Author's
note: This story was inspired by the
song, "His Home Is His Castle", sung by Faith Hill. It's one of the
most frightening songs I've ever heard, and I thought it would be a perfect
story for Starsky and Hutch. I'll put the lyrics at the end of the story, but
if you haven't heard the song, I hope you find a copy and listen to it. Faith
Hill's voice makes the situation she sings about even more terrifying.
His Home Is His Castle
Part 1
Anita
watched as the slim, blonde woman negotiated the room full of thirsty
customers. She side-stepped the more amorous admirers with a smile, and stopped
to talk to a few of her favorites. Anita’s face was a mixture of anger and
pity. How can such a beautiful person be
married to an animal like Jimmy? She shook her head sadly and walked over
to her boss.
Huggy Bear was the owner and proprietor of The Pits, a
successful establishment despite the name. He had owned the bar for several
years now, keeping a watchful eye on the profit margin as well as the
customers. Business was booming lately, so much so that he had hired another
waitress to help Anita through the busiest times. He wasn’t surprised when the
two women became close friends. Linda Brewer seemed to be a caring, honest
young woman. Her fragile beauty contrasted well with Anita’s brash demeanor.
Huggy gave a long suffering sigh as he noticed Anita walking toward him. He
knew what was coming. They’d had the same conversation many times since Linda
had started working at the bar. Unfortunately, Huggy didn’t have any more
answers for Anita than he’d had the first time they talked.
Anita leaned against the bar, shaking her head. “Did you
see those sunglasses, Huggy? Who does she think she’s fooling?”
Huggy shrugged briefly. “She knows she isn’t fooling
anyone, ‘Nita. Come on; let the poor kid keep some dignity. She’s going through
something heavy right now. I don’t blame her if she doesn’t want to make it
public news.”
“But we're supposed to be her friends! She should be able
to talk to us. He’s going to kill her, Huggy, if he keeps this up. We gotta do
something!”
Huggy sighed in exasperation. “And what do you suggest,
‘Nita? Do you want me to get in touch with some of my contacts and take the guy
out?”
Anita arched her eyebrow at him. “You know, that might
not be a bad idea.”
Huggy fixed her with a stern look. “I was kidding.”
Anita threw her hands up theatrically. “Well, we’ve got
to do something! Can’t you talk to
him?”
“And what am I supposed to say? Excuse me, bro, but you
need to quit beating up on your wife, 'cause it ain’t fashionable? I saw how
big that dude is. I ain’t going anywhere near him.”
“Chicken.”
“I ain’t chicken, but I also ain’t stupid. Look, Anita,
if I try to dump on this guy, he’s only going to take it out on Linda. And if
he gets too mad, he might make her quit. Then she’ll really be on her own, and
she won’t have a safe place to go. At least when she’s here, he’s leaving her
alone. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to knock her around in public.”
Anita put her elbow on the bar and rested her chin on her
fist. She glared up at Huggy.
“It’s not fair! She’s a beautiful person, inside as well
as outside. I can’t understand why she stays with that creep. She could do so
much better.”
“You’ve only known her for a few months. You don’t know
where she’s coming from. Maybe she feels like she doesn’t have a choice.”
Her shoulders sagged as the anger left her. “I know. I
felt the same way when I was married to Frank. Thank God she doesn’t have any
kids to worry about. I remember how scared I was when I left him the first
time. I thought he was going to kill me and I was worried about the boys. It
took me three tries to get away from Frank, but I did it. And she can too, damn
it! We just have to show her that she can.”
“And how do you propose that we do that?”
Anita thought for a moment then snapped her fingers. “I
know! You can have Starsky and Hutch talk to her!”
“Anita, they’re homicide detectives! They’re not social
workers. What do you expect them to do?”
Her eyes shot daggers at him. “They’re cops! They can
tell her about the law. That's what cops do, isn't it? If she knows she’s not alone, maybe she’ll
find the gumption to get out.”
“What if she doesn’t want out? Have you thought about
that?”
