Broken Marriage

This is the story of a small family broken by one child, and one father. It is the story of the heartbreak one woman suffered, at the hands of these two people whom she loved and cared for.

It was a small little six room cape style house. It was on quiet tree lined street in the quiet part of town. The neighborhood had a few young kids but mainly was middle aged couples.

In the house lived a family of four. There was the husband Brian, who was in his late forties. He was average height at five feet three and about 150 pounds. Then there was Carrie, Brian’s second wife, who was in her early fifties and was about an inch taller than Brian. The couple had no children together, but each two children from their previous marriages.

Brian had Kelly, who was an eighteen year old senior in high school, and who still lived her mother. And fifteen year old Jake, who had serious behavior problems. Brian was given custody of his son less than a year after he and Carrie were married. Paula, Brian’s fist wife, was unable to handle her son at the age of nine, and Brian thought he was the perfect Dad and would make an perfect son out of this child. Unknown to the couple, this was the beginning of the end of what once was beautiful and loving marriage.

Carrie had two sons from her first marriage, Eric who was twenty eight, and a father of two beautiful girls, and Robert who was twenty six, and had a boy and a girl of his own. Robert was himself in a battle to try to gain custody of his son who was five. Robert had personal issues that he was trying to work out, and moved back home soon after Brian and Carrie bought their new home less than two years earlier.

Brian and Carrie were very happy together. They were together for three years before they were married, and things couldn’t have been better. They were then married, and eleven months later Jake’s mother decided she was going to give Jake up because she said she could not handle him. He was physically abusive to her, and would cause damage to her apartment, and items in her house.

Once Brian heard of this, he refused to let her give him away, believing his problems was lack of discipline on her part, he would take Jake and give him the discipline he needed, and in Brian’s words, “In three months Jake will be an angel with me”.

Carrie, trying to be a supportive wife and having no alternative, agreed to Brian’s decision to take Jake into their loving home. This was to be the last time Brian and Carrie would ever agree on anything where Jake was concerned, and the first of the many incidents that broke up their loving marriage.

Neither of Brian’s children were raised to respect other people, and therefore refused to do what they were asked when Carrie spoke to them. Both were rude and only cared about what they wanted. If Carrie told them “No”, they would go to their father who always let them have their way.

Over the years, this became a bigger and bigger problem. Finally when Carrie told Kelly that she was no better than her brother, and they would be treated the same, that she was not special or better than her brother, and therefore they would both be treated the same and disciplined the same she replied, “Yes I am and I don’t have to come here you know”. Carrie looked at her and answered “No you don’t.”

Kelly then thirteen, decided she would go home, and never came back except on Christmas or her birthday, or any other day when she wanted or needed something.

During these visits, Carrie was subjected to verbal insults and swearing by both of Brian’s children, and he never seemed to care. It started to become apparent to Carrie, that Brian was not going to be much help where Jake’s discipline was concerned. It was becoming more and more apparent, that Jake was going to be able to do whatever he wanted, and say whatever he wanted, and absolutely nothing was going to done by Brian.

Jake slowly started to show signs of more serious problems when he started to steal from Carrie. Finally, Carrie had no choice but to lock her bedroom door and her private sewing/sanctuary room. Eventually, Carrie began noticing things were still disappearing from her rooms. Finally, Carrie caught Jake in her sewing room with her belongings in one hand and a knife in the other.

Jake had apparently used the knife to pry open the lock, as he had done many times to her bedroom door. Now, no place was safe or private for Carrie. She began to feel violated by Jake, as he would search her drawers for things and would take them. He even stole her jewelry, mostly sentimental items, of no monatary value. Brian never said anything to him, no matter what Jake would do.

After Carrie came home from work, only several months after moving into this new beautiful home, she could smell something strange in the home. Brian asleep on the sofa, had no idea of what it could be, and Jake denied anything as well. Carrie thought Jake had possibly burned some candles, but Jake denied this as well.

After about an hour, Carrie went into the cellar to get something, there she noticed what the source of the odor was. Jake had taken some old rags and put them on an air conditioner,and set them on fire. No one knows if the smoke alarm ever went off, but Brian never heard it.

