Burns

An old man holding his wife’s hand, helping her to the car with grocery bags collected in his other hand. 

Click. 

A child running towards their house with their hands over their head, trying to keep the rain from curling their already curly hair. 

Click. 

A stray dog happily leaping from one puddle to the next, barking in joy, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth as water splashed around him. 

Click. 

A slender woman standing under an awning, her red hair soaked, clinging to her neck. A phone rested under one ear as she talked to the person on the other end, her other arm wrapped under her chest. She smiled warmly into the rain. 

Cli... 

Her green eyes met mine and I swallowed. 

Click. 

“Jude!” 

I sighed and rested my camera around my neck, before jogging over to the redheaded woman. 

“Hey, Jodie.” 

Her warm smile turned to me, and she put her phone in her pocket.

“What are you doing out in this rain?” 

“Taking photos.” 

She shook her head as if to say ‘Of course you are’ without saying it. She pointed at the camera. 

“Did you take any good ones?” 

I shrugged. 

“I think so. I took a couple of a stray dog.” 

“Cool...” 

Her voice trailed off as she turned back to the street, peering out into the rain. She sighed and shifted from one foot to another. 

“What are you doing out in the rain?” 

“Marcus has the car, so I am currently waiting for him to pick me up.” 

“He late again?” 

She laughs and gives me a side eye. 

“He is always late. He gets distracted I think with the kids. The twins are a handful. Sometimes, it makes me feel bad for Mom about how we were as kids.” 

“I wasn’t a bad kid.” 

She laughs again. “No, I guess you weren’t. You just didn’t socialize. You only cared about your camera.” 

She goes silent again and pulls out her phone. She checks the time and frowns. I point to my dark red pickup truck parked on the side of the road. 

“I can take you home if you want.” 

“Are you sure? You seemed pretty happy standing out there with your camera.” 

I nodded then shrugged. “Yeah, I took the photos I wanted to. So, I was planning on going home soon anyways.” 

She smiles that warm smile. Her face radiated love and joy. Her face is so similar to mine. Even our freckles were in the same places.  

“Thanks, Jude. You’re the best!” 

Jodie began to jug over to the truck. I blinked and quickly followed, unlocking the vehicle halfway so she could slide in and get out of the rain. She did just that and I followed, slamming my door closed. 

“The rain is getting pretty wild.” 

As I said this, thunder boomed, and the rain became a downpour. We both laughed. Jodie lifted her hair off her neck. 

“Jodie, where did you get that?” 

Under her hair just at her hair line was an almost perfect circular burn. Exactly like from a cigarette. 

She quickly dropped her hair and her smile faded. 

“It’s nothing.” 

“It’s a burn, Jodie.” 

“No, it isn’t” 

I reached over and lifted her hair. I touched it gently. She flinched under my touch. It was a cigarette burn. 

“Jodie...” 

“Maybe I got it from my hair straightener.” 

“I thought he was getting help. I thought he had stopped when you had the twins.” 

“Just drop it, okay?” 

I kept my gaze on her and shook my head. She should know better. She sighed. 

“He did for a while. I think he is stressed from taking care of the kids and from his job. The promotion has given him so much extra work.” 

“It’s no excuse and you know it.” 

She went silent. 

“Is there any more?” 

“...” 

“Jodie...” 

She sighs and lifts her sleeve. On her arm were more burns. Perfectly small circles made from lit cigarettes. I grabbed my camera and without thinking... 

Click. 

“Don’t take any photos!” 

She jerked her arm away from me and against herself. I tried to make my face as gentle as possible despite the rage burning inside me. 

“I won’t show anyone. Please. I just want to document it.” 

“Why?” 

“In case something happens to you.” 

She pauses. 

“For Layla and Emma, Jodie. If you won’t let me keep you safe then at least let me use your photos to keep the twins safe, in case you one day can’t.” 

She slowly nodded and held her arm out again. 

Click. 

She raised her hair. 

Click. 

Her side. 

Click. 

Her back. 

Click. 

Her thighs. 

Click. 

Several tiny circular burns all over her body. Punishments for not doing as he asked. Punishments for being her own person. When he first did this, we were in college. She almost left him.  

She has always been strong, but my sister also loved hard. And he was her first love. Her first kiss. Her first boyfriend. Her first sexual partner. Her first everything. And when he started to change and become violent it tore her apart. 

