.”

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