Save Me

by Grady, D. R.

  “Mallen, I just got off the phone with Julia, Jared’s sister. Her boyfriend is beating her.” She explained everything that had occurred the night before, her words running together in a jumbled haste. “I think her threw her phone.”

  “Where is Jared?” Mallen’s calm voice settled over Annie, soothing some of her panic.

  “He’s teaching. He barely has time for supper before he goes right back into a night class. They went to warn Julia’s boyfriend off today. She didn’t know. What if he’s taking his anger out on her?”

  “Hang up, mon cheri, and go to her. He will stop if you are there. Call me as soon as you are finished.” Annie heard the coldness in his voice and was relieved and grateful. Mallen Saltaire was huge and very sweet. Unless someone decided to hurt a woman or child. Then he was huge and nasty as a mother grizzly bear with cubs.

  “Okay,” she agreed, grateful to have a plan.

  Following Mallen’s orders, she raced out of the house and into her car. She made the drive to Julia’s in near panic. Hurtling into a parking spot, she was out of the little car before the bright machine stopped completely. Annie took the stairs three at a time in her haste to reach Julia. When she hit the stairway entrance she could hear commotion.

  Mrs. Halbert, brandishing a sturdy looking rolling pin, streaked across the hall, Annie, on her heels. Together, they slammed the door open and then stopped in astonishment. George was holding Julia, cradling her, crooning to her.

  They stared in disbelief until Annie’s anger escalated when she saw the blood oozing from Julia’s lip and the bruises that marred both arms where her T-shirt didn’t cover. Julia held herself oddly, like she hurt. Her body was stiff.

  Annie growled. “Get out of here, you...” George’s head snapped up and she didn’t like the look in his eyes.

  “I’m comforting Julia.”

  “After you beat her. Get out,” Annie bellowed. When she advanced toward them, George dumped Julia off his lap and lunged for Mrs. Halbert, an elderly woman. Annie launched herself at him at the same time Mrs. Halbert did. Switching plans, Annie tugged Julia off to the side while Mrs. Halbert swung her rolling pin with precision and accuracy.

  George howled and tried to yank the pin away from her. Apparently, he hadn’t counted on Mrs. Halbert defending herself. Annie wished she had thought to bring a weapon. A quick search of the room revealed Julia’s Hershey Bears hockey stick. With purpose, Annie grabbed the makeshift weapon and swung. She wasn’t as good as Mrs. Halbert, but her swings still connected. Fueled by the violence of her fear and anger, her connections were solid.

  “How’s it feel to be on the receiving end, George?” Annie taunted as she swung the hockey stick with renewed vengeance.

  Together, she and Mrs. Halbert drove George to the door. They continued their defensive assault and were surprised when Mr. Lemont, from the apartment beside Mrs. Halbert, joined the fray. He was a little old man, but that cane of his proved as vicious as Mrs. Halbert’s rolling pin. When they drove George to the stairwell, Annie touched him for the first time. She pushed with all her strength and sent him tumbling down the stairs.

  She noticed with satisfaction that although he caught himself far too fast, his own lip now bled and one of them had managed to break his glasses, which hung from one ear, the lenses shattered. Annie hoped he ran into a telephone pole. He turned to look up at them, but on seeing the three shoulder to shoulder with weapons raised and eyes snapping, he turned tail and ran.

  “Sorry for being so late, loves,” Mr. Lemont apologized, “But I thought perhaps I’d better call the police. The operator stayed on the line with me, heard everything I heard. Plus, I made certain the security cameras were on.”

  “I heard the commotion when I got home. Figured who was causing the ruckus and decided to help the lass,” Mrs. Halbert added her own apologies for arriving late to the battle.

  “Thank you both for coming to Julia’s aid. We appreciate it,” Annie assured them.

  “Julia.” Annie gasped when she realized they had left her sister-in-law alone. Turning she sprinted back to Julia’s apartment. Mrs. Halbert and Mr. Lemont hurried after her. When they entered, Julia lay heaped on the floor, her arms clasped over her head, as if to ward off more blows. She cried softly to herself, but her sobs were silent, as though she didn’t want to call attention to herself.

