Domestic Violence: A Vicious Cycle

The time is around midnight. I am in a hospital bed, beaten, bloody, pregnant, and cold. As I lay there, I wonder if this is love. How could a man say he loves a women but then hits her? I thought he loved me. I thought we would be a happy family now that I am carrying his baby. Wow I must have thought wrong. This isn’t love this is painful. We have been together for only a couple of months. He said he would take care of me and the baby. He lied. You might ask why I don’t leave. Well let me take you down my long hurtful road and explain my reasoning. As a kid, I always saw a man hit my mom. I didn’t know why she stayed and how she always would end up with the wrong guy. I always told myself I would NEVER let a man hit me. I dreamt of my mom meeting a “good” man and living happily ever after. That day came when I was in 9th grade, my mom met the man I call my dad. We were a happy family. I graduated high school in 2008. That’s when my life took a turn for the worst. I met Eric when I was 18. He said all the right things. I fell in love fast with this idea of a perfect man. He was from Chicago and I lived in Easley. He came down and to meet me. I moved to Chicago with him after knowing him for only 20 days. He was my escape from the real world. The day came where he hit me the first time. I think it was because I didn’t make his food right or something like that. I made an excuse for him. I thought it was MY fault. He said he was sorry and he would never do it again. Well never came to an end the next week. He beat me that day all because I wasn’t home right at 5 to make him his dinner. I covered up the bruises and went to work the next day. I got more hours at work one day and he thought I was cheating on him so he decided I was no longer allowed to work. He locked me in the basement while he worked all day. At this point I was scared and wanted to leave. He caught me trying to leave one night and beat me with a bat. I was sore for weeks after