Rise and Redeem

The date is January 17th, 2002 and I am in the hospital for the fifty third time this year. I should have learned my lesson; I should left after the first time, but no I chose to go back to him. I chose to be beaten to a pulp.
I made my choice but this time is different. This time I don’t get a choice. This time he crossed the line. He hurt her. He hurt my beautiful Alyssa. She has a broken rib, a leg broken in three places, a jaw in two, and an arm in five. I never thought he’d hurt her. She was his everything. I knew he was going to hurt me again, he had already promised me my time was coming and I’d be lucky to survive this one.
He’s right I might not be able to walk for a while. My balance, hearing and coordination will never be the same. I will only have about ten percent of my hearing in my left ear. The ear drum is busted and there is a hole in my equilibrium. My back is broken is two different places. I have three broken ribs. My leg is broken in four places, my arm in three, my jaw in two and I have two hundred and thirty stitches on my other arm where the doctors had to pull razor blades out of it. I have third degree burns on most of my body from hot grease. I might have a concussion as well.
At least Alyssa is in better condition. He’s going to pay this time. As soon as I can talk I’m going to make sure he goes away for what he did. I’m awake enough to notice the doctors put more tubes in me. I’m trying to move but I just don’t have the strength. The nurse notices me trying to move. “She’s awake”, she screams to the doctor, who is now in the room hovering over me like I’m some kind of animal in a zoo. “I just don’t believe it, how’d she survive an attack like that?” “I don’t know its miracle. Does she have any connection with the little girl that was admitted around the same time? I think her name was Alyssa Perry. She’s a pretty little girl, no older than nine or ten.” “I think that’s her daughter, but I’m not sure.” “How is she”, I manage to whisper. The nurse and doctor turn look at each other then they both look at me astonish that I spoke. “She’s hurt really badly a lot of broken bone but she’s alive. You are in worse condition then she is”, the nurse replies.
“How bad is she hurt?” “She has a broken rib, a leg broken in three places, a jaw in two, and an arm in five.” I’m crying hysterically by this time but I manage to reply “what do I have to do to get us protection?” “Wait a minute you know who did this to you?” “Yes, but I hope Alyssa doesn’t” “Who was it” “Her father, but I don’t want her to know. She adores him and it would break her heart to find out what a monster her dad is.”
“You know I can’t let him around you or her now that I know this.” “I know I don’t want to go back to him. As far as Alyssa is concerned I will come up with something to tell her until she’s old enough to understand.” “Where will you go?” “ Well I don’t know he has isolated me from my friends and family, but I figure we’d be here for at least a couple more days and that will give me a little bit to figure something out.” “Yeah you are going to be here for at least two to three weeks. You need physical therapy for your back, if you can even walk that is.” “Well I guess that’s a semi good thing. Oh is there a way I can press charges without getting Alyssa involved?” “Um I don’t know but I can ask the officer here” She says a she walk out the door.
A few hours pass by and I awake to clop clop of the officers boot on the tile floor. “Are you Ms. Whirly Perry?” He asks as he enters the room with a clipboard to take notes on. “Yes I am” “ok nurse Jane said you wanted to press charges on the person that did this to you.” “I do but I have a daughter and I don’t want her to know who the person is, if she hasn’t already found out.” “Why? Who is it?” “The person that did this is my daughter’s father, Steven Richardson.” “Her father did this to her?”
“Yeah I never thought he’d hurt her. This isn’t the first time he’s hurt me.” “How long has this gone on?” “Um about eleven years now.” “Why didn’t you report it before now?” “He never touched Alyssa before I wanted her to have her father in her life.” “Ok how many times have you been put in the hospital?” “In the past year I was in here fifty three times. In the past four years I've been in here over three hundred times.” “When was the first time you were hospitalized because of him?”
“January 17th, 1992. Ten years to date isn’t that interesting.” “Why?” “He poured hot grease on my face after beating my face with a metal baseball bat.” “When’s the next time and what for?” “The next time was January 19th, 1994. I had a broken hip because I was pushed down three flights of stairs.” “Ok”.
This conversation went on for about three hours going through all the dates and reasons. The Officer wanted to know the states I was in. The states range from Alabama to Texas. I spent several years in Texas. I was running away from him. Alyssa doesn’t understand. She thinks we were on an adventure. I want to keep it that way. I mean wouldn’t you? I didn’t want Alyssa to know what her father was really like. He was nothing but good to her and I didn’t know how to tell.
Guess I’m a terrible parent but every parent makes mistakes. Every parent wants what is best for their child right? I guess sometimes when we think we as parents are doing the right thing when we are really hurting our children. If I had just let Alyssa know the truth about her father we would not be in this situation. It would have hurt her yes but she would have gotten over it and we could have been a million miles away from here. It’s too late for the things I can’t change. I made my decisions I can’t change them now. I can only make better ones for me and Alyssa. So now I will tell the officer everything and try to get out of town.
“Ms. Whirly, we have a few question for you, if you are feeling up to answering” Says the officer who is now peeking through the door. “Yes I am what kind of questions do you want to ask?” “Well for starters I need to know when and how you met Mr. Steven.” “Ok. We met in June of 91, at the University of Texas; I was a first year nursing student. He was a second year lawyer.”
