Break, page 13
Vincent refuses to go down on this sinking ship. “We used to play over there all the time. You were at birthday parties with us, and we’d talk in the summers, too.” He looks at me to back him up.
Ignoring the brief memory of driving past her in the rain where we hit her with water, I ask, “You went to prom with me. Remember that?”
Her anger disappears, but not the frown. She looks away from all of us, choosing to gather up the dishes in front of her to take them into the kitchen without responding.
“Mina?” I call out to her. “No one is trying to upset you, but you did like me enough to go to prom with me.”
Turning around, she grips the dish tightly as she struggles to answer me. “You mean the prom that I attended as a backup? The one where everyone was annoyed that I was there with you? Or the one where, after ten minutes of being there, another girl showed up, and I had to walk home?”
Fuck. I forgot about that.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing for me here. I truly do. There are no words to express how thankful I am that you’ve opened your home and allowed me a day of safety and peace. But please don’t insult me by insisting you were my friends. The day we met, and you all discovered that Danny didn’t like me, you sided with him and never gave me a chance.”
Ethan stands up, moving toward her. She takes a step back from him, halting his movement. “Mina, we never meant for you to think we didn’t like you.”
“You’ve all done nothing but show me you didn’t care for me,” she says, then looks at me. “Danny held the fact that I went to prom with you over my head for years. But not after he ridiculed me because I was a joke to all of you for thinking I could have fit in your group. That turned to him accusing me of thinking you were more attractive than him when I’d asked why none of you ever came to see him after we got married. You all picked on me and teased me relentlessly for years, right along with him.”
Her rant has me feeling defensive, because I know part of what she’s saying is true. She didn’t fit into our group, but so much of what she said is wrong. “We never thought of you as a joke. I don’t understand why you ever married him if he was always treating you so terribly.” It’s a question I’ve always wanted an answer to.
“You all treated me terribly, not just him. And I married him because I didn’t have a choice.” With that, she turns back around to set her plate carefully in the sink, then walks out of the room.
Fucking Walter follows her without a look back at any of us, like he’s chosen sides in a battle I’m just now realizing we’re fighting.
When we hear her footsteps disappearing up the stairs, I shove my hands into my face. “Fuck. What the fuck was that? I don’t remember being that terrible to her. Do you?”
More memories of calling her names and throwing things at her over the fence come to mind. Standing behind Danny as he lit her up for breaking one of his toys. Teasing her for sitting in the corner of the room at birthday parties she was likely was forced to attend. Laughing while our girlfriends pushed her around the hallways.
We weren’t her friends. We were her bullies.
“I don’t think she’s wrong,” Ethan adds unhelpfully.
“Damn. I’m feeling about two inches tall right now, but not gonna lie, kinda loved being told off by her.” Vincent is even more unhelpful.
My mind whirls on how to handle this, and the brief idea of moving her some place where she’ll be more comfortable comes to mind. I immediately shut it down. Aside from the fact that I know she’s safest here, I want to show her I’m not that asshole I was back then.
“We’ll work on that while she’s here,” I say, then ask Vincent, “You bring her file?”
“Yeah, I got it in the car. Want me to grab it now?”
Nodding my head, I say, “Yes. Let’s see what else we’ve been blind to.”
~The File~
PHOTO EVIDENCE:
TEXT MESSAGE EVIDENCE:
EXAMPLE #1
Danny: Where are you?
Danny: You’re not at the grocery store. Your location says you’re on the other side of town. Why are you over there?
Mina: I had to stop by and pick up some rolls for your mom from the bakery. She asked me to grab them for dinner tonight.
Danny: Why didn’t you tell me you were stopping there? You know it bothers me when you change your plans and don’t tell me where you’re going. I love you.
Mina: I’m sorry, it was only ten minutes out of my way.
Danny: When did you talk to mom?
Mina: This morning she texted to have me stop.
Danny: I said I love you, you didn’t respond.
Mina: I’m sorry, I love you too.
Danny: Don’t fucking placate me. I shouldn’t have to ask for affection from my fucking wife.
Mina: I’m sorry Danny. I do love you.
Danny: I know you do. It’d just be nice to hear it from you first.
Mina: I’ll do better. How was your day at work?
Danny: It’s just frustrating to be the only one trying all the time. Who did you see at the grocery store?
Mina: I didn’t see anyone.
Danny: Bullshit. You’re telling me that NO ONE was at the store when you were there? Someone had to check out your groceries for you.
Mina: I did see the cashier there.
Danny: So you DID see and talk to someone. Who was it?
Mina: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch his name.
Danny: Mina! What are you doing right now? Your car isn’t moving. I thought you said that you were only going ten minutes out of your way. You should have been home by now… and HE? You were talking to a guy? Did you flirt with him?
Mina: I’m in the car in the parking lot. I didn’t want to drive while texting. And of course I didn’t flirt with him.
Danny: Why don’t I fucking believe you? You’re running late which means you had to have wasted time talking with someone. If he’s the ONLY one you saw, that means you spent time talking to him. Guys don’t talk to women if they’re not interested in them.
Mina: I swear I didn’t. Please don’t be angry with me.
