Free I Ain't Me No More by E.N. Joy

two.
    â€œOh, so you be riding around with all kinds of dudes in your car? I bet they be runnin’ trains on you and everything, you stupid whore. Now you got a baby and everybody know you screwin’, you just givin’ it up to everybody now, huh?”
    I couldn’t even describe how deeply Dub’s words cut me. I wanted to cuss him out now and worry about the butt kickin’ later, but before I could respond, Dub punched me in my head so hard, I literally saw stars. Before that pain could even drive in and park, he slapped me across the face with his open hand.
    â€œWhy are you doing this?” I cried, holding my head. “I just gave them a ride. It’s nothing,” I said, trying to reason with him. It was so innocent, but Dub was so jealous, I knew he would never see it that way, which was why I had never mentioned it to him.
    I’d been giving them a ride for only a little over a month. It wasn’t even like Markus and the other guy had asked me for a ride. I was the one who had offered. On my way to work I’d drive past them at the bus stop, and knowing we were all going to the same place, it just didn’t seem right. I thought I was doing something good. I guess it just showed that no good deed went unpunished. So now it was time for me to take my punishment.
    â€œSo you thought it was okay to be riding around with dudes in your car? Is that what you thought? You thought it was cool for my boys to see my girl rolling around town with another dude in her car? You thought it was cool to make me look stupid?” With each question asked, I received a punch in the stomach or the chest.
    â€œOh God!” I yelped, trying to catch my breath. At that moment I was crying out to God, and not because of instinct. I truly just wanted God to come down from the clouds of heaven and take not me but Dub away.
    As awful as it sounded, I wanted nothing more than for him to be ingested by Earth and regurgitated on Mars. But I knew God wouldn’t answer my prayers. It wasn’t like He and I were close acquaintances or anything. I had never called Him up or stopped by His house to say “What’s up?” in quite some time. I made a mental note to do just that for the sole purpose that the next time I did need to call out to Him, He might answer.
    â€œYou stupid . . .” Now with each blow Dub landed, he also pitched an obscenity my way. I was every whore, ho, B word, and slut in the book. “Did you actually think . . .”
    I tuned him out and just took the licks, pain thrusting through my body. Every now and again I tried to fight him back, but he was just too quick. Too strong. Just like with that little kid on the playground back when I was in fourth grade, I just didn’t want to fight. For years my bark had been far worse than my bite. Dub knew I didn’t even have teeth.
    All of a sudden it was like déjà vu.
    â€œWhat’s going on down here?” Ms. Daniels called from the other side of the door. The knob began to jiggle. She couldn’t get in, though, because Dub, of course, had locked the door. “Unlock this door. What did I tell you about locking this door? Open it now!”
    Before Dub could even think about honoring his mother’s request, the door flew open from the weight of Ms. Daniels slamming her body up against it. Her wild eyes searched the room. I could tell she was just waiting to catch me scratching up her son. But what she saw was a completely different scene than what she’d obviously expected. I could tell by the surprised look in her eyes.
    â€œHoney, what happened?” she said with a concerned tone as she made her way over to me. She touched my swollen jaw and examined the scratches around my neck. I hadn’t had time, of course, to reduce the swelling with ice, make myself up with cosmetics, or layer myself in clothing. “What happened to your shirt?”
    I looked down, having not even