  Annie sank to the floor beside her, and with gentleness she wrapped the beaten woman into her arms. Julia resisted for a moment, and then turned to the comfort of Annie’s embrace.

  “There now, girly, it’s okay,” Mrs. Halbert crooned as she stroked a hand down Julia’s hair. Mr. Lemont propped both hands on his cane and said with authority, “You can do far better than that idiot, young lady. You hand that jerk his walking papers.”

  Surprised at the gasp of laughter Annie felt ripple through Julia, she stared for a moment. Her sister-in-law turned a tear-stained, battered face to the two older people. “You’ve been telling me this for a long time Mr. Lemont. Are you certain you’re already taken?” Julia’s voice quivered, and her shoulders slumped, but some long buried spirit was still there.

  Annie’s eyes widened. George might have hurt her, but he hadn’t broken her...yet. Her mouth firmed. She would see that he wasn’t offered the chance, ever, to try again. Her thoughts drifted to Mallen. He probably had some helpful suggestions.

  “I am taken, lass. But there are plenty of other good men out there, just get rid of the one you are with, please?” Annie didn’t miss the intimate look that passed between Mrs. Halbert and Mr. Lemont. She smiled, in spite of the situation.

  “I’ll have to trust you on that one, Mr. Lemont.” Julia’s voice sounded raw and scratchy.

  “You do that, girly,” Mrs. Halbert said decisively. “Plenty of good men out there, you just have to know which ones to keep and which ones to throw away. Yours today is one to exterminate.”

  “Precisely, my dear.” Mr. Lemont beamed at her. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes before Mr. Lemont offered her his arm in a gallant, Old World gesture. Mrs. Halbert accepted with grace and together they waved goodbye and left. “I must say, my love, superior swinging.” Mr. Lemont commented as they entered the older woman’s apartment.

  “Yes, I am rather good, aren’t I,” she trilled.

  Annie turned her attention from the older folk in love to Julia. She helped her to stand and then turned her in the direction of the bedroom. Annie sat her on the bed, and made a thorough check of Julia.

  Her lip continued to bleed and Annie dabbed at it with disinfectant before handing an ice pack she found in the freezer to Julia. Once she was satisfied she had taken care of the worst of Julia’s injuries, Annie opened the closet to pull down an overnight bag.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You have the Ph.D., Doctor Neuro-Biologist, you tell me.”

  Julia’s mouth twisted downward. “You’d never know from my choice of male companions that I hold an advanced degree.”

  “Stop, right now. George is nasty but he’s also slick. He waited over six months in the relationship before he started to display abusive tendencies. Now, what do you sleep in?”

  Julia wearily, achingly directed Annie in the packing of her bag. A police officer arrived before they finished. She turned out to be a wonderful young powerhouse with auburn hair whose nametag read McCully. Officer McCully asked questions, took both their statements, and offered genuine sympathy.

  Julia drank some of Annie’s excellent tea and ate some of Jared’s delicious frosted sugar cookies before she trudged off to bed. She was grateful to be staying with them, but saddened her choices had put her in such danger. Before she finished showering, her head fell against the wall. As she watched the water spiral down the drain, she wondered why she lived.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning, when she arrived at work, Julia began her experiment, finished up some notes, then took herself off to the rest room. She also needed a coffee refill, after s
he took care of her bladder.

  She washed her hands and shook off the excess water. While she tugged a towel free she noticed the paper taped to the towel dispenser. It was just a plain sheet of white paper printed with black lettering. But the contents made Julia’s blood run cold.

  Are you being abused?

  The signs of abuse are –

  1. Jealousy – a sign of possessiveness and lack of trust – checks up on you frequently and has told you not to speak to others.

  2. Isolation – gives you seemingly valid reasons why all of your friends and family are unacceptable.

  3. Controlling behavior – makes all of the decisions in the relationship. Your input is not wanted and you are told you have no worthy ideas.

