Wednesday night, shortly before midnight. My fiancee had been asleep for about an hour; I was lying on the sofa in the living room, listening to some old British folk guitar and reading a book. But now my eyelids were finally getting heavy, the words on the page making less and less sense, and I knew it was time for bed. So I put my book down, stood up, put my slippers on, and took two big steps over to the lightswitch by the door...where I heard a commotion downstairs in the hallway of my condo building.
It was hard to say what it was. Thumping, shuffling, a bit of a bang. Then people talking. A man was mumbling. In response, I heard a woman's hoarse voice, clearly shaking with tears, saying what sounded like "Please...(incomprehensible)...please..." The man, still hard to understand, made an angry reply.
I wasn't sure what to do. Part of me wanted to open the door and say, "Hey! What the Hell's going on out here?" Part of me said, "No. Mind your own business." The latter part won out; I stayed behind the door but put my eye to the peephole in the door to see if I could figure out what was causing the commotion.
Quite clearly, doors were opening and closing. Sometimes it sounded like other units in the building, sometimes I thought it was the lobby. I was confused. Which door was open? Was someone coming or going? How many of them?
Then there was the man's voice again. "Give me my keys. Give me my fucking keys. Are you going to give me my fucking keys?!?"
The female voice was calmer now. "I'll give you your keys when you (incomprehensible)."
The man, still angry: "You're not going to give me my fucking keys, and (incomprehensible)."
Clearly, I thought, somebody was having a fight. We had more than one couple who lived in the unit, and still more single people whose boy/girlfriend was in and out all the time. It wasn't uncommon to have noisy discussion in the lobby or the hallways, although public arguments were much rarer.
But I didn't want to get involved. These things don't concern me and shoehorning yourself into these things can cause a lot of grief and trouble. I mind my own business.
Most of the fracas died down now. Every now and then I still heard doors opening and closing, but at this point I couldn't tell whether it was unit doors or lobby doors. I stayed at the peephole a few minutes longer, just to see if I could find out anything more (what a busybody I am,) then finally gave it up and went to bed.
Article comments
1 - mschannon
Very powerful and courageous article. It took a lot of guts to write this; I hope others take note and learn from it.
2 - Michael J. West
Thank you.
3 - Dawn
Who hasn't struggled with the "do I get involved" or "mind my own business?" I am sure if you knew someone was getting beaten up, you would have acted. People typically do not like others meddling in their affairs, even the loud public ones.
Thanks for sharing.
4 - Baronius
You didn't ignore a beating, you ignored some sounds that you weren't sure about. But it sounds like your conscience is bothering you. So do yourself a favor: make this about you. Make an honest appraisal of your motives and desicion-making process (based on what you knew at the time), and if you don't like what you see, change it.
5 - Clavos
Been there, done that, MJW; but unlike you, I never had the guts to admit it. My hat's off to you.
I hope I have what it takes to learn something from your article.
6 - Michael J. West
Me, too, Clavos.
Thank you all for your kind words and your advice.
7 - Michael J. West
By the way, J. moved to New Jersey this weekend. R. was actually out helping direct the movers, and J. was inside and packing. I saw her outside later and she looked much better--not just physically better, but she had relief all over her face.
8 - Rodney Welch
Personally, I think it would have made a better story if it ended with you rushing down the stairs, pulling out a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, and saying "Here ya go, D, choke on this, you worthless misogynistic fuck."
9 - Lady Dragonfyre
Rodney - two thumbs up! :-D
10 - zingzing
i think you shoulda run screaming down the hall with a baseball bat, naked except for a cowboy hat and a belt buckle, beat the fuck twice in the knees, once in the mouth, stuck your dick in his grill and choked him on it while you deposited a cleveland steamer on his chest and shoved his broken teeth into his crying eyes.
oh. my. grammar got a bit muddled there. sorry bout that.
11 - larry
im not sure what i would have done.in some situations you might get your buttt kicked by both of them! i guess just showing yourself may stop the fight.as a security guard i was told to observe from a distancedistance and dial 911. i hope i never have toend up in such a situation