180 DIVorCe wItH DeCenCY
away. She gave up the island life for Jeff, and relocated with him
to the “Windy City.” Jesse and Jeff had a baby boy. All seemed
well. Then, about two years later, the trouble began. It continued
for the next seven years.
Jeff injured himself on the job and took early retirement from
the fire department. Their son, Michael, was barely one at the
time. Jeff became abusive. He frequently hit Jesse. He threatened
more than once to kill her—more often than she could remember.
Jesse longed to return to Hawai‘i. Jeff flatly refused, often in a
violent display.
One cold, windy night, Jesse decided she had endured enough
pain. She packed while Jeff was out at his favorite watering hole.
Unfortunately, he returned home before she could flee. The night-
mare began. He grabbed their son and hung him out the win-
dow, twelve stories up in 20-degree weather. He threatened to
drop him unless she stayed. Jesse agreed. What choice did she
have?
Then, without warning, Jeff pulled a revolver and put it against
Jesse’s temple. “It would be easier to just blow you away,” he
taunted. “Let’s go for a ride,” he ordered. Jesse was sure she was
going to die. Later, in the middle of a six-lane freeway, Jeff sud-
denly stopped the car. He ordered mom and child out of the car—
right then and there. “Now!” he screamed, with the gun in his lap
... cocked. Jesse jumped out, her child crying frantically. She ran
across five lanes of oncoming traffic. Jeff sped off.
It was five years and many sleepless nights later that Jesse
walked into my office. She had not seen her husband since that
frightful night. Yes, she had escaped him, but her problems were
not yet over. She still had to somehow legally dissolve the mar-
riage. “Where is he now, Jesse?” I asked. “I don’t know and I don’t
care,” she replied.
We filed a complaint for divorce and a motion for temporary
custody of the minor child. As is required for all pleadings, we
then set out to serve Jeff. Given the distance in both time and
space, this proved to be an almost impossible task.
Jesse worked with me to locate her husband. What an irony! She
had spent so much time trying to rid herself of him. Now, at my
insistence, she devoted nearly as much time trying to find him. Her