Angela Kelsey

Tell the Story

Fran and Marcia

Filed in Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stories, voices :: March 12, 2012

As Women’s History Month continues, I am happy and grateful to share stories of women’s education and empowerment by women who are dear to me.  

Of course, the first is by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers. 

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If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship (and I sure hope you haven’t), you know how it goes: he asks you out, courts you fiercely, wants to spend every available minute with you. He can’t live without you. He can’t wait to see you again. He’s never seen anybody so beautiful. All this lavishing of attention is endearing, proof of his deep love and affection for you – he see you, he really sees you, and loves you like you never dreamed possible.

But before you know it and without even realizing it, you’re isolated from the world around you. When it’s just the two of you – as it almost always is, except when you’re with his friends or his family – you hear a constant barrage of hissings spat at you through clenched teeth and lips curled back over those animalistic teeth – things like “You are the ugliest girl I ever laid eyes on, and you’re just lucky I’m dating you cause if it weren’t for me, you’d never have a date.” or “You are the stupidest, dumbest girl I ever met, and you’re ugly to boot. Sometimes I wonder why I’m dating you.” Day in and day out you are torn down, stomped on, and reminded of your worthlessness, a horrendous experience made even worse to a girl who sees herself only through the eyes of others.

Oh, he’s always sorry afterwards and nice like he was in the beginning. He always promises he’ll never do it again, and eventually he always wishes you hadn’t done that thing or said that particular thing that caused him to have to behave the way he did. It’s always your fault – always – and there is nobody – nobody at all – to counter his words, his slaps, his . . . let’s call it what it is . . . his abuse.

With you he rules with an iron fist, with others, he’s fun to be around, always ready to lend a helping hand, very easy going. He smiles, he laughs, he agrees with everything anybody says. His friends obviously enjoy being with him. You can almost hear them thinking how lucky you are, and deep down inside you know that nobody will never believe you, even if there was somebody you could tell about how he behaves when they are not around.

Though the situation is all too familiar to far too many girls and women, the “you” in this particular story is, as you may have already guessed, “me.”

The Prom is coming up in a few weeks. The Senior Prom. I’ve asked and received his approval on what I will wear – it’s a dress I’m sewing for myself. I’ve ordered the fabric – black with sparkling gold threads forming geometric patterns. The gold sequins I’ll use to trim out the neckline and cuffs give it definition – and just as I start to lay out the pattern, I decide that I like the looks of the wrong side better, so for my prom dress, the wrong side of the cloth becomes the right side, the side everybody will see.

About two weeks before the Prom, I show up in the office where I work fourth period of every day. I go quietly about my work, always alert to any boys who might enter the office because months ago when he – let’s call him Bob because that’s not his real name – walked by and saw another male student in the same office where I sat working, I received my first fist to the cheek. Now I am constantly on edge, trying to do my job without encountering any boys or men, without engaging with anybody, male or female. Instinctively remaining close to open doors, always trying to put as much space as possible between me and anybody else, all the while trying to take up as little space as possible. This particular day, the two school secretaries – we’ll call them Fran and Marcia because those are their real names – wait for me, usher me into a private office, close the door, and ask, “Who’s taking you to the prom?” They are smiling. I tense up. I can’t help it, it’s an involuntary reflex by now – smiles scare me because smiles portend meanness and pain. I tell them “Bob,” strangely unaffected by the question which they surely must know the answer to. Their smiles grow larger. I back up towards the door. They follow. “Oh no, you’re not,” they tell me, and they look pleased. Excited. “We’ve made other plans.” They tell me that they’ve contacted a friend of mine who graduated the previous year. He’s in the Marines now, and thanks to the pocketbooks of Fran and Marcia, he’s already got his plane ticket and his dress blues. He is coming to take me to the prom. He will call me tonight.

