i witnessed....

domestic violence in full force....

yesterday afternoon....a friend borrowed my phone while at sauced.....she had lost her phone the night before...while celebrating the victory of our president elect..... just after getting in my car... i noticed i had several v-mails...which i'm not very good at checking...for some reason i did... i had driven about 4 blocks...when i heard a message for andrea from her mother... so i quickly turned around and went to find her... she had gone to a friends apartment to rest... suffering from a bit of a cold mixed with a draught beer hangover....

i pulled into the rather shady parking lot of the run down building.... one would think condemned.... no doors on the front or back... i walked around the building calling out to andrea....not sure which apartment she was in.... luckily one of the construction guys was in the front and directed me to rich's place.... most of the apartments were being remodeled.... only 3 were occupied... rich's being one... a tiny apartment... the living room converted into the bedroom...the actual bedroom was the size of a closet and no way could a bed of any size fit... well decorated... very clean...pretty cool little place.....rich covered in tattoos was lying in bed...recovering from a broken collar bone... handing andrea my phone... telling her..."your mom called and needs you to call her".... rich and i visited while andrea returned her mother's call... about 10 minutes after arriving.... the muffled sound of a man yelling and a women screaming from the apartment next door began to vibrate the walls... the mans voice became louder and louder...hearing every word clearly...."you fucking bitch" the woman began screaming the sound of slapping over and over....you fucking bitch.... screaming....hitting....louder louder... hearing her body being thrown and hitting the walls... more slapping and yelling you fucking bitch.... afraid to open the door and look into the hall... for fear of being seen... for fear of what i might see.... the violence became unbearable... i finally stepped into the hall and yelled..."HEY"...as loud as i could...hoping the man would hear me.... he yelled even louder....there was no stopping this man from beating the woman....going back inside...locking the door... rich called the landlord...me pacing back and forth...andrea talking...omg... finally i couldn't stand another second... grabbing my phone.... thinking to myself this has to stop... calling 9 1 1... my voice shaking.... telling the woman on the other end....a woman is being beaten next door.... he is beating the holy shit out of her.... over and over again...relaying the address...somehow...she continued to repeat....walker and south santa fe.... no no....NW 28th and walker.... she wanted a description of the man... i couldn't see him... after several minutes....of trying to explain where we were....frustrated i stepped into the hall..there they were....the man standing with his back to me... firmly planted....feet spread shoulder width apart...hands on his hips...yelling at the petite woman.... another guy had intervened...calming his friend... all i could see was his shirt...brown plaid...jeans....black man... i was told to stay on the line...don't go...stay with me.... i couldn't stop shaking....tears...were building in my eyes...i was witnessing something i had only seen on tv.... it was like "COPS" .... my heart racing....hands trembling....all three of us...looking at each other...helpless... there was nothing we could do but wait...for the police... finally...a tall handsome officer.... walks in the back.... i looked at him....saying your not alone are you? the officer didn't acknowledge my question...no expression on his face....andrea told him where to go..... we decided to wait inside rich's place...not wanting to be seen...then realizing it was most likely better to go while the police was there.... so we gathered our things....sneaking out the back.... just after backing out of the parking lot onto walker.... out walked the officer and a man in handcuffs.... wearing a black leather jacket...the officer opened the door...motioning him to get in.... thank god....they arrested him.... thank god... they took him away... my body was shaking from the inside out.... uncontrollably.... i looked at andrea...saying... i need a shot.... i need a shot now....
i could have gone my entire life without witnessing this... the thing is...he will be released...the wife most likely will not press charges...and upon his return... he will do the same thing again.... perhaps this time worse... because he thinks she called the police.... questioning myself...did i do the right thing....or did i just make things worse for this woman...?
i do know... for a few hours...no one will be beating her... no one will be yelling at her... she will be safe... for a while...safe from the anger... the bruises.... the slapping and hitting...