8. Sean - Tortured
Chapter eight
Sean - Tortured
A fter a few years, Edie had two little girls that she would have died for, and sometimes she felt her life was in jeopardy to protect them. Sean left the military and they moved from New York back to an old farmhouse in Illinois several miles from the nearest town. Edie’s dad had inherited the old farm so he allowed them to live there rent-free if they remodeled it. He bought all the materials and Sean and Edie did the back-breaking work but they knew it would be lovely when they finished it.
I was happy to have my friend back in the area so I could catch up now and then. It seemed it was a good time for Sean and Edie. They had a goal that they could share and knew it would be a great place to rear their girls in a country setting. I sensed a glint of hope in her voice when we spoke. I felt a certain relief that maybe things would smooth out and the fear that Edie lived with would ease. Perhaps Sean was letting go of his ugly abusive past.
He secured a job as a photojournalist at a local TV station and, on occasion, Edie was hired to anchor a special interest story. She often interviewed local artisans about their crafts. They were always grateful for the free marketing and she became friends with several artists. She even got to interview Shirley Temple Black when she was in town for a political fundraiser. Edie felt that perhaps they were turning a positive corner of understanding and compromise. Sean’s violent outbreaks were less frequent so she held her breath that this was a good sign. He loved photographing their girls and the patience he showed positioning them just perfectly was special. It seemed this was his love language.
Having turned twenty-three, she was content to live life this way. The girls were healthy, Sean seemed less explosive and she resigned herself to this fate. It didn’t take long to experience that twist of fate like a knife in her back. Winter was brutal and had buried them under mountains of snow. She had to make a run to the grocery store fifteen miles away. Most of the roads were narrowed down to only one treacherous lane of ice.
When she and the girls returned there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. She quietly opened the kitchen door to listen and was shocked to hear sounds coming from their bedroom upstairs. She crept up a few steps to take a peek and the horror she saw still makes her shudder to this day. Sean was making love to the local male TV sportscaster. She couldn’t hold her emotion and screamed. Red-faced and sweating, Sean hissed, “Get out, bitch. Now!”
She was sick, dumbfounded. She didn’t know such things happened. She stripped the sheets from the bed and washed them. She vomited from the thought of what she had seen. In those days more than half a century ago, it was rare that anyone would speak of such sexual explorations and Edie couldn’t talk about it for some time. She relived the scene’s horror repeatedly and then began to question herself. Did she do something wrong that made Sean turn to a man? Was she not enough for him? Not pretty enough?
There was no understanding. It must have been gut-wrenching for Sean to be so torn inside trying to figure out who he was or what he needed to soothe him. She didn’t know if they could survive this as a family and worried about having to make love to Sean after seeing him with a man. She didn’t have to worry about it for long because the biggest shock came the next morning.
Sean left for work as usual but a few hours later when he returned, he was riding a brand-new BMW road cruiser motorcycle. He had sold their only car, packed a bag, yanked the phone from the wall, emptied their meager bank account, and said, “I’m going to California to be with Robert.” He hopped on that expensive motorcycle and roared out of sight as tears dripped off Edie’s chin. And just like that…Sean was gone.