Danny: I never said I was angry with you. Should I be angry? What did you do that makes you think I’d be angry?
Danny: OF COURSE - no answer… We’ll talk when you get home. Drive safe. I care about you.
EXAMPLES #2-21
EXAMPLE #22
Danny: Mina
Danny: MINA!
Danny: What are you doing? Why aren’t you answering me?
Danny: I swear to God, I’m getting really fucking pissed that you’re not answering me
Danny: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW THAT YOU CAN’T TAKE TWO SECONDS TO ANSWER YOUR GODDAMN HUSBAND!
Danny: MINA!!!!
Danny: Are you ignoring me or something? Are you mad at me? I don’t know what you could be fucking mad about, but it’s fucked up that you’re not responding. I never ignore your messages when you need something.
Danny: We’re going to have words when I get home. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Are you with someone right now?
Danny: It’s now been 15 minutes since I sent that first text. Do you know where my head is going right now, thinking of all the reasons you can’t take two fucking seconds to answer a fucking text message?
Danny: 20 minutes now Mina…
Danny: ANSWER YOUR GODDAMN PHONE! I JUST CALLED YOU AND IT WENT TO VOICEMAIL!!
Mina: I’m sorry Danny. I accidentally left my phone in the other room and didn’t hear it. I was in the shower. I’m sorry I didn’t hear my phone.
Danny: YOU MADE ME FUCKING WORRY LIKE THAT BECAUSE YOU WERE TAKING YOUR SWEET ASS TIME IN THE SHOWER? What the FUCK Mina??
Mina: I’m so sorry Danny. I really didn’t mean to miss your texts.
Danny: This is fucking with my goddamn head! All I wanted was to find out what the hell we’re doing for dinner. Now the rest of my afternoon is ruined because you couldn’t be courteous enough to keep the fucking phone I BOUGHT FOR YOU with you in case of emergencies.
Mina: Danny, I’m sorry. Please, I love you… Please don’t be angry with me. It was an honest mistake. This isn’t something to be angry about.
Danny: You’re trying to minimize how I feel about something by gaslighting me. Making ME feel bad because YOU fucked up.
Mina: You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll keep my phone with me. I promise.
Danny: I love you, you know that, right? It’s not a crime to want to be able to talk to my wife.
Mina: I love you too.
EXAMPLES #23-29
EXAMPLE #30
Danny: I’m sorry baby
Danny: Mina - please, I’m sorry. It was a really bad fucking night. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.
Danny: Baby, you know that’s not me. I would NEVER hurt you like that. I just got so mad that Troy was talking about how funny you were, making jokes at the dinner when it was supposed to be about me getting a promotion. It’s not your fault, I know that. I just felt hurt that the one time something was supposed to be about me, I felt unsupported by you when you were supposed to be my person there. As MY support, not rubbing elbows with people like Troy.
Danny: Please Mina, tell me where you’re at.
Danny: I shouldn’t have left you like I did. I just thought that some space would help you calm down. Give us a minute to really think about what happened and what we both could have done better last night.
Mina: I’ll be home soon. I had to go to the walk-in.
Danny: Why’d you have to go to the walk-in?
Mina: Danny, I was really hurt. I just needed to make sure I was ok.
Danny: What’d they say? You know I didn’t mean it, right? I talked to my parents about it and they both agree that we both just overreacted a bit. My dad said that you should have stayed by my side and supported me, but I told him that wasn’t fair to say about you. I just want you to know that I defended you to him.
Mina: I’ll be home soon, I promise. I’m sorry that I did the wrong thing. He was talking to me and like I told you last night, I wasn’t trying to make jokes or be funny. I was just answering his questions.
Danny: Please don’t start this argument again. I said I was sorry. We need to just move past this. We both know what we did wrong, so we just won’t do it again.
Mina: I wasn’t trying to argue.
Danny: *sigh* Please just stop… What did you tell them at the clinic? I know I freaked out, but I really don’t think that anything was bad enough that you had to go in there. Did you go just to make me feel even worse than I already did? To make a point? I’m fucking SORRY.
EXAMPLES #31-33
EXAMPLE #34
Mina: Danny, the card didn’t work at Emilio’s. I tried to pick up the order for you and it said that there aren’t enough funds in the account.
Danny: How can you not work a fucking credit card?
Mina: I even had the hostess use it to see if it would go through and it still said declined.
Danny: Are you kidding me right now? How hard is it to just pick up a damn To-Go order?? How is this so complicated for you?
Mina: Danny, I’m not trying to make it complicated. It’s just that the card won’t work.
Danny: There’s plenty of fucking money in that account because I work MY ASS OFF and make sure you have enough to spend. But don’t worry, let me take time out of my busy day and pick it up. Don’t worry about it, just go home.
Mina: I’m really sorry. I don’t know why it’s not working.
Mina: Danny, please - I’ll just go home and grab some cash and come back. Don’t worry about stopping.
Danny: Too late. I’m already on my way. I’ll do YOUR job for you. The only one you had to do today.
Danny: Just go home.
EXAMPLES #35-50
EXAMPLE #51
Danny: What have you ever done for ME?
