Case Histories, Anecdotes, and War Stories 173
than the result—which inevitably seemed to be Beverly getting
slapped or beaten.
At first Beverly was flabbergasted by these outbursts, but after
a couple more episodes, she eventually sought counseling. There
she learned the ironic lesson that it is often those members of
society who are empowered with the primary responsibilities
for keeping the peace and protecting law and order (i.e., police-
men, military servicemen, etc.) who are the most likely to abuse
the power that is entrusted to them. These pillars of society then
embark on a control-freak or power-trip style of behavior that
often manifests itself in physical violence.
Still, Beverly loved Mark and tried to hang in. The birth of a
young son seemed to settle things down for a while, but then fur-
ther episodes of imagined jealousy led to incidents of terroristic
threatening and severe beatings by Mark. To make matters worse,
Beverly did indeed eventually embark on an affair. Perhaps she
figured, “Why not, if he is going to accuse me of it anyway, I
might as well do it!” or perhaps she just needed someone a bit
more understanding to talk to.
Eventually things progressed to the point where Mark and
Beverly divorced. They stayed separated for a year and a half.
Then, in a change of heart that may seem insane to the rest of us,
Beverly (who apparently continued to feel some kind of compul-
sive misguided love for her dominating ex-spouse) relented, and
they wound up getting remarried. Not surprisingly, the remar-
riage proved to be no better. In fact, this time around things esca-
lated to the point where, instead of simply beating Beverly with
his bare hands, Mark began to threaten her with the firearms that
(courtesy of the U.S. Army) he so conveniently had available.
It was at this juncture, in a desperate effort to escape from
her second marriage to Mark, that Beverly retained our firm.
The legal case turned into an absolute nightmare. We obtained
numerous restraining orders that Mark consistently defied. We
had him thrown out of the house and restrained by court order
from coming within a thousand feet of Beverly. Nonetheless, Bev-
erly would return home to find Mark sitting naked in her bed-
room, with a gun, demanding sex. (Another problem that often
afflicts people who are accustomed to giving orders is that they