“Oh, come on, Huggy! You don’t really think she likes
having her face smashed in, do you?”
“No, but what if she’s scared? What if she’s afraid he’ll
kill her?”
“Starsky and Hutch can show her that she has someone to
turn to.”
Huggy shook his head again, and looked at the young
blonde. He fidgeted from foot to foot, waffling.
Anita looked at him with soulful eyes. “Please?”
“Oh, all right. I’ll see what I can do if you stop
pouting. But, I’m not making any promises. I’ll see if they’ll talk to her, but
that’s it. After that, it’s up to her.”
“When?”
Huggy exploded. “When they come in next time, OK?”
Anita blessed him with a brilliant smile. “OK.”
Sergeant David Starsky drove the
“It’s really quiet out tonight.”
Sergeant Ken Hutchinson nodded. “I guess the junkies and
bookies didn’t want to get their feet wet. Now that the rain’s stopped,
business will probably pick up.” He grinned slightly and looked at the
dark-haired man out of the corner of his eye. “You’re not bored, are you,
Starsk?”
“Are you kidding? The peace and quiet suits me fine. I’m
just not sure how long it’s going to last. It’s like waiting for the other shoe
to drop.”
“Well, if we’re lucky, it'll last until the end of this
shift, anyway. It’s going to start getting hot pretty soon, and then we’ll have
more work than we can stand.”
“I guess you’re right. Hey, since it’s almost time to log
out; do you want to stop at Huggy’s for some coffee? We can grab something to
eat while we’re at it.”
Hutch looked askance at his friend. “Starsky, you just
ate four hours ago. How can you be hungry already?”
“Hey, I only had one burrito for lunch. After living on
your idea of nutritious food for
almost a year, I got a lot of catching up to do. Besides, you keep telling me I
need to gain some weight.”
The blond laughed. “OK, you win. We’ll stop at Huggy’s
for a bite to eat, and I’ll just call and log us out when it’s time.”
Starsky grinned at his partner. “Now you’re talkin’.”
Ten minutes later, they walked into The Pits. Huggy's
customers were sitting shoulder to shoulder at the bar, so the two detectives
found a booth in the back and sat down. The black proprietor waved to them from
across the room as he helped Anita serve the thirsty customers at the bar.
After taking care of their orders, Huggy walked over to the two detectives.
“Well, if it isn’t the Dynamic Duo! How’s it going,
fellas?”
Starsky grinned at his friend. “It’s a whole lot quieter
out there than it is in here. If you get any busier, you’re going to have to
expand, Hug.”
Huggy grinned back. “That’s the law of supply and demand,
bro’. My customers demand the booze and I supply it.”
Hutch laughed. “The American dream is alive and well and
living at The Pits.”
“You got it, Blondie. Now, while I have a minute to catch
my breath, what'll you have?”
Starsky rubbed his hands together. “I’ll have a Huggy’s
special, what else? No beer, though, Hug. We’re still on duty, for another
thirty minutes. Make it coffee, instead.”
“OK and what about you, my blond brother?”
“I’ll have the same, Hug. I don’t think Haimie would
appreciate anything gourmet while you’re so busy.”
Huggy snickered. “Haimie wouldn’t know a gourmet dish if
it walked up and said hello. Two Huggy’s
specials, it is. I’ll get your coffee while you’re waiting.”
He took the order back to the kitchen and put two
hamburger patties on the grill for the over-worked cook. When he came back out,
Anita was waiting for him, her arms crossed over her chest, and tapping her
foot.
Huggy scowled at her. “OK, give me time, will you? In
case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got a bar full of customers to cater to.”
“Linda and I can take care of the customers. You just
talk to Starsky and Hutch, like you promised.”
She made shooing motions with her hands then walked away.
Huggy grumbled under his breath.
“That fool woman has a one track mind. I just hope this
doesn’t end up getting us all hurt.”
He poured two cups of coffee and walked back to the two
detectives. “So, how goes the fight for law and order? How does it feel to be
back in the trenches?”
