It was pitch black when Betty Rizzo made it home on a cold winter Sunday night. Part of her wanted to stay outside and freeze to death, at least that would be less painful than what might happen inside. It wasn't the hitting that was painful, she could take the hitting. It was listening to her frightened daughter, Margaret, cry that brought tears to her own eyes. Rizzo had never been a softy, but when it came to Maggs, she would melt. It broke her heart every time her daughter would ask "are you okay Mommie?" and Margaret would look up with her big watering blue eyes. Riz would crawl into bed with Margaret and rock her back and forth until they eventually both stopped crying and fell asleep.

It was quiet as Rizzo opened the door but to her own misery, she heard her husband, Richard, stomping up the stairs, into the kitchen, and into the fridge to get yet another beer. It was when he drank that their worst fights happened. Once, after he had come home from a party, he locked Margaret in her room and had sent Rizzo to the emergency room with a broken wrist. Tonight would be one of those nights where she would try to go straight to bed. She slowly closed the door, attempting to be quiet. Not quiet enough.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rich hollered as he stormed down the hallway, in her direction.

"I was at work." Rizzo replied, trying to sound obedient. She looked at the floor, as if by not looking at him, he wouldn't touch her.

"Damn it Betty, its 11 o'clock!" He slapped her across the face, forcing her to look up. "Look at me when I talk to you!"

Margaret had apparently heard the slap, because Riz could hear her daughters distant whimpering. Rizzo's cheeks burned cherry red, but more from fury than from the stinging slap.

"What were you doing at work until 11 o'clock!" Richard hollered before chugging the rest of his beer.

"I needed to work overtime to make up for the time I was out." Rizzo had been out of work for a couple of weeks, she had gotten very sick, and took care of herself. She hadn't noticed how quiet she had spoken until Richard said something about it.

"What?! I can't hear you! Speak up when you talk to me!!!" Richard shouted and threw his beer bottle on the floor and it broke into tiny-little pieces with an ear piercing shatter that sent Margaret into hysterics. Rizzo wanted to run to her, put her arms around her, and tell her every thing would be okay, but she didn't, because as she turned Richard grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Don't walk away from me!! Where have you been!?"

Rizzo could feel her eyes filling up with tears, but to her luck, sort of, the TV announced the football game was coming back on, and he pushed her away.

"We'll talk about this later." He threatened, and turned to get another beer, and go back and laze on the couch.

Riz's fingers searched the back of her head, where it had hit the corner of a picture frame. She was looking for blood, but luckily, she didn't find any.

"Are you okay Mommie?" Rizzo quickly turned around to find Maggs standing at the door way from the bedroom hall way.

"Yes Baby, thank you." Rizzo knelt down and held out her arms. Margaret ran over and threw her arms around her mother. Rizzo had to get them out of there, but how. Rich kept a roof over their heads and supplied them with money. Rizzo was only paid 7 dollars a week for working at a bar downtown. She couldn't support Maggs on her own, what was she going to do.