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you.’
    Without warning, he stood up, reached across the table and grabbed Tina’s hair.
    ‘There’s someone else, isn’t there? Who is he? I’ll kill him and then I’ll kill you.’
    Tina stared defiantly into Rick’s eyes.
    ‘There’s no-one else, Rick. Can’t you just accept that I’m leaving you because of you ? This is nobody else’s fault but yours.’
    He released his grip on her hair.
    ‘Why do you make me do these things to you?’ he said softly. ‘Please, Tina, don’t go, I need you.’
    Tina reached for her coat and picked up her little suitcase.
    ‘You’ve packed? You bitch. How long have you been planning this?’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know. Since the day you hit me so hard across the face I needed stitches over my eye…’
    ‘That wasn’t my fault, my ring caught you…’
    ‘Since the day you punched me and split my lip, since the day you stubbed your cigarette out on my arm, since the day you first raped me, since the day you stole my money to put a bet on. Since our bloody wedding day. Should I carry on?’
    As she voiced this out loud for the first time, she found a long-buried inner strength, and with it, a conviction that her sanity and indeed her very survival depended on her walking away.
    She was in the hallway now and as she opened the front door she held her head high and marched away, without a single glance back.
    ‘Tina, come back here. I’m sorry.’ His knees gave way and he crumpled to the floor.
    It was all Tina could do not to break into a run as she made her way down the terraced street. She felt like she could run and run forever. And she would need to when Rick discovered she had raided his back pocket whilst he was asleep and taken all the money.
    Later that afternoon, Tina knocked on the door of the smart semi and nervously waited for an answer. An attractive blonde woman, face fully made-up and sporting masses of gold jewellery opened it.
    ‘Can I help you?’
    ‘You must be Sheila. I’m Tina.’
    She held out her hand which Sheila ignored.
    ‘Err....is Graham in?’
    ‘Does he know you?’
    ‘Yes, I’m a friend. I work in the shop next door to his on Saturdays.’
    ‘Who is it, Sheila?’ Graham called from somewhere in the house.
    Sheila opened the door a little further and beckoned Tina in.
    ‘Says she’s a friend of yours.’
    ‘Tina!’ exclaimed Graham, arriving in the hallway. ‘What’s happened, love?’
    Seeing Graham’s caring, concerned face made Tina’s voice wobble. ‘I’ve left him, Graham.’
    ‘Oh, God. Come here,’ He took her into his arms and embraced her firmly.
    Sheila looked on with bemusement and Graham turned to her.
    ‘Sheila, put the kettle on would you?’
    Tina pulled herself together. ‘It’s alright, Sheila, I’m not stopping. I just wanted to let Graham know what’s going on. He’s been a good friend to me and if it wasn’t for what he did for me yesterday then I wouldn’t have been able to leave.’
    ‘You took his money?’ Graham asked incredulously.
    Tina managed a smile. ‘Every penny. I’ve found a small bedsit to rent. I spotted it a few weeks ago but couldn’t afford it then. Anyway, it’s still available so I’m going there. It’s not too bad really. The furniture’s ancient and the walls are so thin I can hear the bloke next door change his mind, but at least it’s all mine.’
    ‘He’ll come looking for you, you know,’ Graham said gravely.
    ‘I’ve no doubt he will. He knows where I work, he may turn up at the shop too, but I don’t care, Graham. He won’t lay a finger on me in public. He’s way too clever for that.’
    ‘He could follow you though.’
    ‘Please, Graham. Don’t you think I know all this? Why do you think it’s taken me so long to make the break.’
    ‘Sorry. Do you need a hand moving in?’
    ‘I only left with a small suitcase so there wasn’t much to move in really, but thanks anyway. Look, I’d better get going, I’ve a few things to do.’
    ‘If