Starsky and Hutch exchanged looks. The road to recovery
after Gunther's bullets had been hard on both detectives, and Huggy had been
there for both men every step of the way.
Starsky
grinned. “It feels pretty good, Hug. Dobey’s letting us ease back into it, so
we haven’t really had any high profile cases yet. Still, it’s good to be back
working our beat.”
Huggy winked at the brunet. “Well, like my momma always
said, you gotta walk before you can run. You'll be right back in the thick of
things before you know it. Meanwhile, I have a favor to ask. I don’t know what
you can do, but I promised Anita I’d talk to you, and you know how that woman
is once she gets something on her mind.”
Hutch gave him a quizzical look. “Sure Hug, we’ll do what
we can. What’s the favor?”
Huggy motioned to the other side of the room with his
head. “Well, you know I hired another waitress to help Anita out when it gets
really swamped in here. She's a big help to both of us, but Anita's really
worried about Linda. Take a good look at her.”
The two detectives followed his direction, looking
closely at the blonde waitress. They exchanged glances again then Starsky
spoke.
“She’s wearing sunglasses.”
Huggy nodded. “Yeah, and before you ask, she’s clean.
She’s a sweet kid that happens to have an animal for a husband.”
Hutch made a face. “He beat her up?”
“You got it, and it's not the first time. Last week she
came in with a bruise on her cheek. The week before that, she had a bruises on
her wrists. She was wearing a long sleeved blouse, but Anita saw the bruises
when Linda was helping her bus the tables.”
Starsky shrugged. “I hear what you’re saying; but I don’t
know what we can do about it. Did anybody call the cops?”
“I don't know. Linda lives in a little cottage over on
Hutch tried to explain to the black proprietor. “Huggy,
we can’t do anything unless she’s willing to file charges. We’re not social
workers. Unless there's a complaint, we can’t even talk to the guy. We’d be
invading his privacy, and he’d probably just end up taking it out on Linda.”
Huggy sighed. “That’s what I tried to tell Anita, but
she’s really worried about the girl. I’ve seen Jimmy a couple of times, and
he’s one big hombre. It’s a wonder he hasn’t broken a few bones already, and he
might have, for all we know.”
Hutch exhaled slowly, thinking. “All we can do is talk to
her. If she wants out, we’ll try to help. She knows she’s in a dangerous
situation. We don’t have to tell her that, but we can't force her to leave
him.”
“Hey, that’s all I was asking you to do. I know you
aren’t miracle workers, and this is out of your beat. Maybe it'll give Linda
the push she needs and it'll get Anita off my back.”
Starsky nodded. “OK, we’ll hang around until you close
and see if she’ll talk to us. Anita has a good heart under that tough exterior,
but we can’t do anything unless Linda’s willing to help herself.”
Huggy smiled sadly. “I know. Thanks, guys. I owe you one.
Now, I’ll go see what’s taking Haimie so long with your food. He’s had time to
butcher that cow and dress it himself.”
The two men looked at each other. Hutch smiled ruefully.
“What did you say about it being a quiet night?”
After the two
detectives finished eating, Hutch went out to the
As the bar slowly emptied, and the two waitresses started
clearing the last of the tables, Anita came up to the two men.
“Well, look who finally decided to drop in. I haven't
seen you in so long that I was about to put an APB out on you. To what do we
owe this pleasure?”
Starsky grinned with a twinkle in his eye. “We just
couldn’t stand another day without seeing your beautiful face, Anita.”
Anita laughed out loud. “Get the hip boots, baby, because
it’s getting deep in here. Linda, these two yahoos are Starsky and Hutch.
They’re friends of Huggy’s, though God knows why he puts up with them.” She
pointed at Starsky, grinning widely. “Be careful of that one, cause he’s got a
line a mile long.”
Hutch looked hurt. “What about me?”
Anita winked. “Honey, all you have to do is stand there
and look pretty, and you’ve got all the girls you
want. That’s more dangerous than any line.”
