Journey

“I'm sorry” was all she could manage.

“Don't be,” Maddy said soothingly, stopping at a garden chair, so the woman could sit down and regain her composure. “Would you like a glass of water?” Janet shook her head, as Maddy tried not to stare at her, and she blew her nose, and looked at Maddy. There was suddenly something very compelling about her, as their eyes met.

“I don't know what to do,” she said in a quavering voice, which actually touched Maddy.

“Can I help in some way?” She wondered if the woman was ill, or if something was wrong with one of her children, she seemed so distraught, and so profoundly unhappy. Maddy couldn't even imagine what it could be.

“There's nothing anyone can do.” She sounded desperate and hopeless. “I don't know what to do,” she repeated. “It's Paul. He hates me.”

“Of course he doesn't, I'm sure he doesn't,” Maddy said, feeling stupid, with no knowledge whatsoever of the situation. For all she knew, he did hate her. “Why would he?”

“He has for years. He tortures me. He had to marry me because I got pregnant.”

“In this day and age, he wouldn't still be there if he didn't want to be.” Their oldest child was twelve, and they'd had two children since then. Although Maddy had to admit she had never seen Paul be pleasant to her. It was one of the things she disliked about him.

“We can't afford to get a divorce, and Paul says it would hurt him politically.” It was a possibility, certainly, but other politicians had survived it. And then, Janet took her breath away with her next statement. “He beats me.” Something in Maddy's blood ran cold as she heard the other woman say it. And with that, Janet gingerly pulled up her sleeve, and Maddy could see ugly bruises. She had heard unpleasant stories about his violent temper and arrogant attitude over the years, and now this confirmed it to her.

“I'm so sorry, Janet.” She didn't know what to say, but her heart went out to her and all she wanted to do was hug her. “Don't stay,” Maddy said softly. “Don't let him do that. I was married to a man like that for nine years.” She knew all too well what it was like, although she had spent the last eight years trying to forget him.

“How did you get out?” They were suddenly like two prisoners of the same war, whispering in the garden.

“I ran away,” Maddy said, sounding braver than she'd been at the time, and she wanted to be honest with this woman. “I was terrified. Jack helped me.” But this woman had no Jack Hunter. She wasn't young or beautiful, she had no hope, no career, no way out, and she had three children to take with her. It was very different.

“He says he'll kill me if I go and take the kids. And he says if I tell anyone, he'll put me in a mental institution. He did that once, after my little girl was born. They gave me electric shock treatment.” Maddy thought they should have given it to him, in places that would have really mattered to him, but she didn't say that to Janet. Just thinking of what the woman was going through and seeing her bruises made Maddy feel heartsick for her.

“You have to get help. Why don't you go to a safe house?” Maddy suggested.

“I know he'll find me. He'll kill me.” Janet sobbed as she said it.

“I'll help you.” Maddy volunteered without hesitating. She had to do something for this woman. She felt guiltier than ever for never having liked her. But she needed help now, and as a survivor of the same agony she felt she owed it to her to help her. “I'll find out about some places for you to go with the kids.”

“It'll wind up in the papers,” Janet said, still crying, and feeling helpless.

“It'll wind up in the papers if he kills you,” Maddy said firmly. “Promise me you'll do something. Does he hurt the children?” Janet shook her head, but Maddy knew it was more complicated than that. Even if he didn't touch them, he was distorting their minds and terrifying them, and one day the girls would marry men like their father, just as Maddy had, and maybe their son would think it was acceptable to beat his women. No one emerged unscathed from a home where their mother was beaten. It had led Maddy straight into the arms of Bobby Joe, and led her to believe that he had a right to do it.

And as Maddy took Janet's hand in her own, they heard the men approaching, and Janet quickly withdrew it, and within an instant, she was stone-faced. It was as though the conversation had never taken place, as the two men walked into the garden.

That night when they were alone, Maddy told Jack what had happened.

“He beats her,” she said, still feeling sick about it.

“Paul?” Jack looked surprised. “I doubt that. He's kind of a gruff guy, but I don't think he'd do a thing like that. How do you know?”

“Janet told me,” Maddy said, staunchly her friend now. They finally had something in common.

“I wouldn't take that too seriously,” Jack said quietly. “Paul told me years ago, she has mental problems.”

“I saw the bruises,” Maddy said, looking angry. “I believe her, Jack. I've been there.”