Bruni's Choice
by
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Carson opened the bottle of whiskey. He poured a double shot and slammed it down. He poured two more, putting one on the nightstand next to me. “What’s this shit?” he asked, upset with my choice of music.
“Just some music I was listening to.”
Ignoring me, Carson set the station to a grating, metal song. He raised the gun to examine it. He opened the barrel and spun it. Locking it back in place, he aimed the gun at me.
Click!
I laid my head down on the pillow in a worthless attempt to sleep. In the meantime, Carson had finished two more double shots. His attention shifted to me. “Bruni.” I placed the pillow over my head without returning an answer. “Drink yer Jack.”
“Look, Carson, I’m trying to get some sleep.” I was irritated by the song on the radio. “You come in late and change the station to some loud crap, when all I want to do is sleep. To top it off, you want me to drink.”
Carson removed the pillow from my face.
Slap!
The left side of my face was numb. My cheek tingled like the stings of little bees. Tears trickled from my eyes.
“You fuckin’ bitch! Don’t you ever even think about disrepectin’ me again.”
I pulled the pillow over my head.
He flung it away from me. “I just had the best night of my life. I come in here happy as a hog in a sty, then you go an’ ruin it fer me.”
Wham!
The pain sank deep. My face throbbed from the sweep of his palm skimming my mouth. It tore the inside of my lower lip. I tasted blood. I tried to roll over to the other side of the bed only to be stopped short. He caught my hair in his grip and yanked me, jerking my head back towards him. “Why do you have to hurt me?” I screamed. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” I bawled.
“Bruni, you better shut yer ass up now!”
I cowered away from him, out of fear that he would hit me again, to the other side of the bed.
Very calmly he repeated, “Drink yer Jack.”
I surrendered to the same statement that started the confrontation. “Okay, Crow, I will.” Cautious as to what he might do, I crawled across the bed with him standing over me. I reached over and grabbed the plastic cup without taking my eyes off of him. I sipped the whiskey. A small cut on the inside of my lip burned. I sipped again, finishing the cup. Carson refilled it.
By the third cup, the pain from my cheek had disappeared. I felt better. Well, I may not have exactly felt better, but I was numb.
Carson was distracted again by his new toy. He counted the money he won in the poker game. I felt ill when I looked at him. I wanted to kill him.
The following day, my cheek ached. There were no visible bruises, but it was swollen. I had very little energy because of the horrible experience the previous night. Pain was nothing new to me. I had been the victim of abuse my
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About the Book
Bruni’s Choice is a fast-paced, gripping story about a young woman hooked on heroin who grew up in a dysfunctional home. Her toxic parental upbringing lands her in a relationship with a drug abusing boyfriend. She fights for her life until there is no fight left in her. Desperate for change, Bruni checks herself into rehab. She soon realizes there is much more to changing old habits than entering a treatment program. Patrick McGuire is an Irish boy from San Francisco whose life is in turmoil. Alcohol, crack and gambling lead him down a dark path that results in serious consequences with the law. He must find a way to prove to the courts that he is willing to change his life in order to save his freedom. Patrick and Bruni’s harrowing road to recovery is defined through their struggle to overcome the odds of addiction.
About the Author
Irwin Gelding was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the age of fifteen, he moved to San Francisco. Irwin Gelding currently resides in northern California. He has been writing for nearly twenty years, though Bruni's Choice is his first published novel. Other works can be seen online as he has written and edited as a freelance writer/editor for several years.