From the Outside… Close to home…
I need more money… I need it to buy some supplies… it’s that time of the month… I need some money to buy some pain killers…. I need… Could I have $20?
The times that there was a request for money for something were incredible…. I new something was up, but I didn’t know what…
From the outside I watched the ferry roll in. It had been a long night for them but they had a cabin thank goodness because at least she could hide the bruises. After a long night on the ferry, they finally arrived for us to take them to a place they should have been able to call home…
I noticed a bruise and asked about it… out of idle curiosity mostly… she had a fall… instincts told me otherwise and when we had a few moments alone I asked her… ‘No, it was only a fall…’
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months… the need for money continued. They were renting a small unit and the rent wasn’t paid… things started happening… but at the same time they were hidden from people on the outside.
Until one night there was a cry outside. He was looking for her… he admitted to beating her… but he didn’t mean it.
I had a call from her and found out where she was. He had beaten her because he had no money to place another bet. He had beaten her because… but he didn’t mean it. He never meant to hurt her… if she had just…
Yep her fault again for his inability to control his addiction, but it wasn’t his fault…
I visited her at a Women’s refuge where other women were trying to persuade her not to go back to him. This place was hidden… but somehow he found her and because he had drummed it into her head that no one would ever want someone like her, she went back to him… love is strange really, but so is emotional and mental blackmail.
They moved to a different city, the bashing continued, the need for money continued. He stole; he sold everything to get a couple of bucks. He sold belongings that didn’t belong to him… anything he could get his hands on.
When he lost or when he didn’t have money, he defused his anger by beating his girl. Finally they had no where else to live and his grandfather took them in. She finally had a job, but the first day she arrived she had a black eye…
Finally there was something for her to live for. A light at the end of the tunnel… a guy I know helped her get the job. He was almost like a grandfather to her but she had some relief from that anal wart… She could live her life…
But he hated her being far from him. I guess he was worried that she would tell all. But the bruises he left was enough for others to know what was happening. A girl can only fall down so many times…
With the help of a friend who took her in, she was free of him. He was told not to go anywhere near her…
But the scars of what happened will last forever… it is easy to get on with life but it is hard to forget…
I’m glad this girl has found some stability in life. Every day there are reminders of what happened many years ago but she has the support to help her now.
Gamblers are one thing…. They have an addiction. When they start to inflict physical abuse on others because of their addiction one can only assume that that addiction is going to be hard to beat…
Toni