Both men laughed at that. Anita turned to Linda. “They’re
both cops, but don’t let that scare you. They’re good people, even if they do
carry a badge.”
Linda looked startled. “Oh, I didn’t realize. You aren’t
wearing uniforms.”
Starsky smiled gently. “We’re detectives, but we’re off
duty now. Don’t let it bother you. Like Anita said, Huggy's a good friend of
ours. He’s pulled our fat out of the fire more times than we can count.”
Anita snickered. “Yeah, and he’s the only one dumb enough
to let you run a tab. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
Starsky laughed again as she walked away. “Anita, you
always was a ray of sunshine.”
They watched the women clean up for a few minutes then
Starsky sauntered over to where Linda was working.
“You know, Huggy was telling me how much he appreciates
you helping out here. Anita's a good waitress, but lately; business has been so
good that it’s too much for one person. Don’t tell her I said that, by the
way.”
Linda smiled tentatively. “Thanks. Anita likes to play
the tough guy, but she’s got a heart of gold. Don’t tell her I said that,
either.”
Starsky
grinned wider. “I won’t tell if you won’t. So, where did you work before you
came here?”
“I
worked at a diner over on
Hutch walked up behind Starsky. “Yeah, I guess you’re
right. You handle the customers really well, though. I imagine some of them can
get pretty rambunctious.”
“Yeah, but most of them are nice. Huggy watches out for
us, too. If one of them gets out of hand, he steps in before it goes too far. I
feel really safe here.”
Hutch nodded. “Huggy takes care of the people he likes.”
He
watched her put the dirty glasses in a tub then carried it to the back of the
bar for her. Starsky followed them into the back. He watched her as she washed
the dishes then asked quietly.
“What
happened to your eye?”
Linda’s
hand touched her face involuntarily. “I ran into a door. I’m a klutz in the
mornings.”
“I
guess it just jumped right out at ya, huh? Those doors can be pretty
treacherous.”
Linda
took a step backward. “I don’t want any trouble.”
Hutch spoke gently. “You’re not in any trouble, Linda.
Huggy’s worried about you. He says you’ve been getting a lot of bumps and
bruises lately. We just wanted you to know that if you wanted help, we’re here.
Even if you just want to talk, we’re pretty good at listening.”
Linda shook her head briefly. “I’m okay, really. I-I need
to get back to work now. I have to get home soon.”
Starsky nodded. “OK, we’ll leave you alone. But, Linda,
if you ever need us, all you have to do is yell. There is a way out, if you want it.”
A look of sadness crossed her face and she whispered, “I
can’t. I’m glad Huggy cares so much about me, but he doesn’t know anything
about my life. I’ll be OK, really.”
The two men shrugged slightly then Starsky smiled
encouragingly. “OK, but you know where we are if you change your mind.”
As they walked to their car, Starsky muttered. “That went
well.”
Hutch shrugged. “She doesn’t know us, Starsky. If she
didn’t confide in Huggy or Anita, she’s not going to confide in us.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
“Let’s do a little checking on Linda and her husband.
There aren’t that many diners over on
“That sounds good to me, but will it sound good to Dobey?
How are we going to get this one past him?”
Hutch grinned wickedly. “The same way we always do; by
using my talents for negotiating and your talents for running a con.”
Starsky snorted. “Yeah, right, like that’s always worked
in the past.”
Predictably, Dobey was less than enthusiastic about their
involvement with Linda Brewer.
“Now, let me get this straight. I’m supposed to let two
of my detectives work on a domestic violence case, even though you aren’t sure
there is a case to be working on. You two just got back on your beat and you're
already digging into something that's out of your jurisdiction. How am I
supposed to justify this with the commissioner?”
Hutch spread his hands out in supplication. “Cap, we
aren’t asking to work on this exclusively. We just want to do a little
investigating. We won’t neglect our other cases. If we have to, we’ll work on
this on our own time. But we need your OK before we can pull any files.”
