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Chapter 3

Chapter 3



“Maybe you’re missing the point I’m trying to make,” Ros urged one of the police officers, who had introduced herself as Officer Meeks. “How are you going to protect me from him when he comes back here?”

“Ms. Bushman, I understand your fear and anxiety—“

“No, I don’t think you do!” Ros screamed, interrupting Officer Meeks in the process. “Have you ever been in an abusive relationship? Have you ever been told by someone you loved and trusted more than anything how badly they were hurt you if you ever tried to leave them?” The tears were streaming down Roslyn’s cheeks now, fully feeling the hopelessness and frustration this situation was heavily laying on her. She suddenly felt suffocated and found the normally involuntary act of breathing quite difficult to sustain.

“I can’t breathe,” she whispered as her inhales of air became quicker and shallower and her exhales became almost non-existent. The last bit of pigment that was clinging to her face faded immediately as a cold sweat started appearing in the form of tiny droplets of moisture around her hair line. Kaci ran to the kitchen cabinet next to the sink and pulled out a brown paper bag from inside it.

“Here; breathe into this,” she demanded as she opened it, stuck in Roslyn’s hand and helped her cousin lift it up to her mouth. She simulated the breathing with her cousin, almost the same way a Lamaze coach would breathe with the laboring woman, and within a minute Roslyn’s breathing was returning to normal, a slight bit of color returning to her pale cheeks.

Officer Meeks and the other office, Officer Gerard, remained silent through the brief ordeal, unsure of what they could say in response to Roslyn’s emotional outburst. They knew full well how difficult these situations were; many times the abuser got the “final word” and it was quite obvious that Roslyn knew that, and that’s what she ultimately feared.

“Ms. Bushman, we will keep surveillance on you around the clock. As soon as Mr. Manzke makes an appearance we will place him under arrest and he will remain in our custody indefinitely. If nothing else will give you piece of mind and a feeling of safety, just remember one thing; you are not going to be alone until he is apprehended,” Officer Gerard told her gently. Roslyn nodded her head slowly at the male officer as she pulled the bag away from her mouth. That thought did comfort her…immensely.

Officer Meeks and Officer Gerard stayed for a few more minutes, getting as much information on Rob’s whereabouts as they could. After explaining to Ros and everyone else in the room that there would always be an officer following them wherever they went and another officer would be positioned near the lobby of the apartment complex at all times they left Ros’s apartment silently.

Ros looked at the clock on her VCR and with a heavy sigh she got up from the couch for the first time since she had fallen asleep last night. Her legs buckled underneath her as she placed her weight on them, causing her to fall back onto the couch.

“I guess my legs are still asleep,” she laughed, allowing the panic-stricken expressions on everyone else’s faces to slowly fade away. At noticing this, Roslyn cleared her throat and faced them. “Listen guys, this is a really scary situation, but I refuse to let Rob control my life any longer. I am not going to stay here, worrying about every noise I hear. I am not going to be afraid any more.” She stood up from the couch again, this time without trouble, and began walking towards the bathroom.

“It’s ten o’clock on a beautiful Wednesday morning. I don’t have to go to work and we have tons of stuff to do before the rehearsal dinner Friday night. I’m going to take a shower, get ready, and then we are going out.” She didn’t wait for any of them to respond and she shut the bathroom door quietly.

Once she was tucked safely in the confines of the soothing, hot shower, out of eyesight from all the people that cared about her, she cried. She slid down the shower wall until she was sitting against it, letting the tears fall down her face just as the powerful water spray was doing, and she prayed.

Please God, please protect him from him. You haven’t so far, and I’m not sure what I did to make you turn from me, but I’m so sorry for whatever it was, and I am begging you to keep me safe now. I don’t want to die, especially by his hand. I want someone to love me, I want a family, I want to be happy.

As those words rolled from her lips, the ring tone on her phone sounded, and as she listened to it, she began crying a little harder.

I will love you more than that/I won’t say the words then take them back/Don’t give loneliness a chance/Baby listen to me when I say/I will love you more than that. That’s all I want, she thought sadly as she carefully pulled herself up from the shower floor. But do I deserve more than that?



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AJ, Serena and Kaci heard the shower turn on, and they all sat down in the living room to wait. While Kaci grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels, Serena stood back up and walked into the kitchen.

“I know I’m starving, so I can only imagine how hungry you two are,” she called as she snooped through Roslyn’s refrigerator.

“Does she have stuff for omelets?” AJ yelled into the kitchen at Serena, referring to Ros’s food supply. She did, and after Serena took ingredient orders from Kaci and AJ, she began her culinary workings in the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later four delicious omelets were placed on the kitchen table, and Kaci, AJ and Serena sat down in front of them, deciding to wait for Ros to get out of the bathroom before they indulged in them.

“Mmmm, something smells good,” said Roslyn, announcing to everyone that she had emerged from the bathroom.

“Omelets. Come on and sit down, I made you one too,” responded Serena with a smile, knowing that Ros would need the sustenance to re-fuel her drained body. Roslyn obliged, and soon all four plates were empty, leaving them rubbing their full bellies in satisfaction.

“Okay Kaci, what’s first on the list?” Ros asked as she stood up from the table and began clearing the plates away.

“I guess to the dress shop for the final fitting, and then we’ll go to the tux place and get AJ’s tuxedo.” She listed off a few more places they needed to go, just to check in to give them piece of mind that everything would be ready in three days. They all grabbed what they needed and headed out the door, making sure the new locks that had been installed while the police were there worked with the new keys Ros had been given. When they felt satisfied that the apartment was secure they walked into the elevator and made the descent down to the ground floor, to talk to the officer waiting for them down there.

“I’m Office Miller and I will be following you on your excursions today,” he explained as gave a 10-4 into his walkie-talkie. He also handed Roslyn a little device that was about the size of a stop watch. “Pull this pin out and a shrill noise will sound so loud it can be heard for a half a mile,” he explained, showing her what to do as he was speaking. “If you run into a problem, this will either scare him away or alert people around you that you need help.”

Roslyn grabbed the device from him, giving him a thankful smile before tucking it into her purse. The foursome was off, with the officer in tow, and soon, they were so enveloped in wedding stuff that, for at least those few hours, Roslyn and everyone else had forgotten about Rob, and were just content of having a normal afternoon in each other’s company.