Muted Reaction

Anita met Rick when she was in high school. Both attended Raleigh High School, but they never conversated with one another. Ten years later, they reconnected and decided to start dating. Shortly thereafter, they decided to get married. This is when the good turned into the bad. Rick was always a bad choice for Anita, in my opinion. First of all, he was UGLY! I know looks are not important when finding love, but still, you have to be at least "okay" looking. Rick was not even that! Second, he was LAZY! He had a history of letting his women take care of him and not being able to hold down a job. Third, he was a HOE! He was talking to at least 5 other women when he started dating Anita. After they got married, they began living in a violence, drug-filled apartment complex called "Oak-Haven". Neither one decided to find a job and began living off of food stamps and child support checks. Rick even started selling drugs.
One day, Anita left her 6 year old daughter and 5 year old son at the apartment with Rick. The police had been secretly watching the apartment for two weeks now, and they knew what kind of activity was going on inside. They busted Rick was over $5,000 worth of marijuana in the house and immediately called DHS for the sake of the children.
As I reflect on what happened that day, I'm becoming sad and filled with anger. My mom had to go the DHS office and find out what would happen to the children. They were playing with toys, happy as could be, not knowing what in the world was going on. The 5 year old son would later be placed in the care of his father who lived 3 hours away, and the 6 year old daughter would began living with her grandmother.
After another year of infidelity, Anita came to her senses and began to threaten Rick with a divorce. Because of this, he began to grow violent. Anita would come visit us and have a black eye. I recall one particular instance in which he punched her in the ear. Her ear began ringing and hurting. After two weeks, she decided to go to the doctor. The doctor told her that severe damage had been done and that she would probably be deaf in a couple of years. Today, Anita cannot hear out of her right ear and has to wear a hearing aid. Happily, she is no longer with Rick. She finally realized that she could do better, and she even married someone else.
This story relates to our class discussion because we have been talking about men and their need to feel powerful. Rick was abusive because of a insecurity he had in himself, something that we also discussed. In most cases, a man will react in a violent manner if he feels disrespected or threatened, especially by a female.