After the War

38

It was three in the morning, and I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to find my new neighbor and her son standing there. The kid, his name was Jamie, had a black eye and a bloody nose. The woman, Marie, had bruises that covered her arms.

"Ms. Rogers, I-I'm so sorry to bother you at this hour, but we need help".

"Come in" I showed them inside and I helped them with their injuries "hey, Jamie, do you want to watch some cartoons while I talk with your mom".

He nodded and I turned on the TV. I then went to the kitchen to talk with Marie.

"Can you tell me what happened" I asked.

"My-my husband, Jeff, got drunk, and he-he started hitting Jamie. I-I tried to stop him, and he started hitting me. We just moved here a month ago, and I remembered that the man next door told us that you were a cop. I-I figured you could help us" she explained.

"How long has your husband been abusing you".

"Excuse me".

"I'm a cop, my job is to stop people from hurting others. I can tell by the look in your eyes that this isn't the first time this has happened" I stated.

"It's happened a few times since we moved here, but this is the first time he's ever hit Jamie".

"What does your husband do for a living".

"He's always had an office job. He works for some computer company".

"Is he ex military? Was he a cop? Was he ever in the private security business".

"No nothing like that. We moved here, and he just started drinking. Jeff wasn't abused as a child, and he wasn't bullied. He was divorced once, but he said that the woman cheated on him".

"Marie, people change. It sounds like your husband needs to be locked up. Abuse, even once, is against the law. I was abused as a kid, so I know what abuse looks like, and this is it".

"What am I going to do".

"Well, you did the right thing by coming to me. Now I'm going to go kick Jeff's ass and throw him in a holding cell until he sobers up. Does he have a gun".

"He-he might have one. We had one under our bed" she answered.

"So you had a gun out in the open. If you have an alcoholic in the house, then you're supposed to keep the guns locked up. I have guns out in the open because I don't drink, and I know how to handle them. I'm going to go stop your husband before I have to charge him with manslaughter. You stay here with your son until I get back" I grabbed Steve's shield and ran down the street.

Sure enough, Jeff was in his living room waving a gun around and shouting at the ceiling.

"Jeff, put the gun down" I ordered. He whipped around and shot the gun. I managed to block it with the shield.

"Who the hell are you" he yelled.

"I'm a cop, and your wife said that you hit her and your son for no reason".

"She's a liar. I hit them because they disobeyed me".

"What happened to your first wife".

"She left me because she didn't want to obey me anymore".

"You abused her too. Sir, you're under arrest for spousal and child abuse" I walked towards Jeff, but I kept the shield up.

He tried to kick me down, but I moved fast and knocked him over. I wrestled the gun away from him and cuffed his hands. I marched him down the street and forced him into my truck. When we got to the station, I handed him over to the rookies.

"Cap, its four in the morning. Why did you arrest this guy" one asked.

"His wife and his son came to me for help. He'd hit them, and he was drunk. I found him waving a gun around, and he tried to shoot me. This isn't the first time that he's beat his wife either. His first wife divorced him because he also beat her" I explained.

"Jesus. You lived by these people".

"It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on when they came over. They just moved here a few weeks ago. I'd hold the guy here for a few days. I have the woman and her son at my house for now".

"You can tell them they can go home now" the rookie said. I headed home and told Marie and Jamie that it was safe to go home.