Free In Her Mind (Mountain High Valley Low ) by Renee Daniel Flagler

like a broken record.
“I’m sorry, Shelly, but that can’t work for me. I want to be a part of my son’s life but I’m not going to be with you because you want to place this sick demand on me.”
“Sick demand?!” Before I knew it, I had jumped on Brian and began beating his chest and scratching at his face.
My vision was clouded because of my tears and I could hardly hear. Brian tried desperately to stop the barrage of slaps and punches to no avail. I was too wild for him. Finally, he caught hold of my wrists and held them firmly, leaving me unable to move at will.
“Get off of me! You’re hurting me!” I screamed, huffing and puffing.
“Stop trying to hit me,” he said.
Suddenly, BJ was behind us wailing. I pulled myself from Brian’s grip, but before I could get to BJ, Brian had already picked him up and began to comfort him. When I looked at my wrists, they were red where Brian held me. Once Brian was able to calm BJ down, he sat him on the couch and left. A feeling of rejection overwhelmed me but I wasn’t done yet. One way or another, I was going to get him. I took another look at my bruised wrist, picked BJ up and headed down to the precinct.
Chapter 11 Lexie
    Brian came storming into the house pissed off but refused to talk to me about what had upset him. When I asked him about the baby, he spat the word “fine” at me, never breaking his quick stride, never making eye contact. Part of me wanted to curse his ass out for snapping at me as if I was the cause of his nasty attitude. The other side of me knew to give him space and work on getting my answers later. He needed to calm down and I would approach the subject again. If I was going to trust that we were going to work out, then I needed to know what was going on.
    With my feet up on the couch, I started to read my book, Silent Fear, by a new author on the scene, Renee Jones-Brown. Just as I was getting to a really good part, Brian came storming out of our bedroom, creating gusts of wind as he marched in haste.
    “I can’t believe this shit!” he yelled as he paced hard across the floor. I watched in silence, my head following him to and fro like I was watching a tennis match. “This…girl is unbelievable.” I knew he was about to call her a bitch and had stopped himself. Thinking it was one thing, but actually saying it was out of character for Brian.
    “Who are you talking about?” I asked, even though I knew he was referring to Shelly. I wanted a piece of her really badly. All I needed was one good reason.
    The veins near Brian’s temple created several speed bumps across his forehead and they pressed against his smooth, dark skin. Brian tightened his fists and grunted, then threw his hands in the air.
    “Brian,” I said calmly, and he looked my way. He was staring directly at me, but there was no presence in his eyes. The eerie emptiness caused chills to creep along my spine. “Have a seat and talk to me,” I continued softly.
    Brian approached the couch but stopped just before turning to sit. His facial expression turned from anger to defeat and my heart stopped beating momentarily.
    “What is it, Brian?” I asked. He wore his vulnerability plainly on his face.
Brian dropped his shoulders with a sigh then sat with his elbows on his knees, holding his head. I gently placed my hand on his back and rubbed small circles, hoping he understood that, despite our trials, I was still there for him. After a few more sighs, he finally began to explain.
“I just got a call on my cell phone from the precinct.”
“For what?” I yelled. My brows knitted and my heart rate went from zero to sixty in less than two seconds. I hoped Brian hadn’t kicked Shelly’s yellow behind earlier. Brian was not abusive but Shelly’s antics had the ability to make the most composed person act like a pure fool.
“Shelly went down to the precinct and told the cops that I assaulted her. A detective by the name of Raul Johnson called and asked me to come