smurfalicious
10-19-2008, 04:18 PM
I don't know how to begin this because I'm still a little rattled and maybe what I did was stupid to a point. When you're not sheltered in your car you see and hear a lot more while commuting.
I left work a little early today because it was beyond slow and I was tired. Pedaling home I saw a car pulled over on the opposite side of the road and two girls on my side staring. As I got closer I heard yelling and then I saw what was going on. The driver of the vehicle had pulled his young female passenger out and was yelling at her, hitting her, and choking her. My heart rate soared and my body coursed with adrenaline and fear. I've been here before.
When I was fourteen my father came to pick me up from the barn to attend my brother's high school graduation. He knew I was attending with my mother, she actually took the time to buy me something to wear. He was angry I wasn't ready and I calmly reminded him that I was going with my mom. Instantly he lit up like a firecracker and started screaming in my face as my best friend looked on in horror.
He proceeded to pull me out of the stall I was cleaning and slammed me up against a concrete wall. At that point I left my body and went silent. I was good at that by then.
Those who saw it go down said he had his hands around my neck and was choking me. I don't remember much, just how much the adults around failed me out of fear.
Right after that my mom worked to get me out of there while my dad did everything in his manipulative powers to stop her. At the end of the school year we packed my things in a hurry and got out. When I spoke with the social worker they told be that in essence no bruises, no case. I guess emotional scars aren't good enough, but if someone had called, maybe things would be different.
So I stopped with all the stopping power aging Shimano 600 brakes could offer and whipped my cell phone out of my messenger bag. Suddenly I knew north from south and could tell them their direction of travel. I knew car makes and models and every cross street in town.
What amazed me most is that while I stood there on the phone, the altercation continued. What scared me most is that the woman I assume was this man's wife calmly took over driving while he got in the back presumably to continue beating on his daughter. Wow, what a home life that must be if she allows it. Wonder how often he wails on her? The driver who pulled up behind them crossed the street as they left and repeated what he saw to the 911 operator.
I hope they find him, and I hope she's okay. I hope she doesn't have to live like this regularly or ever again for that matter. I pray she doesn't spend the rest of her life in crappy relationships because that's what she's learned as normal. And for once I'm happy that cyclists are so invisible to motorists.
I left work a little early today because it was beyond slow and I was tired. Pedaling home I saw a car pulled over on the opposite side of the road and two girls on my side staring. As I got closer I heard yelling and then I saw what was going on. The driver of the vehicle had pulled his young female passenger out and was yelling at her, hitting her, and choking her. My heart rate soared and my body coursed with adrenaline and fear. I've been here before.
When I was fourteen my father came to pick me up from the barn to attend my brother's high school graduation. He knew I was attending with my mother, she actually took the time to buy me something to wear. He was angry I wasn't ready and I calmly reminded him that I was going with my mom. Instantly he lit up like a firecracker and started screaming in my face as my best friend looked on in horror.
He proceeded to pull me out of the stall I was cleaning and slammed me up against a concrete wall. At that point I left my body and went silent. I was good at that by then.
Those who saw it go down said he had his hands around my neck and was choking me. I don't remember much, just how much the adults around failed me out of fear.
Right after that my mom worked to get me out of there while my dad did everything in his manipulative powers to stop her. At the end of the school year we packed my things in a hurry and got out. When I spoke with the social worker they told be that in essence no bruises, no case. I guess emotional scars aren't good enough, but if someone had called, maybe things would be different.
So I stopped with all the stopping power aging Shimano 600 brakes could offer and whipped my cell phone out of my messenger bag. Suddenly I knew north from south and could tell them their direction of travel. I knew car makes and models and every cross street in town.
What amazed me most is that while I stood there on the phone, the altercation continued. What scared me most is that the woman I assume was this man's wife calmly took over driving while he got in the back presumably to continue beating on his daughter. Wow, what a home life that must be if she allows it. Wonder how often he wails on her? The driver who pulled up behind them crossed the street as they left and repeated what he saw to the 911 operator.
I hope they find him, and I hope she's okay. I hope she doesn't have to live like this regularly or ever again for that matter. I pray she doesn't spend the rest of her life in crappy relationships because that's what she's learned as normal. And for once I'm happy that cyclists are so invisible to motorists.