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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


With her sixteenth birthday coming up it would mark three years since Faith and Howard got married. Howard was annoyed that within all this time they still didn’t have a child a son in particular. When Butterfly had been miscarried Howard didn’t care since he didn’t want another stupid girl in the house like Faith who was good for nothing.

Even after three years Faith still cringed when Howard touched her when he had sex with her she always pretended she was somewhere else. Faith knew that once she did turn sixteen she’d be able to get a part time job and hopefully save enough to get away from Howard for good.

Howard frowned when he saw Faith with newspapers and applications spread out on the dining room table. Scratching his belly and taking a sip of Heineken Howard snorted at her.

“What the hell is all this?”

“Job applications and postings”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes” Faith said “I’m turning sixteen soon so I’ll be old enough to work”

“Oh really?” Howard chuckled harshly “what the hell do you need a job for?”

“To make some money”

“You trying to say I don’t make enough money for the two of us?”

“No I just want some of my own”

“Oh yeah for what?” Howard pondered, “you better not be thinking of running away again”

Faith didn’t say anything to that and it angered Howard. He slammed his beer bottle down to the ground sending pieces of glass flying everywhere and snatched Faith by the arm almost twisting it.

“You running away Faith!?! Huh?”

“No sir!” Faith cried, “you’re hurting me! let me go!”

“You think I’m fucking stupid?!?” Howard continued to bark at her “you ain’t got dinner fixed but you out here looking for a job! You not running from me Faith!”

“I promise I won’t run sir!”

Howard let go of Faith and slapped her hard across the face. Tears fell as Faith rubbed her cheek and Howard continued to verbally abuse her

“You ain’t got nowhere to go no way you dumb bitch and don’t nobody want you either”

 

Faith laid curled up in a ball on her side of the bed as usual listening to Howard snore loudly.

“You ain’t got nowhere to go no way you dumb bitch and don’t nobody want you either

It was true she had nowhere to go and nobody wanted her.

Nowhere to go

Nobody wanted her.

That couldn’t be true Faith didn’t want it to be true; there had to be somewhere she could go and somebody who wanted her. Faith couldn’t count on her hands how many times she tried to leave Howard and failed in doing so. Apparently now it had gotten to a point where Howard was now openly mocking her for trying to leave him.

Faith didn’t know how much more of this she could take; she couldn’t even call the police since Howard got rid of their phone line nor could she leave since Howard barred all the windows and locked the doors.

Was this what her parents gave her up for? To have her beaten and abused everyday? Faith knew that she didn’t certainly sign up for this and she knew that if she stayed any longer then there was no doubt that Howard would eventually kill her.

Faith felt that Howard had been killing her little by little everyday for the past three years now and enough was enough. She had to leave this time but how?

Faith knew the answer and she knew how but she was scared.

The only way she was ever going to get away from Howard was to kill him.

 

“Faith! girl where you at? It’s time for you to shave me!”

Faith cringed she hated shaving Howard he was a grown man and she had to shave him. It was one of the first things Howard made her do when he first brought her to his house and called it one her wifely duties.

Howard’s definition of shaving extended from more than just his face he forced her to bathe him which oddly enough would arouse him. Usually the session would end with Howard having sex with her and she hated that.

Faith entered the bathroom to find her middle aged fat bellied husband already laying in the bathtub with shaving cream on his face.

“What you waiting for you know the drill” he snapped at her “get over here before the water gets cold”

Faith reluctantly sat in the chair next to the bathtub with the shaving utensils to service Howard. It took a long time to shave him since he had very old-fashioned razor.

Howard sat back and relaxed while Faith began to shave his face.

“So you throw out that notation of filling out those applications?” he asked

“Yes sir” Faith said reluctantly

“Good” Howard replied “what we really need to be doing is working on getting you pregnant again”

A chill went down her spine and her whole body shook at the thought of it

“Yup” Howard said, “might be lucky this time and it will stick too and be a boy”

“I…I…I don’t want to”

With that being said Howard sat up a little and frowned at her

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t want another baby I wanted Butterfly” Faith said “and you killed her”

“Girl you full of shit I didn’t kill that baby you miscarried it”

“You pushed me down the stairs---“

“You keep talking all that smack and I’ll push down those stairs again,” Howard said seriously “you’re my wife Faith Annalise and it’s one of your wifely duties to give me a son”

“And you’re going to stop talking about that damn Butterfly baby” he said harshly “what kind of fucking name is that anyway?”

Faith fought back some tears as she continued to shave Howard’s jaw

“You also going to have to start cooking other things” he went on to say “I’m tired of eating the sorry ass things you make meals didn’t your momma teach you anything?”

“I’m sorry sir---“

“Well sorry ain’t cutting it” Howard said, “you need to do better”

“I’m trying”

Howard slapped her across the face and barked, “You ain’t trying hard enough!”

“You’re supposed to do what I say, when I say, and how I want you to” he said “no questions asked stop being so damn difficult”

Howard motioned for her to take the washcloth and start scrubbing him down.

“A good wife does what her husband tells her to do and doesn’t question it”

“I think your parents spoiled you hell your snatch was still open when I married you and I had to take your father’s word for it that you were a virgin; if you had been born in Nigeria you would have been snipped and stitched”

Those words hurt but then again that didn’t surprise Faith since Howard always talked to her that way.

Howard then chuckled “You were a virgin alright though with all that damn squirming around you did that night crying about how I was hurting you”

That was a low right there even for Howard’s demented ass he was mocking her for how terrified and hurt she was on their so called wedding night. He was a true bastard.

