Broken Promises
I wrote this in response to one of zinnia_rose's prompts on sweetjamielee's 2012 The Good Wife summer ficathon on LJ. The prompt was: "Kalinda, Alicia Promises, broken or otherwise"
I know the abuse theory isn't popular, but it seems as likely as anything else to me when it comes to Kalinda's past. I hope you enjoy. :)
Nick: “honor and cherish”
Back and forth. Life was a constant state of opposites. One minute it was, “I love you, baby.” The next brought bruises and broken ribs. A night would start with, “I want to take you out for dinner...show you off” but often ended with her inebriated husband cursing at her in front of the entire restaurant. Humiliation was his forte.
On their wedding day, Nick had promised to honor and cherish her; by evening he had chosen a different path. The ink had barely dried on the marriage license, but the blood on her lip was already clotted. The honeymoon was over before it ever began.
Leela learned the dance quickly-survival instinct as her instructor. She stopped trying to fight him...recovery time was faster that way. Soon enough she trained herself to disconnect from whatever abuse Nick inflicted on her. She learned to focus her mind on a detail somewhere else and disappear.
Once, when he was on a particularly torturous streak, he kicked her down the stairs, drug her by the hair into the center of the basement, and tied her to a chair. After calling her every slur he could think of, he poured oil on her.
Leela was terrified but unwilling to give him the satisfaction of showing it. Instead she stared blankly at the bat in the far corner of the room. It was only a few feet away, but it might as well have been on a different continent as Nick hovered over her, casually flicking his lighter. In that moment, a smoldering anger deep inside of her ignited into silent rage. That was the beginning of the end of Leela.
*******
Kalinda: “as long as we both shall live”
As far as anyone knew, she died accidentally in the early morning house fire, but, in truth, Nick succeeded in killing Leela. She had promised to spend the rest of her life with him. Instead she died a slow and humiliating death every day in his presence. Enough was enough. Now that Leela was dead, she would have a chance to actually live.
Disappearing into the shadows beyond the sirens and the chaos of the predawn blaze, Kalinda was born. She emerged, as a phoenix from the ashes, arriving in a new city just in time to meld anonymously into the morning commute.
A new day, a new identity. Kalinda would not be a victim. She would not show weakness to anyone. She would not be content with the scraps others offered her. She would take what she wanted without excuse or hesitation or remorse.
*******
Peter: “forsaking all others”
Peter loved his wife. He cherished his family. But this vixen in front of him promised, “One night, no repercussions,” and he gave into the temptation. The excitement of the forbidden proved too irresistible. It brought out his inner fraternity boy, a wild and reckless side that he told himself Alicia had become too prim and proper to appreciate.
He told himself that having an outlet like this would make him a better, more stable husband and family man. He told himself it was just another form of business transaction on the Chicago political fast track...payment in kind for services rendered...albeit of a completely different variety. He promised himself that Alicia and the kids couldn't be hurt by this because they wouldn't know it ever happened.
*******
Alicia: “in good times and in bad, from this day forward”
Alicia promised herself she wouldn't be like her parents. She wouldn't fracture her children's sense of security and stability. She promised herself she wouldn't be a failure. She wouldn't break up their home-their family. She promised herself she would make it work-somehow.
Amid the boxes and the packing tape, Alicia promised herself she would not be a victim of Peter's lies ever again. “Fool me once-shame on you. Fool me twice-shame on me,” she thought. Bitterness and heartache intertwined into a steely resolve as she handed him his new apartment keys. She promised herself that she was doing the right thing by walking away, even though it felt like her life was coming apart at the seams as her lifelong anchor of promises broke apart.
I know the abuse theory isn't popular, but it seems as likely as anything else to me when it comes to Kalinda's past. I hope you enjoy. :)
Nick: “honor and cherish”
Back and forth. Life was a constant state of opposites. One minute it was, “I love you, baby.” The next brought bruises and broken ribs. A night would start with, “I want to take you out for dinner...show you off” but often ended with her inebriated husband cursing at her in front of the entire restaurant. Humiliation was his forte.
On their wedding day, Nick had promised to honor and cherish her; by evening he had chosen a different path. The ink had barely dried on the marriage license, but the blood on her lip was already clotted. The honeymoon was over before it ever began.
Leela learned the dance quickly-survival instinct as her instructor. She stopped trying to fight him...recovery time was faster that way. Soon enough she trained herself to disconnect from whatever abuse Nick inflicted on her. She learned to focus her mind on a detail somewhere else and disappear.
Once, when he was on a particularly torturous streak, he kicked her down the stairs, drug her by the hair into the center of the basement, and tied her to a chair. After calling her every slur he could think of, he poured oil on her.
Leela was terrified but unwilling to give him the satisfaction of showing it. Instead she stared blankly at the bat in the far corner of the room. It was only a few feet away, but it might as well have been on a different continent as Nick hovered over her, casually flicking his lighter. In that moment, a smoldering anger deep inside of her ignited into silent rage. That was the beginning of the end of Leela.
*******
Kalinda: “as long as we both shall live”
As far as anyone knew, she died accidentally in the early morning house fire, but, in truth, Nick succeeded in killing Leela. She had promised to spend the rest of her life with him. Instead she died a slow and humiliating death every day in his presence. Enough was enough. Now that Leela was dead, she would have a chance to actually live.
Disappearing into the shadows beyond the sirens and the chaos of the predawn blaze, Kalinda was born. She emerged, as a phoenix from the ashes, arriving in a new city just in time to meld anonymously into the morning commute.
A new day, a new identity. Kalinda would not be a victim. She would not show weakness to anyone. She would not be content with the scraps others offered her. She would take what she wanted without excuse or hesitation or remorse.
*******
Peter: “forsaking all others”
Peter loved his wife. He cherished his family. But this vixen in front of him promised, “One night, no repercussions,” and he gave into the temptation. The excitement of the forbidden proved too irresistible. It brought out his inner fraternity boy, a wild and reckless side that he told himself Alicia had become too prim and proper to appreciate.
He told himself that having an outlet like this would make him a better, more stable husband and family man. He told himself it was just another form of business transaction on the Chicago political fast track...payment in kind for services rendered...albeit of a completely different variety. He promised himself that Alicia and the kids couldn't be hurt by this because they wouldn't know it ever happened.
*******
Alicia: “in good times and in bad, from this day forward”
Alicia promised herself she wouldn't be like her parents. She wouldn't fracture her children's sense of security and stability. She promised herself she wouldn't be a failure. She wouldn't break up their home-their family. She promised herself she would make it work-somehow.
Amid the boxes and the packing tape, Alicia promised herself she would not be a victim of Peter's lies ever again. “Fool me once-shame on you. Fool me twice-shame on me,” she thought. Bitterness and heartache intertwined into a steely resolve as she handed him his new apartment keys. She promised herself that she was doing the right thing by walking away, even though it felt like her life was coming apart at the seams as her lifelong anchor of promises broke apart.