I shake uncontrollably. Tears well up. I open the door behind me, backing out. “No,” I say. “No. No. Thank you, but no.” I can’t breathe. There is no air in the room, there is no color. My stomach is one big, painful, somersaulting knot.

“Oh yes,” they insist, “and we’re going to tell Bob right now. Right this very minute.” And with that they each take a shoulder and turn me around gently. Fran holds one hand, Marcia holds the other as we walk down the central hall. On any other day the hall would be a constant bustle of sound as entire classes go back and forth to lunch, but today there is only the sound of stylish pumps clicking against the linoleum. I feel their hands squeezing mine tightly, I see their chins raised resolutely, defiantly, confidently. These are women on a mission, and they will not be dissuaded or denied. The buzz of the lunchroom grows louder. We turn left, enter the open doorway, and easily spy Bob laughing and cavorting with a table full of his friends.

“Bob,” Marcia says as we stop at the end of his table, “Jeanne has something she wants to tell you,” and when not a single word will fall out of my mouth, she says firmly, her chin lowered only enough to make eye contact with him over the top of her glasses, “Jeanne will not be going to the prom with you.” With his fork in midair, still full of round green peas on the way to his mouth, he shrugs and says “Sure, okay.” He is just as nice and agreeable as ever. Nobody will ever believe me if I tell them things he’s said and done to me. His smile, his bright, toothy, friendly smile remains unwavering. Only I recognize the subtle shift of the eyes and the smile, shifts that warn of what awaits me after school.

“There,” they say on the walk back to the office, smiling, still holding my hands but more relaxed now. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” asks Marcia. “I think it went very well,” Fran agrees. I still shake. Back in the office, Fran opens her purse, takes out a set of keys, and hands them to me saying, “Here’s my house key. Nobody’s home, so I want you to go there and spend the rest of the afternoon. Fix yourself something to eat. Take a nap. Watch tv. Do whatever you feel like doing. Just stay there all afternoon, and don’t come back to school today.”

I drive to her house, let myself in, sit in the chair closest to the door, and let the silence wrap itself around me. With only these two women knowing where I am, with the entire afternoon stretching before me, the shaking stops and the tears come – enough tears to put out a burning 42-story building.

I cry for the girl who suspected that something was amiss, the girl whose bones were too young, too inexperienced to know for sure. I cry for the girl who, with so much constant coaching, believed herself to be so totally, thoroughly, woefully unworthy. I cry for the girl who thought everything that happened, everything he said, everything he did was her fault. Eventually I cry for the kindness of Fran and Marcia, for the courage they showed that day in taking a stand against abuse. Fran and Marcia didn’t stand back and wait on me to ask for help, they stepped into my life unbidden. They didn’t worry about the political correctness of their plan, they didn’t worry about being scorned – they simply knew that this girl needed them, needed their support, needed their shelter. And that was enough for them to take action.

So how do I thank Fran and Marcia? I thank them, in part, by introducing them to you in this teensy little bit of my story. Occasionally I thank them in ink on paper sent in a stamped envelope. Mostly I thank Fran and Marcia (and all the other women since then who have held me and encouraged me and nourished me) by supporting other women – and not just abused and violated women, though that surely is a pet cause of mine – but women who sometimes feel alone and in the dark and empty and powerless. I don’t have a checklist or a treasure chest of The Right Answers, but I do know how to listen deeply and without judgment. I don’t have a key to press into a palm, but I sure do know how to make people laugh just when they thought they’d never hear that beautiful sound again. And I can’t pick up the phone to find a replacement prom date, but I can bear witness to women claiming, reclaiming, and proclaiming their gorgeous genius and genuine glory so they can take themselves to the prom. And it all feels like gratitude to me.