Mina: ?
Danny: So busy you can’t respond with more than a ‘?’ ??
Mina: Sorry, my hands were wet. What do you mean?
Danny: Apparently nothing important since you can’t be bothered to respond with more than a symbol.
Mina: Please Danny, I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you. I’m listening now. Please tell me what you were asking.
Danny: I had lunch with some co-workers today. MARRIED co-workers. It turns out, they all have these amazing wives who do all this shit for them, and it really bothered me because I don’t feel like you’re putting in any effort here. I do EVERYTHING for you. I gave you a nice home, put food in your belly, buy you clothes, gave you a car, take you out to fancy dinners, CONSTANTLY tell you how much I love you. But I can’t think of a goddamn thing that you do for me to show that you care. It was fucking depressing to sit at that table and realize that my friends have these amazing relationships, but I have to practically beg for an ounce of attention from you.
Mina: Danny, I don’t know what to say. I try to make you happy. I make you lunch every day to take to work, dinner is always ready, I clean the house, do your laundry. I’m sorry that you feel like you’re not getting enough from me.
Danny: Those are your JOBS. You don’t do those for me because you want to, you do those things because we agreed that since I’m here working as the sole-provider, you’d take care of those kinds of things. But what do you do for ME that’s only for me? I have to practically beg for sex, and when we do have sex, it’s only because I’m the one that instigates it. It really makes me feel unloved when you don’t instigate.
Mina: I don’t know what to say…
Danny: Of course not, because you never even try to put me first. It’d be nice to come home once in a while and have my wife let me know that she’s attracted to me. It’ll make me feel less like a dog panting over a treat. It’ll make me feel wanted.
Mina: Okay, I’ll try to do that for you.
Danny: Well don’t let me make you work too hard there, Mina. You shouldn’t have to TRY to have sex with your husband. You should WANT to. Just don’t even bother if it’s too much of an inconvenience.
EXAMPLES #52-63
EXAMPLE #64
Danny: WHO THE FUCK WERE YOU JUST TALKING TO?
Mina: I’m not talking to anyone right now, Danny.
Danny: Ok, I’m not talking about right this second. Don’t act like I’m stupid. I’m talking about five fucking minutes ago. So I ask again, WHO THE FUCK WERE YOU TALKING TO? You fucking cheating on me, baby?
Mina: Danny, I’m at home right now. I wasn’t talking to anyone!
Danny: THAT’S A FUCKING LIE - One of my friends told me that you were just at the mother fucking police station trying to file a fucking report on me... ON ME. So, you want to keep lying? I told him he had to have been wrong because there’s nothing that you could possibly need to make a report on, which only leaves the option that you’re having a fucking affair. You fucking around behind my back?
Mina: Danny, please… I was just mistaken. I came straight home. Can we talk when you get home?
Danny: Oh, we’ll fucking talk when I get home, so get your traitor ass ready for that. I’ll be home in 15 minutes.
WITNESS STATEMENT FOR WILHELMINA REED:
After leaving the police station, where I had sought help to leave the home, the police officer who I spoke with contacted Daniel Reed (aka Danny) to let him know what I was trying to do.
He was very angry and sent me a threatening text message (see text message #64) where he accused me of having an affair, which isn’t true, and that we would talk when he got home.
I knew he would be angry because this isn’t the first time I’ve sought help from the police. He warned me that I needed to stop reporting him because “it’s an embarrassment”.
When he returned home, I was in the kitchen and before I had a chance to say anything; he swung his fist and punched me across the left side of my face. The punch was hard enough that when I fell; I blacked out for a moment. By the time I woke up, I was still lying on the floor where I had been standing and he was sitting at the kitchen table with a drink in his hand.
Once he saw that I was awake, he started screaming questions at me like “What did you tell them?”, “Don’t you know that I love you?”, and “Why do you do things like this to me?” He told me I was stupid and ungrateful for the things that he’s done for me. At one point, he threatened to call his friends over to hear from them how “pathetic I am as a wife”.
I tried to calm him down and ask him if he would consider us going to counseling together because I didn’t know how to make this better. He yelled at me and told me that our private business was between the two of us, and that he could handle his “fucking wife on his own”.
At that point, he grabbed me by the hair and started to drag me upstairs, telling me he was going to show me how much he loved me. I knew at this point that he wanted to have sex, but I didn’t want to. I tried to pull away from him and he got even more angry and let my hair go. We were at the top of the stairs at this point. When he released me, I fell down the stairs, which is when I dislocated my shoulder.
I tried to catch my breath from the fall, but he was angry that I had fallen and told me it was my own fault for falling because I was being overly dramatic. At that point, he lost his battle with his temper and started to kick and punch me all over my stomach, arms, and legs.
I begged him to stop, told him he was hurting me. He told me that I’ve been hurting him since the day he married me. Finally, he punched me once more, splitting my lip. My head hit the floor, and I blacked out again.
I don’t know what happened after that, but when I woke up, he was no longer in the house. I was able to get up and run from the house. I just needed to get out of there. Someone driving by saw me and insisted I go to the hospital, where one of the staff members reported everything to the police.
