Memoir | Handcuffed | Part III of VI

Content Warning: This memoir contains sensitive material related to an assault I experienced.

Reader discretion is advised.

*****

I was hidden behind shrubbery, still reeling and sobbing from the horrifying ordeal I had just experienced.

…..

Upon discovering my assailant writhing in agony on my apartment floor, Jeffrey promptly dialed for an ambulance and the police.

…..

“Mia, Mia, Mia, where are you?”

Jeffrey’s voice echoed through the front of my apartment complex as he frantically searched for me.

I murmured from hiding behind the bush,

“I’m here, Jeffrey!”

As he approached the sound of my voice, I sprinted into his arms, seeking refuge.

Jeffrey informed me that the police needed my statement.

…..

As we made our way back to my apartment, we saw my attacker being wheeled away on a stretcher by paramedics from a distance.

My supposed friend, the attacker, was alive.

I breathed a sigh of relief; grateful I wasn’t a killer.

…..

The police interrogated me and, to my disbelief, decided to handcuff me for injuring my attacker!

“You’ve got to be joking!

I’m the victim here and the one in handcuffs?!!

I exclaimed in exasperation to the male and female police officers.

The woman officer remained silent. Her gaze, directed at me, was filled with empathy, suggesting a power dynamic in which the man held authority over her.

As the police secured me in the patrol car’s back seat, I saw dried blood around my mouth in the rearview mirror.

The blood was a grim reminder of when I had bitten my attacker.

Upon seeing the blood, my eyes welled up with tears.

…..

As we drove to the police station, the male officer began berating me for allowing my attacker into my home.

“Why was he even in your house?!”

“He claimed you were drinking!”

“You need to quit the booze and start attending church,” he scolded.

I retorted,

“Why am I in handcuffs? He was the one who attacked me!”

The brusque male officer responded,

“We need your statement at the police station, and since you injured the attacker, the handcuffs were necessary.”

…..

Memories flooded back to my childhood when my mother would take us kids to the small white church in the housing projects. I recalled a sermon where the preacher spoke:

“No weapon that is formed against me shall prosper…”

…..

At that moment, I was angry at Gavin and regretted trusting him.

I silently hoped that God would intervene and teach him a lesson for attempting to take advantage of my kindness.

It occurred to me that I was not so different from the famous biblical figure, King David, who also sought God’s vengeance upon his enemies.

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

 Bible, King James Version, Isaiah 54:17

…..

In the police station, a kind-hearted detective attentively listened as I recounted the assault.

Following that, the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) technicians took charge and meticulously gathered and documented the evidence of my assault.

.....

(Copyright © 2025 by Mia Z. Edwards. All rights reserved.)