Dobey looked resigned. “You’re going to do this whether I
give my permission or not, aren’t you? Do you honestly think you’ll do this
woman any good? Family services are full of these kinds of cases and their
success rate isn’t that good. What makes you think you’ll do any better?”
Starsky looked steadily at his captain. “Would you rather
we waited until there was a body? Judging from the way her face looked, and
from what Huggy told us, that’s a probability instead of a possibility. Isn’t
preventing homicides part of our job, too?”
Dobey grumbled then pointed his pen at them. “OK, you can
pull any files you want, but don’t let this interfere with your regular work
load. And watch yourselves. If you make the wrong move, you could end up making
the situation worse instead of better.”
Starsky grinned. “Thanks, Cap. You won’t regret it.”
Dobey grunted. “I hope not, for all our sakes. And if you
want my advice, you’ll get some professional guidance before you go off
half-cocked. Talk to Social services and see if they have anything on this
couple. At least you won’t be going in blind.”
Hutch grinned then ducked his head. “We have an
appointment with them this afternoon.”
Dobey sputtered. “Why am I not surprised? Then, get out
of my office and get to work! You have assigned
cases to work on, too.”
The two men stood up and Starsky gave a mock salute. “Yes, sir! We’re out of here.”
They went back to their desks and finished reports for
the cases they’d closed. After lunch, they checked out a few leads in their
open cases. It was getting close to
“You know, the lunch rush should be over by now. I think
it would be a good time to talk to Linda’s ex-boss.”
“That’s a good idea, Ollie. You’re doing the driving.
Shall we?”
Starsky grinned. “We shall.”
There were only two restaurants on the street Linda
mentioned. They struck out at the first one, but when they arrived at Harry’s
Diner, the head waitress nodded solemnly.
“Yeah, Linda worked here for a few months. She was a good
kid and the customers all liked her.”
Hutch asked, “Do you know why she quit?”
The woman scowled toward the back. “You can blame Harry
for that one. He said he didn’t want to get involved.”
Starsky looked quizzical. “Involved with what?”
“Linda was always coming in with bruises, or wearing long
sleeves in hot weather. Any fool could see she was having man troubles. Harry
talked to her a couple of times, but she just kept lying for that no-good
husband of hers. When the customers started asking questions, Harry let her go.
He said it was making them uncomfortable and he couldn’t afford to lose the
business. In case you haven’t guessed, Harry’s all heart. The only thing he
cares about comes in one color: green.”
Hutch glanced at his partner. Harry was like a hundred
other people they’d ran across in their career. No one wanted to get involved
any more. He took over the questioning.
“Did anyone ever call the cops about this?”
She thought for a moment. “I heard rumors about them
being called out a couple of times. Jimmy’s huge and he’s got a bad temper. The
few times he came around here, Linda acted like she was terrified of him. They
live in a fairly small neighborhood. I can’t imagine her keeping something like
this quiet. “
“OK, we’ll check with some of her neighbors. Do you
happen to have her address?”
She wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to
Starsky. “Jimmy was working construction, so whenever he couldn’t bring her, I
picked her up. I haven’t seen her since she quit. I guess, since you’re asking
about Jimmy, she’s still with him?”
Starsky nodded slightly. “Yeah, she is. By the way, do
you know how long they’ve been married?”
She nodded ruefully. “Linda told me they’ve been married
for thirteen years. But she said it wasn’t always bad. Jimmy had a pretty good
job when they first got married, but he lost it a few years later.”
Hutch frowned. “Did she say why?”
“You can thank his temper for that one. He worked in one
of the warehouses by the docks and some stuff came up missing. They found the
guys that really stole it, but Jimmy went berserk when his supervisor asked him
about it. He busted up the office and even took a poke at the owner. They fired
him on the spot. Since then, he’s been working odd jobs. Linda said when he
isn’t working, he’s drinking, and that makes things worse. He’s mean enough
sober, but he’s a real hellion when he’s drunk.”
Hutch thought about what she’d said. “It sounds like
Linda confided in you. I’m sure she was happy to have someone to talk to. She’s
really had a hard life.”