Carrie became concerned that Jake could have been seriously hurt, since he had moved the rags across the floor. Brian did not seem to know what to do or say. It was left on Carrie to try to get some help, or at least get Jake the attention he needed before something like this happened again.

The problem was, every time Carrie tried to suggest help for Jake, Brian would threaten to leave her, accuse her of having an affair, and slam things around. Carrie found this very upsetting, and started to suffer health issues. Non of which seem to bother Brian.

Then, after about three years after Brian and Carrie had custody of Jake, Paula decided her two days every other weekend was too much for her, and no longer was she going to take her son for two nights. She could again only handle him one night every other week.

Carrie started to become more and more depressed, due to the less and less time her and Brian would have to spend alone. Brian being stressed by Jakes increasing problems, spent their one night alone, asleep most of the time. He began to spend more and more nights sleeping on the sofa. And Carrie began to spend more and more nights alone, and crying for her dying marriage. None of which Brian seem to even notice.

When ever Carrie tried to discipline Jake, Brian would not say anything, but he would not enforce the discipline when Carrie was not around. Jake soon began to realize that he could do most anything he wanted, and nothing would happen to him.

If Jake was told “No”, He would go into his room and punch large holes into his bedroom wall, break his hand rails on this banister, and he even punched out his bedroom window four times. Luckily, he never cut himself, or electrocuted himself when he punched a hole in the wall next to the electric outlet.

Again, Carrie tried to make Brian see Jake could hurt himself, and he needed to find help for him, but again Carrie’s pleas fell on deaf ears, and again Carrie was verbally assaulted and told to leave, and go to her boyfriend, as Brian had said dozen’s of times before. Carrie took this type of verbal assault to heart, and very personal, as she had taken her vows seriously, and for Brian to say these things hurt her deeply through the years.

Now, this verbal abuse always came with Brian taking off his wedding ring and throwing it at her. Carrie was becoming more and more aware that the man she had married years before, was no longer the man whom she occasionally shared her bed with. Her Brian was gone, and only the shell of the man was left. Jake had taken away all the love and emotion Brian had. No longer was there anything left for Brian to give to Carrie. Their marriage was slowly dying, and nothing Carrie could do would bring it back.

Every day Carrie began to regret having to go home. She knew there would be some new crisis, and again she and Brian would fight. Today was of no exception. As soon as Carrie opened the door, she was confronted by a locked inner kitchen door. She could hear Jake and Brian arguing as always, and when Jake opened the door he started to confront her. Jake was banging on the pans trying to bend or dent them. He opened cabinet doors,and started to bang the cups trying to break them as well. Carrie told Jake to stop and go to his room, and Jake began to swear at her. Jakes swearing was becoming more and more constant. He could make a trucker blush as they say.

Jake turned to Brian who was sitting on the sofa, and began swearing at him. Jake not getting what he wanted began to pound on the speakers trying to break them. Carrie having had enough of Brian’s lack of parental concern, took Jake by the shirt and pointed him to his room. Jake turned around and slapped Carrie across the face. It was at this point that Brian got off the couch and asked Jake to just go upstairs to his room.

Carrie looked at Brian and pleaded with him to “Do something about him”, with tears in her eyes. Carrie was not crying from the sting of the slap, but of the sting of pain Brian’s apparent lack of respect for her. Carrie then knew she had no choice, she had to confront Brian head on.

"Please do something about Jake. He does and says what he wants, and you do nothing. You sit on the sofa, and let him break things and you do nothing. He slaps me, and you do nothing.”

Carrie’s pleas again were ignored, but again Brian took off his wedding ring and threw it at Carrie and said “Here take this. It means nothing to me”, Brian said without taking a breath, or sense of feeling. Except this time, Carrie who had her heart torn out of her for the last time responded, “ And here you can put this with that one”.

For Carrie had taken her wedding ring off and tossed it on the table in front of him, and walked away. It was at that moment, Carrie knew in her heart their marriage was dead. Her precious marriage, killed by an uncaring, selfish fifteen year old boy. And an uncaring father and heartless husband.

Carrie again was alone in a marriage, she had hoped would be filled with love and laughter. Now was filled with loneliness and pain. Soon both would end.