The police report described Jade, Dante’s Taiwanese wife, as having lunged at Dante with an intent to harm him. That’s not how Dante recalled the incident. He had called 911 because Jade had locked herself in the bathroom with a container of prescription pain-killers. She had tried to kill herself with muscle relaxants several months earlier. That time she had spent a few nights in the hospital. This time ended up with a few nights in jail. The marriage wasn’t going well.
Jade gave the police quite a fight. She looked so petite and pale in pajamas, eyes puffy from lack of sleep and tears. But Dante, on many occasions, had felt Jade’s strength in the midst of hysteria. As the two officers tried to cuff her, they had to wrestle her thrashing body to the ground . Dante thought that the movement she made towards him was for protection. Hadn’t he vowed to protect her? Dante cowered backwards as Jade tried to free herself from the police.
What Dante felt after the police drove away with Jade cuffed in the back of their patrol car, was extreme relief. The drama for that night, at least, was over. Dante, being the sole breadwinner, couldn’t afford to miss work again. He needed to sleep. Dante walked to the next room where both kids were laying in his bed, awake.
“Your mom will be okay,” he said to Charlotte and Amos who were staring at him from under the covers.
“It sounded like a fight!” Amos, the seven-year-old, said with more excitement than fear.
“Your mom is really strong. It took two police to control her,” Dante responded.
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What an interesting story. I hope you'll continue. I left Taiwan in 1975 and didn't have a chance to return until 1983. And in those 8 years, Taiwan changed A LOT, I mean A LOT (of course, I changed too), but it was like a foreign country. During the same time, my whole family (except me) were in Saudi Arabia, and they too, came back to a "foreign country."
ReplyDeleteI kept on asking about the things that were so foreign to me, and all my family could tell me was that that was basically how they found it when they got back too.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog. This is one of six parts. I haven't put them online because there hasn't been a lot of interest.
ReplyDeleteI checked out your blogs and am very impressed. A lot of energy and beauty!