She motioned around the diner. “Take a good look,
detective. This isn’t exactly the Ritz. Everyone that comes in here has some
kind of hard luck story. If it wasn’t for Harry’s cussedness, she’d still be
working here. But when he started to make noises about calling the cops, she
ran. She’s scared of Jimmy. She knows he’s going to end up killing her if she
doesn’t get out, but she feels trapped. She doesn’t have any family, and she
doesn’t have enough money to get away. Calling the cops would only make it
worse.”
Starsky nodded. “I know. Our captain said the same thing.
We’re not out to cause trouble for her. Her new boss is a friend of ours and
he’s worried about her. When we saw her yesterday, she was wearing sunglasses
and it wasn’t to keep out the sun. We’re worried that the situation is getting
worse, because she won’t even confide in anyone there. The other waitress has
been through the same thing herself, and she recognizes the signs. But, Linda
won’t talk to her.”
“Jimmy has his bluff in on her, you can bet on that. I
hope she gets out of that mess some day, but I won't hold my breath. Jimmy’s
got her convinced that she can’t stand on her own two feet. The poor kid
doesn’t realize that she supports both of them most of the time. He brings in
good money when he works, but he doesn’t work that much. I guess it interferes
with his social life.”
Hutch smiled slightly. “You sound like you don’t care
much for him.”
“Well, my momma always said you should try to find the
good in everybody, but she never met Jimmy Brewer. He might have been okay at
one time, but the bottle’s got him now. That man hasn’t got one redeeming
quality that I can think of.”
Hutch touched her hand. “Well, thanks for talking to us.
I hope Linda realizes what a good friend she has in you. If she wants out,
we’ll try to help her, but you know it won’t be easy.”
She nodded sadly. “I know, but why are the sweetest
people the ones to get stuck with creeps like Jimmy? Linda should be enjoying a
house full of kids instead of being afraid for her life.”
Starsky
and Hutch left the small diner and drove back to the municipal building for
their meeting with Social Services. They found Mary Anderson’s office on the
third floor and knocked on her door.
The woman that opened the door was in her mid-forties,
with dark curly hair and brown eyes. She seemed harried, but invited them in
and asked them to sit down. After they were seated, she took her place behind
the desk.
“I’m so glad that you were punctual, detectives. I
thought I would have quite a bit of time to spend with you, but I just found
out that I have to be in court in an hour. One of my workers was supposed to testify
at a child custody hearing, but she’s been in a minor car accident. She wasn’t
hurt, thank goodness, but you know how long it takes to make an accident report
and notify your insurance company. This case has already been continued once
and the safety of two children is in question. So, let’s get right to it. Who
is the couple you are investigating?”
Starsky leaned forward. “Their names are Linda and Jimmy
Brewer. We’ve seen the evidence of his abuse ourselves, but we were wondering
if anyone in your department had looked into the case.”
She repeated the names to herself and went over to the
filing cabinet along the back wall. After looking through the second drawer,
she pulled out a thin file. She brought it with her and sat back down behind
the desk. She opened the file and glanced through it.
“Well, we’ve made a couple of visits, but by the looks of
this file, that’s about it. The police answered a call from one of their
neighbors four months ago, and then another call six weeks later. They talked
to Mr. Brewer, but no arrests were made.”
Hutch frowned. “Can you tell us what happened?”
She looked through the file. “It says here that a
neighbor reported hearing people shouting and a woman screaming. When the
police arrived, Mr. Brewer answered the door and said they were just watching
TV. The officer that took the report said that he could see Mrs. Brewer and she
didn’t seem hurt. The second time the police was called, Mrs. Brewer was
standing in the background and the officer could see a bruise on her face. But
when they asked her if she wanted to press charges, she said no and that they
had been arguing but they had worked it out. So the officers that took the
calls wrote their reports and sent copies to us, as required by law. Marsha
Reeves, one of our workers, talked to Mrs. Brewer at her place of employment,
but she refused any help.”