She didn’t KNOW how to leave a relationship. She was young and had little experience and then the best and worst thing happened. She fell pregnant. 

He changed. He wanted to be there for his child. He began therapy, began taking medication for his violent tendencies, and began to woo my Jodie back into his arms.  

They got married right after the twins were born. She graduated college as did he and they moved into their first home. Everything was fine... or so I thought. 

“Did he stop taking his medication?” 

Jodie looked away from me and my camera. 

“His psychiatrist told him he no longer needed them.” 

“Did he tell you that or did the psychiatrist?” 

“He did...” 

“And you BELIEVED him?!” 

My voice broke, and my anger bubbled to the surface. I turned away from her and took some deep breaths. Calm down, Jude. She doesn’t need another angry man. I rested my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes.  

The rain still poured heavily around us as silence took over the cab. 

“I’m sorry, Jude...” 

I sighed and opened my eyes, giving her a sideways glance. 

“You don’t have to apologize. You aren’t the one leaving burn marks on someone you supposedly love.” 

“It’s a compulsion. He can’t help it. He burns himself too. Every time he does something wrong. His arms are littered with them. He doesn’t mean to hurt me. It’s not abuse.” 

“Jodie. If he was taking his meds, he wouldn’t be doing it at all.” 

“I know... but how do you force someone to take something they don’t want to take?” 

I leaned forward and opened the mirror that was in front of me. A picture of Layla and Emma. I handed it to her. 

“And how do you stop him if he starts doing this compulsion to your little girls? To his children?” 

She went silent again, staring down at the picture. I watched her as tears began to fall. She starts to sob, her cries becoming louder than the storm outside. 

I aimed my camera. 

Click. 

She looked over and wiped her cheeks. 

“What do you suggest I do then?” 

“Report it. Take my pictures to the police and his psychiatrist. Hell, to his parents. Anyone that you think could force him to take his medication that you can’t make him take. That’s what you need to do, Jodie.” 

She slowly nods, my picture still in her hands. 

“And if he still refuses to take the medication?” 

“Then you leave him. Take the girls and file for divorce.” 

She began to cry again.  

“I don’t know how to do that. He is all I’ve ever known.” 

I think back to when we were kids. How she fought a boy so much older than us because he took my camera. I think about when we were preteens and how she stayed up all night with me when I was rejected for the first time. I think about when we were seniors and how she included me on her prom date when my date was a no show.  

My sister was always there for me. Always been my biggest supporter. Always been my best friend.  

I pulled my camera off my neck and handed it to her. She takes it, confused. 

“Why are you giving this to me?” 

“Look through the photos and you will see.” 

She began to look through my photos. A picture of her at my first gallery. A picture of her and the kids at the bowling alley. A picture of her at work, decorating cakes. A picture of her in the rain with a phone to her cheek. 

“You took all these?” 

I chuckled. “They are on my camera. They are for my next gallery.” 

She gently touched the picture of her that she was looking at. Her green eyes stare right at the camera, a wide smile on her face. So beautiful, so confident, so strong.  

“Why me? Why choose me as your next portfolio?” 

“Because you are the strongest person I know. You have always been my hero.” 

She smiles and touches the picture on the camera again. 

“Seeing me with marks must really put a damper on the hero name, huh?” 

I shake my head, gently taking my camera back from her. I bop her on the nose. 

“No, it just gives me the chance to return the favor. Jodie, let me be your hero now.” 

I flip through the pictures until I come back to the more recent ones. I stopped at the picture of the mark on her neck. I showed it to her. 

“Jodie, you need help. Let me help you. THIS is not okay.” 

She reaches up and grabs her neck. She slowly nods. 

“Okay...” 

I smiled and a wave of relief washed over me.  

“Okay?” 

“Okay.” 

The rain finally stopped, and I rolled my window down, taking a deep breath of fresh air before starting the truck. I slowly pulled into the street. 

“Can I take you straight to the police station before you change your mind?” 

“Will you be right there next to me when I talk to them?” 

I nod and tap my camera. 

“Me and my photos will be there. The entire time. I promise.” 

Jodie nods and takes a deep breath herself.  

“Police station it is then.” 

Jodie looked outside as I began to drive in the opposite direction of her house. A faint rainbow begins to form in the sky as if to seal my promise to her. And I kept my promise, right by her side as she started the new chapter in her life. 

However, the cigarette burns never went away.