Every Woman Is Loved By Someone

She was his sister. They had shared so many secrets together. They had grown up together laughing, crying, and dreaming. And now, here she was at her new home where she and her new husband lived. Tears were falling from her blackened eyes. His rage began to surface.
Sheila was 23 and had just finished getting her degree in journalism. She had found Eugene in her English Lit class and their courtship lasted for eight months followed by a storybook wedding. A week after the European honeymoon, clouds began to gather over the union.
Winning a national writing contest helped Sheila get a job with the local newspaper. The editor said she had promise and expected she would do well. But Eugene wasn’t as excited as she was about it.
Steve knew his sister better than anyone. She had become a little distant since she got married. He stopped by for a visit. When she opened the door, she knew her world was about to change. Her brother loved her more than anyone else. She sensed his rage and tried to calm him. But she wasn’t stupid. She knew he would not let this go until he was sure his little sister was safe.
After Steve got out of the military, he went to work as a nurse. He had been a medic in the Army. Four years with the Special Forces had taught him many things. Fixing the problem his sister was in would be complicated. But Steve was not going to allow anyone to treat her with anything less than complete respect. And a beating was disrespectful.
“Where is the bastard?”
“He’s at work.”
“When will he be home?”
“Please don’t worry about this, Steve. I’ll handle it. It won’t happen again.”
“Sis, one thing I know is that when a dog tastes blood once, he wants more. But don’t worry. I’ll talk with him and simply let him know that our family doesn’t act this way.”
Sheila knew it wouldn’t be so easy. Eugene had often said disrespectful things about Steve and his military past. Steve had often spoken of the things he did while in the service, even to the point of being a little boastful. Eugene was anti-military. He had once said that only rednecks and idiots joined up in order fight. She knew that if Steve tried to admonish Eugene, there would be trouble. Hell, it was a similar difference of opinion that had gotten her the black eyes.
When she expressed her opinion, Eugene got pissed. He was very left-slanted and she had been raised more middle of the road, maybe even a bit to the right. She thought that the conversation she and Eugene were having was more intellectual than personal. In a burst of passion about his viewpoint, Eugene emphasized his opinion with a punch to the forehead. Sheila was completely taken by surprise. When she regained conscientiousness, he was holding her and apologizing. Later, when she mentioned the subject they had been discussing, his anger seemed again to rise. She dropped the subject quickly. Steve would not be intimidated by Eugene’s temper. As a matter of fact, considering the way she now looked, Steve’s temper may be the first to go.


Eugene was raised in a confused home. Although his mother had a college degree and a teaching certificate, she didn’t work. Hid father forbade it. It was a man’s job to bring home the bacon and the woman’s job to fry it up. He made a modest, but livable, income as a police officer in their small town. They had met at the school where she was teaching. A student had assaulted her and the police was called. It was the beginning of a stormy, 16 year relationship.
They had married only four months after meeting. He told her that, as a housewife, she wouldn’t have to worry about students attacking her. It was enough to convince her to have a baby and be a stay-at-home mom. The baby added new stresses to the marriage and when Eugene was a toddler, the trouble began. He would catch his mom crying sometimes and even saw her with black eyes. He thought it was make-up.
As he grew older, Eugene saw his father become more and more violent toward his mother. His father once told him, “A woman is the queen of the house and should remember her place. It is a man’s responsibility to keep her there.” Eugene began to look at his mother a little differently after that. He became very confused when “queen” mom took the castle in the divorce and left “alcoholic” dad exiled to a one bedroom apartment.
Although mom got her life back on track and became a successful, independent parent, Eugene still had the scars of the man-woman relationship from his formative years. A liberal arts program in college only confused him more.


Sheila and Steve were lucky enough to be raised in a happy, loving home. Mom worked part time making and selling arts and crafts in a local store and volunteering with the women’s shelter. Dad made a better than average income as a fleet manager for a national trucking company.
Theirs had been a romance from grade school. They were high school sweethearts and got married a year after graduation. Not only did they have mutual respect for each other, they were also best friends. When Steve and Sheila were born, the relationship felt the stresses of children, but the circle of love grew. Mom demonstrated in her everyday life a love and respect for others. Dad demonstrated in his everyday life a love and respect for mom. Through their parents, Steve and Sheila learned to communicate without using crutches like alcohol and blame.


Eugene knew he had made a huge mistake by hitting Sheila. Not only was he endangering his relationship with her, he knew that Steve would confront him about it. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea though. Steve thinks he is such a badass because he was in the Army. A good ass kicking would put him in his place… and who better than a brother-in-law to issue it. Not only would it keep him out of his business, it would make Sheila know to keep her mouth shut and know her place.


After Steve left, Sheila sat down and began to cry. She knew Steve would talk to Eugene about it. Steve assured her that he could talk to Eugene without a fight. But Eugene didn’t know Steve well enough to know that he wasn’t looking for a fight. She also knew that Eugene did not know that Steve had been highly trained in the fighting arts while in the Army. Because of his training, Steve would use physical tactics only as a last resort. The way Eugene has been acting, he would probably force the last resort.