She looked up at the two men. “After that, it was out of
her hands. Sadly, unless there are children in the home, we can’t intervene if
the abused doesn’t want us to. As you
well know, the police can’t force a battered woman to press charges.”
Starsky glanced at Hutch then shook his head. “So, you
leave her in that situation to handle it on her own. What did Linda tell the
social worker?”
Mary read the last report in the file. “She said that
they had been having financial problems and the stress had gotten to her
husband. But, she was working and Mr. Brewer had gone back to work, so she
thought everything would get better at home. Marsha gave her some of our literature
and one of her cards, and told her that if she needed to talk to someone, to
call. Mrs. Brewer thanked her and said that she didn’t think she would need any
help. Now, before you say it, Marsha knows a whitewash when she hears it. She
told me herself that Mrs. Brewer was scared out of her mind. She was very
evasive and wouldn’t make eye contact with Marsha. She also knows that without
Mrs. Brewer’s assistance, we don’t have a legal leg to stand on. So, have there
been other complaints lately? Is that why you’re investigating?”
Hutch shook his head briefly. “No, Linda’s working for a
friend of ours and he’s seen what Jimmy does to her. We're looking into this
unofficially at his request, but our captain does know about it. The problem is
this is out of our league. When we tried to talk to Linda, she told us the same
thing. She doesn’t want our help and she doesn’t think she has any way out.
When we talked to one of the waitresses at the diner where she used to work,
she told us this had been going on for a while. She’s worried that Jimmy may
become so violent that he'll eventually kill Linda. The reason we’re here is we
were hoping you could give us a place to start.”
Mary sighed and sat back in her chair. “I wish I had a
miracle cure for every abused spouse in this country. The sad truth is unless
they’re willing to help themselves, our hands are tied. In the real world,
getting away from an abusive spouse is easier said than done. Most of these
women have been in the relationship for a long time. They don’t have any job
skills, so they’re ill prepared for living on their own and supporting
themselves. Typically, they have extremely low self-esteem. They spend most of
their time avoiding the abuse, so they have no energy left for thinking of a
way out. The abuser is the dominant personality, and frequently keeps the
abused isolated from anyone that could help them. In some cases, if the abused
does find the courage and resources to get out, the abuser follows them and
cajoles them into going back into the relationship.”
Hutch raised an eyebrow. “How do they do that?”
She smiled without amusement. “They promise them the
moon. They swear that they’ll change and even submit to counseling on occasion.
Then, when the abuser is back under their control, the abuse starts again. Some
of our clients that did leave went back several times before severing the
relationship completely. In extreme cases, the abuser even stalks the abused,
adding mental cruelty to physical injury. In the worst case scenarios, the abuser
finally catches up with the abused and one of them ends up dying.”
She rubbed her temples and gazed at them steadily. “There
aren’t any quick fixes, gentlemen. Even if you can convince Mrs. Brewer to
leave her husband, that’s only the beginning. Ideally, the next time he
assaults her, she needs to press formal charges. The police can’t hold him for
long, but it will give her the chance to get away. If she doesn't have a safe
place to go, we can put her up in one of our shelters, but they're very crowded
and she can only stay for a limited time. Then she can get a restraining order
against her husband, but that only goes so far. I don’t have to tell you how
large this city is. The police don’t have the time to enforce every RO that's
issued. But it does protect her to a certain degree. If he violates the RO, he
can be arrested and jailed. In the most
violent cases, we usually recommend that the abused relocate. Some of these men
are very persistent. I’ve known men that seem to capitulate quickly then months
after the divorce, they show up at the abused spouse’s door, or place of
employment. Then the cycle starts all over again.”
Hutch looked unhappy. “So you’re telling us that if Linda
does leave, she’ll be on the run for the rest of her life?”
“It depends on how determined her husband is. If he
realizes that the marriage is over and moves on, then she isn’t in any danger.
However, if he becomes obsessed with her, she won’t be able to live in the same
city with him. Unfortunately, I can’t answer that unless I talk to him. I know
it’s not fair, but what in life is?”
