I cannot believe that I managed to not only write 50,000 words, but I also wrote them in a way that at least one or two people enjoyed. Thank you all for your encouragement and suggestions, those meant a lot to me. I hope you like the ending lolThe four of them sat there for a few minutes not really talking, but saying a lot. Then Amy said to the room in general, “I think that we need to speak to my parents before I do anything, they deserve to know what is going on and I could use their support.” Jon agreed asking “Are they at home right now?” Amy looked a little abashed and replied “I don’t really know Jon, they were both there when I ran out this morning, but my dad probably had to go to work.” “My mom is over at your house right now,” Jennie said “Your mom called and asked her to come over.” “Well, that will make it a little bit easier, Jennie, do you think you could get your dad over there too? And I’ll ask mom to get my dad. Then we only have to go over this one time.” Amy asked, and as an aside “Like I really want to even go over it even ONE time” then she sighed and stood up. “Ok everybody, let’s take this show on the road.” That got a smile out of each of them as they trooped out of the office out to the cars.
It was only about a five minute drive from the dojo to Amy’s house, and the two cars made excellent time. When they walked in the front door Wanda jumped up from the couch and came quickly toward her daughter, then she hesitated, afraid that she was about to make a mistake. Amy closed the distance and her mother enveloped her in her arms, hugging her so hard that Amy couldn’t breath. But that was ok with her, she cried for a few minutes, then taking a deep breath she pulled back a little and looking at her mom said “Mom, is there any way that you could get dad here?” and turning to Edna she said “And Rich too, he is a part of this too. We need to decide on a course of action as a group and they need to be here.” Wanda and Edna looked at each other and silently headed for the phone to call the men.
While they waited for the dads to get there Wanda brought out some tea and chips as a snack, knowing the young people must be starving. There wasn’t much chatter as they sat there, no one was really in the mood for chit chat right then.
Bob and Rich drove up to the house almost at the same time. As Rich exited his car he looked at Bob with curiosity and asked “Do you know what this is all about? Edna didn’t give me any details on the phone.” Bob just shook his head as the two men walked quickly into the house.
Amy was pretty nervous right about then. These were the people closest to her in the whole world and she was about to ask them to help her do something extremely difficult. Slowly she began speaking. “I’m pretty sure you all have heard the news, but just in case you haven’t, here it is. The police think that the two men they arrested last night are the same two that attacked me. They would like me to come down to the station and speak with the detective in charge of this new case. I am terrified of this, and as my parents saw this morning, I didn’t react well to the news. With the help of Jon and Brad tho, I am ready to face this demon once and for all. I may break down, I may shake in my boots, I may cry like a baby, but it is time to do this!!!” she paused and took a deep breath then continued. “I would like for all of you to come with me. I know that I cannot do this alone, and I believe that as we have done with the self-defense program, we can act well as a team. I need my team for this. Will you go?” “Of course” “When do you need me?” “Anytime you need me” were the responses. She smiled a little smile of, well, almost of contentment, and quietly said “Thank you. I love you all.”
It took two cars to get all eight of them down to the station. And when they walked in the door the front desk sergeant gave them a bit of an odd look, but called the Detective right away when they asked him to. Then he told them to have seats until the Detective arrived. He was a tad surprised when they had no sooner seated themselves then he was there.
He took them all back to his office and apologized for not having more room, but said that he wasn’t exactly expecting an ‘army’ to come down. They smiled and found places to stand around the room as Amy sat in the chair in the front of his desk.