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Once dubbed a “wonder bra for the human spirit”, Jeanne is a complicated simple red dirt girl fluent only in English and Southern, Charming and Cranky. She feels most beautiful when wearing earrings that dangle and skirts that caper and most at home when making other laugh or holding cloth in her hands.
Married long enough that the mere mention of her wedding anniversary sparks applause, Jeanne has survived two teenagers, a Cesarean delivery without anesthesia, a mugging on the sidewalks of New York, hanging wallpaper with her husband, and Christmas 1993.
Though she’s received many awards and honors for her work as a professional speaker and community volunteer, and though she has a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master’s degree in Transformative Language Arts, Jeanne’s most proud of the fact that she’s never, ever had to attend a PTA meeting under an assumed name.

Twitter: WhollyJeanne
Facebook: Wholly Jeanne
Blog: The Barefoot Heart

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Looking for more nest-making posts? They’re here and here.

39 Comments

  1. wholly jeanne

    oh sugar, thank you for having this better-than-good idea, thank you for asking me to be a part of it, and thank you for being one of the fran and marcia’s in my life. i could write an entire book on how you encourage, teach, and support me. it’s such an honor to be here, and i can’t wait to read the other entries. you are such a treasure. this series is such a treasure. xo

    • Angela

      Thank you, Jeanne, for starting things off with this post, for never forgetting Fran and Marcia, for inspiring everyone who reads about them and you. xoxo

  2. Debi

    jeanne – a scary amazing story. with a happy ending. thank god for women like fran & marcia. thank god for a woman’s courage, and not turning a blind eye. for not thinking “it’s none of my business”. thank you for sharing, and thank you angela, for the space to share. xoxoxo to you both and to fran & marcia.

    • wholly jeanne

      oh debi, you are soooo right: thank god for women who say “pffffft” to those that scoff about whose business it is. i’m already working on a follow-up post about that. about how in today’s sue-happy society you can’t even administer cpr without worrying about losing everything you own. my brother is in afghanistan, and as i did something for him this morning, my husband dared say to me “it’s none of your business.” he should know better by now . . .

    • Angela

      Thanks for pointing out the courage Fran and Marcia exhibited, Debi, the courage it takes to take a stand, and Jeanne’s courage in telling this story.

  3. Kim

    Oh, Jeanne Jeanne Jeanne.

    Love to you and those wonderful ladies and thank you for giving me the impetus to say something very pointed to someone who needs to hear it.

    • Angela

      Kim, I can hear those shoes, too. Your “someone” is lucky to have you. Thanks for commenting.

  4. Square-Peg Karen

    Jeanne, I had NO idea. I cry with you for that dear girl & for the kindness of Fran and Marcia! I’m so glad they were there for you!!

    And you know what? I also stand up and cheer for that beautiful girl (and for Fran and Marcia) – for the woman that girl grew up to be – what a wonder she is!! I’m going to be applauding for a long time – you are a wonder!!

    • wholly jeanne

      Thank you, Karen. Your comment brings tears and goosebumps, especially because you know it didn’t end that quickly or easily. But the main thing is that in a world where it’s risky to perform CPR on accident victims, it’s nice to remember that there was a time when women just stepped up and stepped in without waiting on an invitation . . . wearing their cute shoes, of course.

  5. Illuminary

    To think that even at that tender age, there are women, young girls really, who stand up and lend a hand. That some how they knew..
    ~ I am caught in this wonderful story.~
    It gives a glimpse of the wonderful women that you are. And I think I can speak for more than myself when I say thank you,
    knowing you is a tremendous blessing!! You are a wholly wonderful Jeanne!

    • wholly jeanne

      Moonshine, I thank YOU for the wonderfull blessing you are. I believe that if we ever did want to stick our heads out, we could stop by and pick up Angela and the three of us would stop some of this nonsense. Till then, we’ll find other ways to be Fran and Marcia to other women in need. Can’t wait to read your post this week . . . Your words, your stories . . . always a delight.

      • Angela

        I’ll be waiting for you to ring the doorbell–I’ve got my cute shoes on.