  4. Degrading you in public – you are told you are stupid, ugly, worthless, etc. – often in front of others.

  5. Unrealistic Expectations – expects you to be perfect, while they aren’t certain what perfect is. Makes you feel you are to blame for their wrong actions.

  6. Hypersensitivity – is very easily insulted, will yell at you of the injustice of your bringing the issues and their imperfections to light.

  7. Swift mood changes – becomes enraged easily, but suddenly shifts into a tender, compassionate person. This is especially true after an abusive “episode”.

  8. Verbal Abuse – cursing you, degrading your accomplishments, and informing you often how you can’t function without them.

  9. Physical Abuse – shoving, yanking, punching, slapping, grabbing, and pulling are all examples of physical abuse. (Please be aware there are more.)

  10. Sexual Abuse – telling you if you loved them, you would participate in sexual acts – blackmailing you, coercing you to do anything sexual against your will.

  If your relationship doesn’t feel right, it isn’t.

  A true relationship should feel good and you should feel safe in it. If you have experienced one or more of these signs, you are being abused and we encourage you to please seek help.

  There was a phone number printed at the bottom of the page but Julia couldn’t make out the numbers for the tears welling in her eyes.

  Every one of them she thought as the familiar nausea rose while her legs melted beneath her and she slid down the wall to land with a soft whump. She had experienced every one with George. The situation would have been easier to accept had there only been one or two signs, but every single one was almost as painful as her relationship.

  Julia knew that George hitting her counted as abuse. She thought about the times he had made her kiss him. Of the times he grabbed her breasts and treated them far too forcefully. She often tried to deflect him, but he repeatedly told her she was so fat, no one else would want to touch her. She was so ugly, no one else would want to date her, so she should be appreciative of his willingness to touch her.

  He always then pulled her into his arms and intoned about how he only did the things he did for her own good, that she made him do those things, because she was so silly and stupid.

  Julia’s mouth tilted down as she thought of the few times he mentioned her Ph.D. Each time had been to insinuate she had slept with her professors to earn her credentials. Of course, George always made the comments in a joking tone accompanied by a laugh. He then usually hinted that he would like to know what additional sexual favors she had performed for her advanced degree.

  His teasing dismayed her then, and sickened her now. Julia finally understood he hadn’t been joking.

  Lunging to her feet, she sprinted to the nearest stall and emptied Annie’s lovingly prepared breakfast into the toilet. Julia heaved for several moments afterwards; her stomach lurching at the upheaval, her brain telling her she was stupid and silly.

  When the spasms passed, she closed her eyes as the involuntary tears that had appeared when she began vomiting now became voluntary. She curled into a tight, helpless ball on the cold, hard tiled floor and cried. A defeated, hopeless creature who had lost her dignity, her reason, her hope, her very will to live.

  ***

  James Angard of Angard, Smithton, and Chalmers slammed into the office of George A. Chalmers III. He had moments ago hung up the phone with his wife Nancy. Jared and Jonathan McNeal followed on his heels. Julia McNeal was the daughter of one of his closest friends. James had no intention of watching her be abused by one of his associates. Therefore he didn’t stop Jared from grabbing George by the neck and yanking him out of his chair.

  The infuriated McNeal slammed George against the wall with such force that the picture hanging there rocked, swung, and then crashed to the floor.

  George paled. “What are you doing?”

  Jared McNeal turned all hostile male. He sneered at George. “You think I missed my sister’s split lip last night? You think I missed the bruises on her arms? You think I missed the marks on her ribs and abdomen? You think I missed the look in her eyes?” Jared’s voice lowered to a dangerous, hair-rising cadence, the nuances that of a deadly predator who had discovered vermin in his territory.

  Chalmers shuddered, but didn’t deny anything. “She’s a silly, stupid, ugly woman and she should be happy I’m willing to have her.”

