Mindset (2 page)

Callie gathered her strength and struggled to focus her eyes to look at the monster that was her fiancé – former fiancé – and wondered how she could have missed seeing his true nature the last couple of months they’d been seeing each other.  What happened to the suave, debonair man who swept her away in a whirlwind romance?  In his place was this hideous monster that was in the process of beating the shit out of her and was waiting for her to agree with his insane proclamations.  She struggled to speak through her already swollen lip and focused on his mottled expression and slowly, calmly stated in a low voice, “You go to hell.”

Richard expression was first surprised, then livid as he raised his other hand and backhanded her so hard, she saw stars and fell face down onto the polished hard wood floor of his brother’s Park Avenue apartment, her waist length raven hair a silky curtain covering her newly damaged face.  When she tried to get up and found she did not have the strength, she knew she was in real trouble and, for the first time in a long time, tasted the bitter flavor of fear.

She leaned up on one arm and flipped her hair out of her eyes, trying to clear her head in time to try to avoid the next inevitable blow.  Just when she was bracing herself, she caught a blur of movement behind him.  She heard a dull thud, and instead of her taking the expected hit, she watched as Richard sank down at her feet, unconscious.  Eva was standing directly behind him with a heavy brass book end in the shape of a horse’s head in both hands, breathing heavily.  She dropped her makeshift weapon and started shaking all over.

“My name is Eva.  Not Eve.” 

Callie looked up at her friend, one of her eyes already swelling shut.  “Shit, Eva!  Remind me to never mispronounce your name, girlfriend.  Can you believe that son of a bitch actually hit me?  I’m calling the police and having them drag his ass to jail.”

“No, Callie.  What you need to do is get out of here before my husband gets home and your fiancé wakes up.”

“That’s ex-fiancé.  And of course I am calling the police.  That bastard isn’t going to get away with this.  I can’t believe he thinks he can hit me and I’ll just put up with it and him.  He obviously doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does.  I’m no man’s doormat.”

Eva looked at the best friend she had ever had.  She had to make her understand.  “I’m telling you, you have to get out of here.  Calling the police won’t work.  Their father serves on the city council.  He golfs with the mayor, for God’s sake.  You have to listen to me; I know what I’m talking about.  I’ve tried to get help for over two years, since I married James.  Nobody here will help you.  Believe me, I know.”  Tears began falling quietly, and the girl she’d known for years and had just recently renewed her friendship with added quietly, “I know, because I guess I am a doormat.  And I don’t want to be one anymore.”

“Eva, what are you talking about?  Are you telling me that James…oh my God, Eva.  Two weeks ago when you told me you fell?  When we first double dated and you said you’d run into the door half asleep in the middle of the night?  Jesus, Eva!  How long has James been beating you?”

Eva lowered her eyes then refocused on Callie and said slowly, “Almost since the beginning, and on so many occasions, I’ve lost count.  In the beginning, the whole first year, I tried to leave, to get help, to file police reports.  I even went to their father.  You know what he told me?  He said I should be grateful his son married me and provided every luxury for me.  He said I needed to be more appreciative and quit trying to cause problems.  He said there’s no such thing as divorce in their family, that James was under a lot of stress, and I should be more supportive.  After all, I would be just another poor Latina on welfare if he hadn’t lowered his standards and married me.  They’ve always had a problem with my ancestry, which is why they always insisted on calling me Eve, instead of Eva.”

 “I tried to leave twice, Callie.  Both times he came after me.  He put me in the hospital the second time.  Then, he threatened my mother.  After that, I stopped trying.  I don’t have my own money anymore like you, Callie.  I gave up modeling when I married James, and he made sure I couldn’t get work afterwards.  I don’t have any college education.  I don’t have anywhere I can go.  My mother died a year ago.  I don’t have any family, and you’re the only friend I have left.  James made sure of that. 

“The only reason I’ve been able to keep in touch with you is because Richard wanted to get to know you.  I’m so sorry, Callie, I should never have introduced you to him; I just didn’t realize that’s why James allowed me to keep our friendship alive, if distant.  And I swear to God, I never knew Richard was violent like his brother.  He always seemed supportive when I spoke to him.  He said he was trying to get James to go to counseling.”

“Listen to me, Eva.  You and I started out modeling together when we were still teenagers.  We’ve know each other for what, ten years?  You’re coming with me, and we’re getting out of here.  We’ll go to my family home in Texas.  My granddad and my brothers will help us, and they’ll know what to do.  Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Callie, I’m afraid.  He’ll only come after me again.  You’re not married to Richard yet.  You can still escape, but it’s too late for me.”

“You listen to me Evita.  It’s not too late for you.  You’re coming with me.  Now.  Go pack some clothes.”

Eva smiled sadly, “No one’s called me Evita since my mother died.  I don’t know, Callie, James will be home soon.  What if he comes home and catches me packing, …the last time I tried to leave him, he said he’ kill me and make it look like an accident if I ever ran again.  I know he meant it.”

“What do you think he’ll do when he sees what you did to his brother?”

“Oh my God, you’re right.  He’ll kill me.  Honest to God, I think he’ll kill me.  You’re right, I have to go, but I’m not going with you.  I won’t involve you in this any more than I already have.”

“I’m already involved due to my own stupidity and poor judgment.  I should have known better when he first started to try to pull me away from my family and pressured me into quitting the agency.  He never would come home to meet my family, kept making excuses and didn’t want me to go home for visits.  I’ve cancelled two trips home since we started dating seriously, which is probably a good thing since he doesn’t know where I used to live, other than in Texas.” 

