A neighbour had another domestic on the weekend. There has been a bit of fighting going on over there, but there has at other houses too, truth be told. However this weekend they heard a man yell as never heard before. Shouting demands to know "who" and "whats his name" met with screams and crying and denial. Screams from a woman to get off her, that he is hurting her, cries of "my arm" and so on. There was an audience outside. Practically the entire neighbourhood. A woman stood dumstruck as after phoning 000 was told only 1 other person had reported "shouting". After demanding an emergency response as it was clear what was happening inside the home, so she scurried her kid into his room with toys to play with, and stood at the window to watch for the police. That's not what they all saw though. Intensified shouting and screams eminated from within, then sudden eerie silence was punctuated by the man bursting out of the door and running full pelt down the street. The majority of onlookers went back inside. A few close neighbours looked at each other, asking questions. One person decided something wasn't right. Decided something had to be done. She went to the door and called out. No answer. She called out again, louder. Still nothing. She went inside calling out, asking if everything was ok. She heard crying, sobbing, scrabbling on the floor to the right. She went into the kitchen and was confronted with a woman lying on the floor, a floor covered in blood. She nearly threw up. A young girl of about 4 stood in the other doorway, clutching a barbie doll. She went over to the girl, and was able to get her to go outside. The woman from next door was at the doorway. She handed the girl over and told her to take the girl outside and get help, check on her own kid. She went back to the woman on the floor. She didnt want to. Her legs felt like lead. Her head was spinning and her stomach was fighting to explode. She grabbed a jacket off the back of a kitchen chair and did her best to stem the blood flowing, but she couldnt see where the stab wounds were. There was just too much blood. Then sirens, chaos, blue uniforms, shouting, shoving, confusion, more sirens.
Vomit.
Tears, shaking, words that wouldn't form, sounds that she didn't know she was making. Blanket. Questions.
Ambulance officers. Blood again. Soft voices. Gentle hands.
They caught him. An hour and a half later. The woman would be OK. The wounds weren't too deep. Only a small knife.
********
Of the more than 50 people standing outside, watching, listening to the arguement, only 2 called the police.
Of the 20 or so who stayed watching after the man ran away, only one went to the house to check on the woman.
Of the half dozen or so people who saw the woman on the floor covered in her own blood, only 3 weren't trained for such an event. One was the man who did it. One was her four year old daughter. One was a neighbour who heard it happen.
How many people did nothing?
Monday, November 3, 2008
How was your weekend?
Posted by Epskee at 3:29 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)


3 comments:
I dunno. It is a tough situation. And if you call the police, there is not much they can do, unless the one getting the shit beaten out of them finds the courage to share what happened.
I've been in that type of situation. I reported it to the police. And they just issued an AVO. I was getting police escorts back to my place to feed my cats. Finally, sick of me, they shunted me off to another police station. sick of repeating the story, I gave them the AVO to explain what was going on. The cops at the second station took him into custody and questioned him. But by then it was too late. He changed the story and denied the rest.
Kitty - I would have loved to have had the balls to do that, but home alone with your kid you just cant go stirring up shit. Calling the cops was best I could do until he left. I did what I could, even though it was after the fact. Your right about listening to it going on, it surprised me how so many could stand and watch but not lift a finger. They just walked off. Nobody else even bothered to check on her, even after I already went in nobody came to help me.
Phishez - The gaping holes in her stomach really left him nowhere to go with the "quick, lie" defense. I've been hit by men too. And your right, the victim needs to speak up. But also, those nearby who know about it need to act too. If only to let the prick know others know and aren't going to keep quiet. If only to let the girl know she isn't alone. That someone will hear and act if she is not able to. Maybe if someone said something earlier her daughter wouldn't have watched her father figure try to kill her mother.
If we're not a part of the solution, we're apart of the problem.
Fantastic Post. One that's close to my heart.. nice work, mate.
x
Post a Comment