  Jonathan growled deep in his throat and he crossed the distance in seconds. His fist slammed into the man’s solar plexus with the force of a runaway train. Jared unclasped his hand from around George’s throat and the man crumpled to the floor.

  “No, Chalmers, you’re not willing to have her. As a matter of fact, you’re probably going to become someone’s girlfriend real soon.” Jonathan’s voice was no less dangerous than Jared’s.

  “The police should be here any moment now.” James Angard kept his voice even. “By the way, Chalmers, your name is, as I speak, being removed from this company. We don’t associate with rodents like you. It’s a shame too, as your grandfather and father were both decent men.” James had never cared for George, and now he wished he had given in to his instincts and denied the man a job.

  “You can’t fire me. I own a portion.”

  “No, your mother owns that portion and since she’s disowned you, she specifically requested you be terminated from this office. She is ashamed of you.”

  “My mother wouldn’t believe anything you said.”

  “My wife told her what she herself heard from your very lips last evening and she has also seen troubling bruises on Julia’s arms. Your mother then called Annie McNeal and heard the rest from her. It was enough to verify what she had already expected.”

  “You can’t prove anything.”

  “Oh, but we can. We have the apartment complex security cameras to back us up. Julia’s neighbors have all promised to testify against you. There are many of them who phoned – the police were inundated with calls last evening. Julia has also agreed to a restraining order against you, which I’m personally seeing to.”

  “She can’t do this, she’s nothing.”

  “She already has.” James’ voice was cold.

  “I’ll call the cops about how you’ve threatened me. I’ll show them your abuse. I’ll tell them you’re afraid of me. I’ll tell them everything.” His voice rose to maniacal tones.

  “Save your whining for someone who cares, Chalmers. I told you if I got another call about you, I’d make sure you didn’t see the light of day again, and guess what, you made my day.” A new voice spoke behind them and they all turned to see a small, auburn haired woman in a police uniform tear into the room. “This is what, the third woman you’ve hurt?”

  “Go to...” Chalmers tried to spit, but the cop interrupted him.

  “Ah, resisting arrest I see.” She read him his rights.

  “I’m not resisting arrest,” George sputtered. James and both McNeals backed up the cop, whose nametag read McCully. James again felt pity for Mrs. Chalmers.

  The tough young woman led George off, oblivious to the man’s threats and accusations.

  “We’ve still got a problem.” Jared’s jaw was clenched so hard, James wondered i
f it might crack.

  “Yes, they won’t be able to hold him for long.”

  “His mother won’t help him. I believe she’s actually fearful of what he’s become since he grew to adulthood. But he’s still got plenty of resources of his own he can use to make bail.” James shoved an agitated hand through his hair.

  “Julia won’t be safe,” Jared muttered grimly.

  The men stared at one another, helpless as to what to do about Julia’s safety. James didn’t fool himself into believing the restraining order would actually help. Chalmers appeared to have crossed a line somewhere in the last hour.

  Which meant Julia was still, without question, in danger.

  ***

  Julia sighed wearily. Her boss had found her on the bathroom floor and in her own way pulled Julia from the depths of her despair. She helped Julia wash her face and guided her down the hall for strong coffee.

  Eventually Julia had rallied and returned to her lab bench to finish out the day. She worked on anything that crossed her desk or bench with a frenzied energy, shoving any thoughts of her tattered personal life away.

  George was in jail. She wasn’t certain how they managed that, as the police hadn’t witnessed the domestic violence, but she didn’t care either, Julia realized. He was behind bars tonight, which meant she was safe. For now.

  The troubling thought trailed her back to Jared and Annie’s house.

  Tomorrow would have to take care of itself.

  Annie greeted her at the door. Her smile warmed Julia.

  “You know you can stay with us as long as you need, right?”

  “Yes. But I have to get on with my life. I can’t live in fear all the time.”

  “George is in prison right now, but once he makes bail, what are you going to do?”

  She shoved a hank of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. I think I’ll sign up for self-defense classes.”

  “Have you done so yet?”