The Murder of Jeffrey Dryden: The Grim Truth Surrounding Male Domestic Abuse Read Online Free PDF Page B

paused, tears washing down the side of her face. Bathing her
cheeks with sadness, “Later that day I went over their pictures,
picking out those to use for the poster and the memorial viewing.”
She wept softly. “I had forgotten so much about them when they were
little,” the smoke bellowing from her mouth before taking a deep
breath of fresh air.
    “ I forgot… when they slept,
how Jeff always had his mouth open. How when they were together
they always seemed to do things as one mind.” She hissed, her voice
crackling with unrelenting sorrow and feeling. “Or how… when they
smiled up at the camera, you could feel the warmth of their joy,
their love through the picture,” She sighed. “It’s funny how you
forget the little things about someone, how they seem to fade over
time, only to come back to you when they’re gone,” she
said.
    “ So odd,” she added, taking
another deep drag of her cigarette, once more, gazing out across
the street, her eyes fixated on the distant past, images, memories
feathering through her mind… I could see it all as I stood there
with her, by her side.
    I could almost feel her every thought
as she stood in utter silence, breathing. Each breath acting like a
drawn out fight to hold back the tears, the sadness, the emotion
everyone was feeling, the breaking of our hearts over our fallen
friend, nephew, cousin, brother… son.
     
    Family Values
    “ I’m going back inside and
finish my coffee,” she said as she took a final inhale of her
cigarette, slowly exhaling the smoke from her lungs as if enticed
by the sensation, the relief of pent up stress. Following her into
her house, I saw Eric sitting at the dining room table eating away
on some eggs and bacon.
    “ You want some chief,” Jim,
our stepfather, asked as he walked out of the kitchen, “No… I’m
good, thanks,” I said sitting down in the older, broken chair next
to Eric. “She didn’t drag him down the steps as we were first
told,” mom said as she placed her cup to her mouth, taking in the
sweetened tang of her hazelnut coffee. “Though it sounds like she
didn’t do much of anything to help, except tell the neighbors that
he was drunk and came at her with the knife,” She added, suddenly
reaching for the phone as it began to ring. “Hello?” she said with
the same crackle in her voice, the same rough coarseness as she
walked out of the dining room and quickly into the other
room.
    “ I imagine it’s been
ringing a lot today huh?” I asked Eric, as I looked towards him,
“How are you doing by the way?” I asked. “I don’t know,” he said
openly, “I don’t think its hit me just yet,” he added. “I feel off…
as if a part of me has been cut away,” he said, driving his fork
into his scrambled eggs.
    “ To be honest Eric, I don’t
think the reality of it is going to hit anyone right away, not
until we see him in a few days,” I said. It was then that mom came
out of the bedroom, slamming the phone down almost breaking it.
“They took some of his stuff,” she said, a stream of anger mixed
with rage tearing through her voice.
    “ What?” I asked not
catching on right away to what she was saying. “Chiquita’s family,
they got into the apartment and took some of Jeff’s stuff.” She
said. “How,” I paused for a moment not sure how that was even
possible, “How… it’s a damn crime scene, if it hasn’t been cleared
then they can be easily arrested for that,” I said. “Paula said
that the detective is not happy about it but apparently they got
the key from the guy that was renting them the apartment and they
came in early this morning and took the bulk of his stuff,” she
said. The hatred and anger in her voice growing more and more as
she spoke.
    “ Tony is over there now
making sure they don’t try and take the rims off Jeff’s car and to
clean out the rest of Jeff’s stuff from the apartment before they
come back.” She added. “Alone?” I asked only to get a