If Now Was Then

A long time ago, I decided to leave the hotel room in Des Moines where I was staying with my boyfriend and drive back home to Milwaukee. He was drunk and insisting that we go out on the town and I was terrified of getting killed in a car accident.

He didn’t like my decision. My going stranded him in another state. It would end up being difficult for him to get home. He would have to take a Greyhound but that was okay because that’s what people did then. They waited in bus stations to go places they couldn’t get to on their own.

Because he disagreed with my decision, he pinned me on the bed. He was heavy, a very big man, so being pinned was no small situation. He also had his hands around my throat but, fortunately, for me at least, one of his hands had been damaged…