“Look, we’ll figure it all out as we go, but we’ve definitely got to go.  We’ll go to Texas, and it’ll all be ok, you’ll see.  My brother, Josh, is a lawyer.  He’ll help you get a divorce.  He’ll find some way to get you out of this, get a restraining order or something in the meantime.  Eva, are you listening to me?  We’ve got to get out of here!”

“Callie, you don’t know how much I want to do exactly that, but I don’t see how I can leave.  I don’t have any money of my own except for a few thousand dollars my mother left me that James never knew about.  I don’t know how I’m going to support myself.  I don’t even own my own car anymore.  I can’t ask you to just take me in, for God’s sake.”

“Screw that!  You just knocked out the asshole that beat the crap out of me.  I owe you.  Besides, what are friends for, anyway?  Hell, we’re more like sisters.  Half the people we know think we’re related, we look so much alike.  We’ll sort it all out later.  Right now, we have got to get out of here before James gets home from work. He should be here in what, two or three hours?  Now, go pack some things, and let’s get the hell out of Dodge.”

“I don’t want anything from here.  Just let me get my purse and the key to my safety deposit box.  Callie, I’m so scared.  He’ll comeafter me, I know it.  I don’t want to bring my problems to you and your family.”

“I know you’re scared, and I know you’re used to being alone.  You may not have any family, but I do.  My granddad and two, well, really more like three brothers who will help us, make sure these jerks don’t ever get to us.”  She tried again to get up and, with a bone deep moan, added, “Damn, you’re going to have to help me.  I’m still seeing stars here. That bastard.  We better tie Richard up, so he can’t tip James off that we’ve left.  That should give us a few hours head start, anyway.  We’d better drive rather than fly.  We can stick to the back roads, and we’ll be harder to find, in case they come after us.  And we probably shouldn’t use credit cards.  They can be traced.  At least that’s what all the TV shows and movies I’ve seen say.  We should look at this as an adventure, Eva.” 

Her friend gave her a “You’re crazy” look and helped her stand up.

****

Eva stretched in the driver’s seat of Callie’s red Jeep Cherokee.  It had been a long night.  After rushing to Callie’s apartment and packing as many clothes and necessities that would fit in the jeep and making a quick stop at Eva’s safety deposit box to clean out her inheritance and a few odds and ends of more sentimental rather than monetary value, the two friends hit the road heading towards the desert country of the southwest towards El Paso, Texas. 

Callie had fallen asleep in the back seat while Eva drove.  The sun was up now, and Eva believed they were far enough away from New York that it was safe to stop for something to eat.  Funny how everything was relative.  As beatings go, especially the kind she was used to, Callie’s was relatively minor.  A little blood, a few bruises, some swelling.  By leaving, hopefully Callie would never have to suffer from the internal damage that was a part of every battered woman’s life.  Not broken bones or internal bleeding, both of which she’d experienced firsthand.  Even those injuries faded with time.  It was the damage to the soul that never really healed.  She knew all about that.

Callie started to stir and sat up with a groan.  “Where are we?  I can’t believe it’s morning already and that I slept through the night.  I’m so sorry you had to drive this whole time by yourself.  You must be exhausted, Evita. 

“Actually, I’m wired.  I’m also hopeful for the first time in a long time.  I thought we might stop for breakfast at the next town.  How sore are you, sweetie?”

“I’ve been better, that’s for sure, but I’ll make it.  Reminds me of the time I got thrown from a horse at the ranch.  Everything hurts.  How’s the swelling look?”

“I’ve seen worse, but I know how that must hurt.  I’m sorry.”

“I’ll be ok.  I’m more pissed off, than anything else.  How could I be so stupid?  How could I not see this coming?  No man has ever hit me in my life.  How did he fool me like that?  How could I be so blind, so stupid?”

“Believe it or not, I can answer all those questions and more.  It starts with the little things.  Asking you to change your outfit, because he doesn’t want you showing off what belongs to him alone.  At first it seems kind of nice that someone loves you so much that he is possessive of you and doesn’t want to share you.  You think he cherishes you and wants to protect you.”

“Then, he starts monopolizing your time, gets you to cancel get togethers with your girlfriends.  At first you don’t really notice, because he fills your time by taking you to all the nicest places and spares no expense on your outings together.  He convinces you that he thinks you hung the moon and wants nothing more than to make you the happiest woman in the world, if you’ll only marry him, and he buys you a beautiful ring.  You think you’ve found Prince Charming, and before you know it, you give up your career and turn over all your money and your freedom to him, let him make all your decisions for you.” 

“Then one day, the façade starts to slip.  You finally decide to question something or you dare to disagree, and he gets mad and screams obscenities at you, tells you you’re stupid.  You’re shocked, and he apologizes, and you forgive him.  After all, he has a stressful job, so you cut him some slack.  Before long, he doesn’t quit at yelling.  Before long, it escalates into physical abuse, not to mention the continued emotional abuse.  But by the time that happens, he’s made sure that he’s your whole world.  You don’t have any friends anymore, you don’t have a job.  You didn’t prepare for any other future other than the one he promised you.  He’s stripped you of your self confidence and your self-respect.  You’ve somehow lost yourself, the person you were, and there’s nothing left to do but accept it.”