Starsky didn’t look any happier than his partner. “Let me
see if I understand you. You think Linda should stay until he beats her up
again and then file charges. Then she sneaks away while he’s in jail and gets a
restraining order, which sounds like it isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
Then she leaves everything and everyone she knows behind and runs away. That
stinks.”
Mary wasn’t offended. “Would you rather I sugar coat it,
Detective? The world can be ugly sometimes and these women have seen the worst
it can offer. Any life that's free of abuse is better than what they have. I
know being on the run seems radical, but not all cases end that way. Like I
said, that depends on the abusing spouse.”
Hutch ran his fingers through his hair. “So, what do you
suggest that we do?”
“Start slowly and proceed with caution. The last thing
you want to do is inflame the situation. Try to talk to Mrs. Brewer when she’s
away from her husband. The people that she works with can be a big help. They
can be a safety net for her. At least she has a job. Most of these women have
never worked in their lives. If you can show her that she has the ability to
support herself that might give her the confidence she needs to get away. But
don’t forget about Mr. Brewer. You have to take his temperament into
consideration. He has her completely under his thumb and he’s not going to be
happy if she leaves. If he even finds out that she’s thinking of leaving, he
may take it out on her.”
Starsky sighed. “Yeah, that’s what we’re afraid of. And
to make matters worse, he’s a lot bigger than she is. Plus, he drinks. Alcohol
and tempers don’t mix.”
“No, they don’t. The officers never mentioned that he was
drinking when they answered the complaints. If it’s true, she’s in more danger
than I thought. The sooner you can get her out of that house the better off
she’ll be.”
She glanced at her watch then stood up and walked them to
the door.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help, gentlemen. There
aren’t any easy answers. Use all the resources that you have and all the
influence you can muster to get her out of that marriage. But you have to
remember that if she doesn’t want to go, you can’t force her. The final
decision has to be up to her.”
She walked down to the street with them and waved as she
got into her own car. Hutch looked at his partner over the hood of the
“Well, what do you think?”
The brunet made a face. “I think I’m beginning to hate
this. We know that Linda's in danger and there isn’t a damned thing we can do
about it. If a stranger was stalking her, we could lean on him and even press
charges ourselves if he hurt her. But because this punk is her husband, we just
have to sit and watch. What’s the use of having a Department of Social Services
if they can’t do anything? What a
joke!”
“I agree, Starsk, but we're homicide cops. We don't have
any jurisdiction in this case.”
"So, what are you saying? You think we should just
forget it? We should butt out and let him keep using her for a punching
bag?"
"I didn't say that, Starsky. You heard Mary
Anderson. If we go rushing into this without thinking, we could make things
worse instead of better. Look what happened with Guy Mayer. We automatically
assumed his father was abusing him without getting all the facts, and we ended
up putting that little boy right into the hands of his abuser."
"That was different, and you know it. Guy was a kid.
He was too afraid to tell us his momma was hurtin' him. We already know that
Jimmy is beatin' up on Linda."
"Yes, we know it, but Linda told us to stay out of
it. Now, I'm not saying that we should turn our backs. I'm just saying that we
need to be careful."
Starsky sighed. “I hear you, but damn it, it's not right!
We can't just sit around and wait for Linda to end up being a statistic, too.
We gotta do something, Hutch!"
"We
will, buddy, but we just have to take things slow. In the mean time, we’d
better get back to work. Dobey'll have our hides if we don’t get some of these
cases closed. After we go off shift, we can stop at Huggy’s and see how she’s
doing.”
“Now you’re talking. We can let Anita know what Mary
said. Maybe she can talk some sense into Linda.”
Hutch shrugged and got into the car. As they went back to
work, Mary Anderson’s words echoed in his mind.
“In the most
extreme cases, the abuser catches up with the abused and one of them ends up
dying.”
He looked over at Starsky, and saw the determined
look on his face. Watch out, buddy. Don't
get too close to her. I don't want you to become a statistic, either.
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