“Go on.” “We had Math 140 together and found out he lived three doors down from me. It was September 3rd of 91 when we went out on our first date, I mean we had been flirting for a while and had study dates in our rooms but this was the first time we were going out in public as a couple.” “Where did you go?” “We went out to dinner at the ye old time country café. Then we went back to his place and movies together.” “What movies did you watch?” “I don’t remember the titles.” “Ok so what happened after the you watched the movies?”
“After the movies, we went through some of his old photos and scrapbooks he had.” “Ok what did you do after that? Did you kiss or have any kind of intimacy?” “ Well of course we kissed but that wasn’t until I left around midnight.” “Ok, is that all that happened that night?” “Yes.” “When did he start becoming abusive to you?” “It wasn’t until we had been dating three months, that I noticed him becoming really jealous over everybody even my best friend.” “What was he doing or saying to show his jealousy?” “He would randomly show up where I was or make comments to my friends about how I was his and nobody could take me away from him and if they tried he would kill them.” “Did you do anything about it?”
“I talked to him about it. I told him that if he didn’t stop being so clingy and obsessive I would break up with him.” “What did he do after you talked to him?” “He stopped for about a month.” “What happened after that?” “After about a month he started following me around again. So I let him.” “Ok so how long did it take for him to isolate you from your friends and family?” “It was about three months later when I found out I was pregnant with Alyssa that he met my family. I knew they were not your average family.”
“What do you mean by that?” “I mean that I come from divorced parents. My mom is kind of crazy and dad is just a regular old abandon my daughter type of dad. Grandma has just been diagnosed with the start of dementia. Grandpa was completely off his rockers. They never did anything directly to disrespect or hurt him but he didn’t want his daughter to grow up around crazy people.” “Ok, can you describe his family for me?” “What family?” “You mean to tell me he had no family.” “He told me all his family was dead except his sister but she was over in Africa doing missionary work, so I never got to meet her.”
“Ok I think that’s enough background information for now. Let’s move on to the present. What do you want to do? Do you want to press charges and testify in court personally or press charges anonymously and go through witness protection?” “I want to personally testify against him but I do want Alyssa involved.” “Ok but she has to appear in court to show the damage he inflicted on her but she will not have to testify or be subjected to anything else as far as court goes. Oh one more thing before I forget.” “Ok what is it?” “We have located your sister in law Lily.” “Really that’s awesome I haven’t spoken to her in years” “Yeah we know. When you were admitted we did some digging to try and find family members for you because to be honest nobody thought you were going to make it.” “Well where is she and how’s my brother?” “She’s here and I don’t know anything about your brother.” “Well when can I see her?” “Bring her in.”
The officers bring in a woman who stands about five foot five and must weigh no more than a feather. She has bright blue eyes. She is wearing my brother’s favorite sweatshirt, a pair of holey blue jeans, and a pair of old worn out tennis shoes. She is wearing my brother’s dog tag around her neck which can only mean one thing, he is dead. Her blonde hair is up in a mess bun. She has bags under her eyes as if she has not had a decent night’s sleep in months.
After several awkward moments of silence lily says, “My god it’s been years, how are you?” “Um I guess I’m ok but I could be better. How are you? How’s Mike doing?” “Oh I guess you don’t know. I was sure somebody would have told you.” “Told me what?” “Um Mike is how you say six under.” “You mean he’s dead.” “Yeah that’s what I mean.” “How?” “He had lung cancer. He came in contact with something that caused it while he was overseas. It finally took him from us three years ago after a two year battle the chemo and radiation finally stopped working.” Tears begin to well in Lily’s eyes. “Lily I’m sorry I wish I was there for you.” “It’s ok I know you were dealing with your own issues. So what are you going to do now?” “For now I have to say in the hospital do physical therapy for at least six to eight weeks and they want to watch my head because they think I may have had a concussion. I do have a favor to ask.” “Ok what is it?” “In a couple of days Alyssa is going to be able to be released and I need to know if you’d be willing to take her until I am able to be released.” “Sure that is no problem.” “I don’t want Steven to know where she is and I am pressing charges this time and I will see to it that he pays for what he did to us.” Lily leaves the room and gets Alyssa as she is being discharged today.
The date is March 17th 2002 it is the third time I’ve had to appear in courts since the attack in January. Steven is looking at twenty five to thirty years upstate. Alyssa has testified. The doctors and nurses testified to the severity of my injuries. The officers testified to what I told them and what they seen upon coming in to the house that day.
Now it is my turn to testify. I must tell them everything. Let them in to every aspect of my life with him. I must let them question my decision as a parent and as a human. Most people would back out, walk away and never look back, but not me I’m taking my life back. I’m going to make a better one for Alyssa and I. I’m going to show Steven that he no longer has the control.
I told the courts everything and now comes the verdict. I tense up as the jury comes out with the verdict. “The jury has reached a verdict,” announces the head jurymen. “What’s the verdict?” ask the judge. “We find the defendant guilty.” “Do you, Steven Richardson, understand what this means?” “Yes I do your honor.” “I hereby sentence you to thirty year in Stan County prison.”
It’s finally over now Alyssa and I can finally live our lives without him. We can finally be free. I’m going help my daughter be the best she can I am going to make sure I don’t make stupid decisions like last time.
A year has passed since he was convicted. Alyssa and I have got ourselves a new house and we are closer to my family. I still have trouble with my hearing and balanced from time to time. I can walk almost as if my back had never been broken. Alyssa healed just fine. She still suffers from the occasional nightmare but that was to be expected. I guess sometime you just have to rise and redeem yourself.