This morning when I was waiting for the train, I saw a couple who clearly was still out from last night, also waiting. They were fighting. He was saying she was too much trouble and her blowjobs weren't worth staying with her. She was saying he made her crazy and she didn't have time for his shit. I followed protocol and did not look. There was no eye contact. From the way they stayed apart physically but kept yelling at each other you could tell they wanted to draw people in to take sides. If the term "crackwhore" has now floated through your brain, your brain would not be wrong.
The girl was leaning against the wall and to punctuate her points, she'd bang her head against the wall. A mild concussion was definitely in her future. And then he punched her in the face. Like full-on breaking cheekbones punching. I kept looking forward. Finally the train came, I got on, and was carried away through the tunnel far away from the guy who would punch a girl in the face in front of a witness. What is he willing to do to her in private?
All day I couldn't get it out of my head. The sound of her head hitting the wall over and over. The sound that came out of her mouth as he punched her. Hearing the bone crack. How she didn't stop screaming at him that she didn't have time while he punched. When I got home, I had to tell Josh about it. It was haunting me.
The problem was not that he was hitting her. I mean sure that's a problem. But you know. The problem was that she didn't seem shocked and horrified. This was not a new thing for her and that made me really, really sad. Maybe she grew up with a mother who got hit. Maybe physical violence was okay in her home. As much as I got in fights in school, with other kids, it was never at home. Even with how much my lifestyle would change, if Josh ever hit me, even once, I would be out of here in a second.
This isn't the first time I've seen something like this. It won't be the last. As much as I don't want to be haunted, it would suck even more to be jaded and not be haunted.
The girl was leaning against the wall and to punctuate her points, she'd bang her head against the wall. A mild concussion was definitely in her future. And then he punched her in the face. Like full-on breaking cheekbones punching. I kept looking forward. Finally the train came, I got on, and was carried away through the tunnel far away from the guy who would punch a girl in the face in front of a witness. What is he willing to do to her in private?
All day I couldn't get it out of my head. The sound of her head hitting the wall over and over. The sound that came out of her mouth as he punched her. Hearing the bone crack. How she didn't stop screaming at him that she didn't have time while he punched. When I got home, I had to tell Josh about it. It was haunting me.
The problem was not that he was hitting her. I mean sure that's a problem. But you know. The problem was that she didn't seem shocked and horrified. This was not a new thing for her and that made me really, really sad. Maybe she grew up with a mother who got hit. Maybe physical violence was okay in her home. As much as I got in fights in school, with other kids, it was never at home. Even with how much my lifestyle would change, if Josh ever hit me, even once, I would be out of here in a second.
This isn't the first time I've seen something like this. It won't be the last. As much as I don't want to be haunted, it would suck even more to be jaded and not be haunted.
3 comments:
What a horrible image to have stuck in your head all day...
Truly a haunting experience. As you said, it's heartbreaking that that is 'normal' for her.
It is horrible to witness a person being brutal to another and scary when you feel that you may be in danger if you intervene. But next time, there are things that you can do to possibly help, if you did not do so you can yell to the conductor as the train pulls up or you can yell into the subway car when you get in that there's a man punching a woman RIGHT THERE! or you can call 911 when you're inside the subway car.
A small act sometimes makes a huge difference.
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