I snatched her back again.
“If being wanted by you feels like this, I’d rather be unloved, unwanted, and all alone.”
“You already are. You were nothing more than a way for me to get the support that I needed at the school. You’re a charity case, Delaney.”
“And you are a hateful, evil, little man, Clayton. You have belittled my size, my looks, and my intellect almost the entire time I’ve been married to you. But by the grace of God, I never let you break my spirit, and now that I’m emptying out the trash, you’re damn sure not about to break my spirit now. So get the hell out.”
“I really don’t have to go anywhere. This is my house too. What are you going to do?”
“If you don’t do it, I’ll call the cops and file an abuse charge.”
“I haven’t hit you, Del.”
I scoffed. “You’re not the only one who can tell lies, and I have witnesses who are willing to testify to such.”
“This isn’t over, Del. You’ve let her and your cousin out there get in your head.”
I picked up my phone and pretended to start dialing a number. “Oh, do you think I’m playing? I see you need some help leaving. Well, let me call some escorts to help you along the way.”
“Okay, okay, okay!” he shouted, grabbing his final things and heading for the door.
Aria exhaled loudly. “Were you really calling the cops?”
“No. I was bluffing. The same way that I’ve had to do this entire marriage,” I replied sadly.
2
NAIJHEL KING
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Professor Settles, are you sure that this is what you want to do to her?” I asked, reading over the documents.
“What do you mean am I sure? You’re my attorney; you’re supposed to be representing my best interests in this matter.”
“And I am, but it’s not right to destroy someone this way. Her reputation and the work that she does in the community will be shattered.”
“And I should care? Look at what all she has done to me. I did nothing to deserve this.”
I pressed my lips together because I knew better. I wasn’t sure what happened to their marriage, but I knew that Professor Settles was not the upstanding, doting husband that he presented to the community. His loyalties lie wherever his penis led him, and that could be any given woman at any given time. He didn’t discriminate; I knew that for a fact. He didn’t care if it was his best friend’s wife, his brother’s girlfriend, or his boss’s mistress; if she gave him the time of day, Professor Settles was doing her.
“I just want to make sure that you have thought this over thoroughly and you are clear on what you want to do. You were married to her for eight years.”
“And all eight years I suffered mental cruelty and abuse at her hands. I tried everything that I could to make my marriage work. The last things that she did humiliated me.”
“Do you think that it would have been humiliating if you had chosen to remain faithful in your marriage?”
“I wouldn’t have had to find comfort in other women’s arms if my wife hadn’t been abusive. This has taken an emotional toil on me.”
I nodded, but I didn’t buy his act. It wasn’t my job to judge him anyway, just to represent him. It was rare that I agreed to take friends or acquaintances on as a client, but my best friend, Maurice Jones, and my brother, Brandon King, had pleaded with me to give him a shot because he was destitute. That wasn’t what caused me to buckle; it was the story. He shared with me that his wife had been physically and emotionally abusive throughout the marriage.
Abuse in any form wasn’t something that I could tolerate in my life.
My father was a victim of domestic violence. His girlfriend killed him when he confronted her about cheating on him. She had always been mentally and physically abusive, but my father downplayed it because he was a man, and he felt that he should be able to handle her. So, when I learned what all Professor Settles had gone through, it was a no-brainer that I would take this case.
People often talked about domestic violence, but they seldom discussed domestic violence against men. If a woman physically abused a man, many people believed that it was impossible because men were stronger than women.
No one should place their hands on anyone, and no one should be allowed to gaslight, belittle, or humiliate others, no matter who is doing it.