Faith did her best to continue with her task as she scrubbed the washcloth further down his belly and already she could see Howard’s erection bobbing around under the bubbles of the water.

“Alright I know you aren’t going to just ignore that are you?”

“No sir but---

“No buts about it” Howard said “c’mon girl get those damn clothes off”

“No”

“What?”

“I said no Howard” Faith said more boldly this time “I’m not doing it”

“Did you just say no to me girl?” Howard asked sitting up “and then call me by my name?”

“Yes I did” she replied, “Howard is your name not sir”

Faith knew she was stepping the line now even Celie didn’t call Mister by his real name Albert in The Color Purple but she didn’t care because eventually Celie called Mister out on his bullshit and now this was her moment to do so.

“God must be testing me today because I know you didn’t just say what you said; don’t make me get out of this tub and beat your ass Faith”

“No” Faith said standing her ground “you’re not going to touch me because I’m leaving and this time you’re not going to stop me”

Howard laughed “You’re full of shit you know that? You know how many times you tried to leave and I still got your ass back? When are you going to learn you can’t get away from me?”

Faith didn’t answer him and instead got up and left the bathroom. That was the last straw she was leaving and she wasn’t at all surprised to hear Howard’s footsteps stomping angrily behind her.

It didn’t take long for Howard to wrap a towel around his waist and come after her in fact Faith was expecting it. Howard angrily snatched Faith towards him grinding his much larger frame against her smaller one.

“Let go of me!” Faith cried, “let go of me Howard!”

“SHUT UP!” Howard barked now trying to yank Faith’s jeans off “I’VE HAD ENOUGH THIS SASS COMING OUT OF YOU NOW LAY DOWN!”

“NO!”

It was a session Faith unfortunately knew all too well; putting up a fight with Howard refusing to give in but the end he eventually won. He always won. Not this time. Just as Howard unzipped her jeans Faith gathered all the strength within her to push him off her.

Howard went tumbling backward and the back of his head ended up hitting the dresser.

“YOU LITTLE BITCH!” he hissed at her holding his hand to the back of his head only to discover that he was bleeding.

Faith quickly slipped her way past Howard; her duffel bag was already packed and ready by the backdoor.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!?” he barked snatching her by the ankle of her foot; and Faith fell down.

“COME HERE!”

Howard was now pulling her back to him and Faith kicked him square in the nose and it cracked.

“YOU BETTER STOP THAT SHIT OR YOU’RE GOING TO BE SORRY!”

Faith wriggled her way free from Howard’s grasp and went to the safe box in the hallway closet and fished out Howard’s shotgun.

“YOU GET BACK HERE FAITH! I’M NOT FUCKING PLAYING---“

Howard staggered himself out into the hallway to find Faith pointing his shotgun right at him. Of course Howard wasn’t scared because he knew Faith wouldn’t dare shoot him he was her husband after all.

“Girl you better put that thing down before you hurt yourself”

“I’ll shoot”

“Girl what foolishness are you talking about? you don’t know how to shoot no damn gun”

“I’m going to shoot”

“And what are you going to do once you shoot me? You can’t do nothing own your own you don’t know how to do a damn thing” Howard said bitterly “you’re nothing without me hell your own parents don’t even want you back it’s not like they’d be able to marry you off again”

Tears fell down Faith’s cheeks because she knew what he said was in fact true.

“Now c’mon give me that gun so we can get back to doing our do---“

“No”

“FAITH I’M NOT FUCKING PLAYING GIVE ME THAT GUN RIGHT NOW BEFORE I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!”

That was all the answers she needed when Howard came running towards her; Faith then pulled the trigger.

 

“We, the jury, find the defendant, Faith Annalise Jamison guilty of the charge of first degree murder of Howard Yancy Patterson”

Faith felt the world stand completely still as the verdict was read. On one side of the courtroom were her supporters who believed that after giving her testimony; she killed Howard for her safety.

On the other side much to her dismay were her parents Robert and Glenda whom she hadn’t seen in almost three years with her three little brothers who had no idea that their sister was now a convicted murderer. Howard’s relatives looked satisfied with the verdict, which didn’t come as a surprise.

After shooting Howard Faith fled the house as quickly as she could with her duffel bag and the paperclip of money and made it all the way to the bus depot.

While paying for her bus fare the ticket person was alarmed by the amount of blood splattered on Faith’s clothes and hands and contacted the police.

The police once contacted made their way over to the house to discover Howard’s dead body toppled over with a single gunshot wound to his chest as well as the open wound in the back of his head.

Never mind the fact that Faith had bruises and scars up and down her body from head to toe that were inflicted on her by Howard three years worth. There were even dark permanent marks around her wrists for whenever Howard decided to drag her by them.

The police probably figured since Faith was still alive unlike Howard then she was fine and would eventually get over it despite the fact that it happened during her most formative and developing years. The experiences she had in childhood as well as her early teens were not exactly ideal for how she would develop as a young adult.

The guards came up to Faith and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. The judge had sentenced her to two years in juvenile detention with possible time in actual prison once she turned eighteen depending on how she did in juvie.

Two years?

Faith looked up at the calendar behind the judges stand to see the date.

It read January 25th 2008.

Today was her birthday her sixteenth birthday to be exact. While any other girl her age was celebrating this milestone birthday with a huge celebration; Faith found herself being sentenced to jail time for killing a man who gave her hell for three years.

The way things were going Faith might as well have been going back to hell all over again.












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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.