“I’ve talked to several different lawyers and they either want to charge me a fortune or try and convince my son to take a plea bargain,” the woman said, sobbing. “The police turned a blind eye to one of their own breaking the law. Now my poor son is sitting up in the system for trying to protect his mother. Ms. Tate, I really don’t know what to do.”

Marlene studied the woman. She was a bit on the chubby side, but hardly fat. Her yellow face still bore traces of the bruises inflicted by her husband. Some were so deep that Marlene doubted they would ever heal. She felt for the woman, not because the NYPD was trying to twist another tragedy to take the heat off them, but because she, too, had been a victim of abuse.

She was fresh out of law school and living in Montclair, New Jersey. It was while working at a small firm out there that she had met Michael Brown, the firm’s junior partner. He was young, fine, and on his way to doing big things. In no time at all, Michael had managed to sweep her off her feet, and Marlene found herself abandoning her roommate to move into Michael’s condo. Her mother advised against moving in with the man so quickly, but Marlene was a girl in love. Michael played the roll of loving spouse for the first few months of the arrangement, but then came the old adage, You never really know someone until you live with them.

Marlene hadn’t noticed at first, but Michael drank quite a bit. Granted, there was no harm in having a beer after a hard day’s work, but Michael would often down a six-pack at a time. Normally, Michael was a sweetheart, but when he drank he became someone else. He would curse Marlene and shove her around if the house wasn’t cleaned to his standards or his dinner wasn’t hot enough. He had even slapped her a time or two during really heated arguments.

Marlene was never one to take abuse, but she was stuck on Michael, so she convinced herself that they would work it out. Over time, the drinking got worse and the physical abuse became more frequent. Marlene had finally had enough and notified Michael that she was leaving. His response to this was a black eye and two bruised ribs. Michael made it very clear to Marlene that the only way she would be leaving him was in a box.

Michael became very possessive, clocking Marlene’s every move. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house unless it was with him, and they worked together so there was no escape there. Marlene became a prisoner of love.