  6. kelly

    This just made me cry… thinking back with you, feeling your fear and your pain…

    I have one black eye in my past, and a few years with a man who bordered on abusive, more so verbally than physically, and the complexities of the emotions can be so defeating, so crippling.

    I admire you for so many things, Jeanne, your wit, your generosity, your love, but now, for your courage as well. I am so glad you have had women in your life to stand with you, to support you, to listen, and to act.

    • wholly jeanne

      Thank you, Sug. I read your comment this morning but am just now able to reply cause it made me cry and I couldn’t see the screen. (Interestingly enough, every time I read it, the tears started when you used my name. What do you make of that, me wonders.) Anyway, you and I have never met face-to-face, but I count you as a woman who stands with me, who would invite me to stand in her danger in a heartbeat if needed. I mean, after all, you are Thelma Juice to Cheryl’s Louise and my And, right? xo

    • Angela

      Oh, Kelly, I am sorry for your black eye, and the visible-scar-less abuse that takes its own heavy toll. And I’m grateful for your recognition and understanding.

  7. Julie Daley

    Dear Jeanne,
    What a powerful story. I read this three times in order to soak up the story. I have been on the receiving end of your powerful ability to be with and now I see the gratitude in a full-circle way. I can’t put into words how much you have helped me in my life. I would say you are also fluent in graciousness and fierceness.
    Love you, dear,
    Julie

    • wholly jeanne

      well, shoot. here come the tears again! thank you, jewels. yes, now you can see that i am repaying fran and marcia. and for the record, you are an incredibly important, soulfull piece of my life. on more than one occasion, you have been my FranAndMarcia – sometimes by text messaging! I do love you so.

    • Angela

      I agree, Julie. I think Jeanne needs to add “graciousness and fierceness” to her bio.

  8. Shannon W.

    Thanking creation for Fran, Marcia, Jeanne, Angela and all the women who stand for women everyday. XO

    • wholly jeanne

      Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have some version of a Fran and Marcia in our lives, well, it’s how we say thank you to them, isn’t it? We let other women stand in our danger as often as needed until they can go out and do the same. Eventually – soon, I hope – we’ll reach a tipping point and really affect some much-needed, long-time-coming changes. Thanks for being here, Sugar.

  9. marlene klotz

    Fran and Marcia, two guardian angels here on earth. These women are heroes, not the
    kind we read about in the daily papers, but
    the kind of heroes who, in saving the inner life of one girl, have saved the world – her world.

    • Angela

      I totally agree with you, Marlene: this is how we save the world–one girl or woman at a time. And I can’t wait to meet you in person tomorrow!

    • wholly jeanne

      marlene, knowing you through angela (who is looking forward to speaking to your group – is it tomorrow?), i feel i should hasten to apologize for the clunkiness of this writing and assure you (and hope it eventually proves to be true) that i really can write better than this. but i’m going to trust that you read the clunkiness for what it is: nervousness at telling this story publicly for the first time ever, and then i’m gonna’ shove all that business aside and thank you for “getting” it and summarizing it so solidly: yes, fran and marcia are the unsung, invisible sheroes. and i like to believe that there are countless other frans and marcias, saving the world one woman at a time without regard to whether they will ever get a parade held in their honor or not. they just concern themselves with doing what their bones know is Right.

  10. Alana

    If I weren’t in a public place, I’d be sobbing. This story – beautifully, powerfully told – a piece of the fabric that makes up the whole of you – beautiful, powerful Jeanne. What a gift you share. What a gift you are.

    • Angela

      I agree, Alana–Jeanne is a gift to the world (and to us!)

    • wholly jeanne

      alana, sugar, thank you. and please know that i am holding your comment up as a mirror to you, a woman who is a fran and marcia to other women in another context. there you are, holding space for women who are sad or blue or grieving or any degree of that spectrum of hopeless and incredible despair. saving lives and making the world a richer place, that’s what you do, and oh my goodness, how i do love you so.