[ RF ] You are the victim in an abusive relationship . You are a man .

Dave Mahone stood there as Sarah Tridun pounded her fists into his chest, crying. He wasn ’ t sure quite how he got here, but he knew what was about to happen next. He had tried stepping back before, and that didn ’ t end well. She had fallen and broken her nose, then called nine one one and reported him for punching her in the face. He was lucky they were in a public place, another couple had seen that and when the cops arrived gave statements counteracting her lie. He had once tried grabbing her arms but that had landed him in jail for the night. So he just stood there and braced himself for the change in tactics that were about to come. 
 Pain flared in his chest as her fists were opened up and she clawed at his chest with her recently manicured nail. His blood was undistinguishable against her red painted nails. He took a step back and brought one of his arms up to protect his chest. Looking down at her he caught her vindictive smile. The one she wore when she had some something especially mean to someone. Dave turned to walk away when he heard her. 
 “ Don ’ t think about going anywhere. I ’ m not done with you. ” She screeched at him. 
 He flinched. How he would love to leave or hit her, to stop her treating him like this, but he was always taught hitting a lady was disrespectful and no man would ever hit a lady, and there were other reasons now as well. He thought back to how he met Sarah. 
 Back then when their relationship first started she seemed so interesting to him and she seemed really interested in him as well. It was two weeks after he proposed to her that her true colors made their first appearance. She had asked him about something small, he wasn ’ t sure exactly what it was now. But then he saw her vicious smile as she bumped him knocking him off balance and down the stairs at the hotel. 
 He knew what would happen if he tensed up so he with a lot of effort kept himself loose and only suffered some bruising and a sprained ankle. Everyone except him thought it was an accident. She started off after that subtly, but he always knew because of that smile. He tried to break it off and she pulled the stick out trapping him in the cage he was in now. All with a single sentence, “ I ’ m pregnant. ” 
 Back in the present, with her vicious smile on him he grabbed his keys and left. He needed somewhere safe to spend the night. After an hours driving, he pulled up to a truck stop to get some food, and some medical supplies to clean the claw marks on his chest. He got out and some of the truck drivers smiled and gave him thumbs up. He mentally groaned, they thought those were from him being good in bed. He thought about the fact that there was no men ’ s house for men abused to stay at. Walking in he thought about how almost every injury she gave him could be easily rationalized away as an accident or something he should be bragging to his friends about, he also doubt that even if there he could stay there. But he wasn ’ t completely beaten, not yet, there was still hope. He knew a lawyer. 

