It was a warm night. We just finished a nice fresh shrimp dinner and were sitting on the front porch enjoying a nice breeze. No one felt like doing much of anything so we just sat and watched everyone walking up and down the street past our motel. Some were headed to the beach, others returning. Some were by themselves, others with girlfriends or wives. Many were with wives and children.
It was interesting trying to guess if a couple was married or dating. Some walked hand and hand, some with arms around each other's waist, others with no body contact at all. You could see fathers being protective of their families, watching for traffic when crossing, carrying children or holding their hands, pushing strollers. This area of the beach was mostly families, while the area a few blocks south of us was heavily used by the younger set.
It seemed as if we had the quieter area. We had two female police officers patroling the streets on foot, and an occasional police cruiser driving through. The women even stopped and talked with vacationers quite often. It was just like last night except tonight we also had a male officer on bicycle patroling the area.
Breaking the peaceful atmosphere, we noticed a commotion at the motel across the street to our right. People gathered as did the officers on foot and bicycle. Next to arrive was a police cruiser. A woman had been hit by a male, hitting her head on a stone next to the motel. She was taken to the hospital for treatment by ambulance while he was arrested and taken away in the patrol car. You could also hear someone yelling for their kids to get back into the motel room.
About an hour later things seemed to have quieted down. A couple was in front of the same motel. The officer on bicycle was passing them when we heard a loud "crack" and saw the woman falling to one side. He slapped her across the face almost driving her into the brick wall of the motel. People were coming off their seats moving towards the man, but it was the officer who got to him first. Almost falling over the handlebars of the bike he charged into him and pinned him against the wall. Reading him his rights and cuffing him, he already was on the radio calling for the patrol car.
Again children were involved, watching their parents and the police. Another ambulance arrived to treat her. The husband was already in the back seat of the car and she was on the sidewalk talking to the arresting officer. You could hear her telling him to release him. She said she was not going to be pressing charges so his arresting him would be useless. The officer informed her she did not have to press charges for he witnessed everything as he rode by and he will be pressing charges if she didn't.
You could see their family unraveling; he in the car arrested, she standing there looking at him while rubbing her bruised face, their children standing nearby watching it all unfold. Minutes later the patrol car left taking him into the station.
It is sad but true that many of us, myself at times included tend to deny that things like this happen. We are blind to abusive situations that many people are subjected to. Our eyes are opened though when we witness something like this unfolding right before our eyes. Then it hits home with full impact.
We wonder how a woman can live under these conditions, and why she stays with him instead of leaving. We wonder how long she has been subjected to this abuse and if she will actually stay with him even if it may eventually cost her her life.
We wonder about the children. This is another form of child abuse. These children are abused just watching the relationship their parents have with each other. It affects them deeply and they carry the memories throughout their lives. Their parents don't have to lay a hand on them at all. Just witnessing their parent's daily lives will shape and form their futures drastically.