Detective Monroe introduced himself as the lead on this case and asked Amy if she was up to answering some questions about her attackers. “Nothing too hard” he was quick to assure her “But we need to get a couple of things straight so that we know for certain that these are the same guys.” Amy nodded her head and waited, holding Brad’s hand as he rested it on her shoulder. “Can you tell me if you remember any scars or tattoos or other identifying marks on either of the men?” Amy thought back and tried to see them in her mind, she started to tremble and Brad squeezed her hand, “No, I do not remember seeing anything like that, but the taller one was missing a front tooth.” She replied. “Ok, good. Now, can you remember anything about either one of them that sticks out in your mind?” Again she took a moment to think about his question, then she said “Not much, they seemed like they could be just about anyone, but I will never forget their faces. I’m sorry Detective, I guess I am not going to be much help after all.” She was disappointed and it showed. “Not at all Amy, you are doing an excellent job. The two men that we picked up last night are just the run of the mill males, no marks, no tattoos, no scars. But one IS missing a front tooth.” Amy jerked her head up and stared at him. “I believe that they are the same men who attacked you Amy. And I would very much like to prove that in a court of law. But, I know how hard this has been on you and will understand if you cannot do that.” He stopped and looked at her for a moment then said “The young lady that was attacked last night is willing to testify against them and the bite mark on the one man is enough evidence to stand up in court. I do not know how long they would be in prison, but I know that they would go.” “I will testify if I need to” Amy declared. “I will NOT allow them to win. They need to be punished for what they did and they need to be locked up for as long as we can so that other women will be safe!” “Amy do you mean that?” the Detective asked excitedly “I mean, it will be very difficult and the defense can be brutal, please, be sure before you agree, because I want the same thing you do and once I start I’m pretty hard to stop.” Slowly Amy nodded her head “Yes, I am sure. I will do it. I CAN do it, with the help of everyone in this room.” Her friends and family were worried about her, but they were learning that Amy was a whole lot stronger then they had ever believed, and they were ready to stand behind her every step of the way. “Detective Monroe, I have a favor to ask you.” Amy said then, “Yes? What?” he asked. “Is there any way that I can speak to the young lady that was attacked last night? I need to make sure….I need to see…I mean,” she paused to gather her thoughts and tried again, “I think I need to see that she is ok before I move on, I almost feel responsible for her attack because I didn’t do anything to stop those men before now.” “Whoa there” exclaimed the Detective, “There is NO way in Hell that you are in any way at fault for what happened last night! Do not even think it!” he shook his head in disbelief at what she had said. “Amy, no one knew where to find them, this has been an open case all this time and we have been trying to solve it. You gave us all the information that you had, and that was ALL that you could have done!” After looking at him for a few minutes she nodded her head and said “ok, I’ll go along with that, but still, do you think I could talk to her?” Detective Monroe thought about that for a few minutes, then he agreed to speak with the other victim and see if she was willing to meet with Amy. He stood and held out his hand to Amy, “Thank you for what you are doing Amy, I know it’s hard, and I’m glad that you are going to help us.” Amy shook his hand and then he led the group out.
The next morning the Detective called to tell Amy that the woman had agreed to meet with her, and to come to the diner at 11:30, they could talk over lunch. Amy was super nervous about this meeting, but knew it had to happen. She called Brad and Jennie to tell them what was going on and asked them to be there with her. She hoped that it wouldn’t cause the other woman any grief, but she needed them there. The three of them arrived about fifteen minutes early to snag a good table in the back, where they could have a fairly private conversation. Then they sat in silence waiting. It was only a few minutes before they saw Detective Monroe holding the door for a young woman, who glanced nervously around the diner as if she wanted more than anything to just turn around and run. But she didn’t, and the Detective led her gently to the table where the three friends sat.
Amy stood up, walked over to the girl and gave her a hug. At first the young lady stood there stiffly, then gradually she relaxed and hugged Amy back. They stood like that for a good while, before breaking apart and moving back to the table. Detective Monroe said “Amy this is Lisa,” Amy nodded “Lisa this is Amy, the young lady I told you about.” “Hi Amy” Lisa said quietly. “I am glad to meet you” “And I you” replied Amy. Now that the pleasantries were out of the way, there seem to be nothing else to say. The silence was becoming uncomfortable when Amy finally broke it with “Lisa, can you tell me how you thought of biting that man?” This was obviously not the question anyone expected and it elicited a surprised chuckle from them. Lisa thought for a moment then said “you are going to think this is silly, but it was a conversation I had with my girlfriend from church.” She began “she was telling me about this new class she had taken a week or so before the attack, and how the people teaching it had emphasized that keeping your wits about you and believing that you could escape were essential to doing so. And for some reason that stuck with me when that man grabbed me. I was panicking, I didn’t know what to do, and I just knew I was going to die when her voice came into my head. Telling me what she had learned. And it worked.” She looked at Amy with a kind of excitement in her eyes. “It worked Amy! I think I may owe my life to her instructors. I haven’t spoken with her since the attack, so I don’t know who they are, but when I find out, I’m going to go thank them.”
Brad, Amy and Jennie just sat there with their mouths half open and their eyes so wide that they looked almost comic. When they recovered their wits they looked at each other, then at Lisa and then back at Amy. Brad was the first to react, then Jennie and finally Amy. “IT WORKED!” Brad yelled “AMY - IT WORKED!” He jumped up from the table with Jennie right behind him and the two of them grabbed Amy by the hands and dragged her to her feet laughing and crying and shaking her head she hugged them both as they danced in place. Poor Lisa and Detective Monroe had moved back away from these three crazy people and Lisa was about to run out of the diner when Amy turned to her with a brilliant smile “Lisa, THANK YOU!” she said “You have no idea what you just did for me” “No, I guess I don’t” said Lisa hesitantly. “well, let me explain…” and Amy, Brad and Jennie told her all about the new Self – Defense Program that they had created. “And so, Lisa, what you have just told us means that FEDUP really does work, and it works for people who haven’t even taken the course yet, that it makes such a difference that just hearing about it can save someone’s life.” Amy’s face was radiant as she told Lisa the most important part “And it means that I AM helping to make sure that what happened to me will never happen to another woman” she shook her head slightly. “I know I cannot save everyone, but with this new program we have already saved ONE and that justifies our belief in it. We will continue to teach and we will continue to make a difference. And THAT is the only thing that matters.”
