He had a crush on Skylar, which wasn’t new to anyone at the party that night. This boy has a very readable face he constantly forgets about. Even Skylar’s girlfriend knew about the crush. Of course, he would be the one with feelings for his boss. This boy has a history of poor boundaries with authority. Earlier in the month, he ended a complex relationship with his graduate advisor who was not allowed to date undergraduates, which he was at the beginning of the relationship.

It’s not that he wanted to impress Skylar. He silently enjoyed the fact that this crush reminded him of what it was like to care about someone. He just genuinely cared for her. He knew how much pain her life had caused her, whether she was going to admit it or not. He felt like he could empathize. With his white knight complex, he did everything to make sure she was safe. Though he did genuinely care for her, that night opened the curtains on why he had to hang up the knight armor.

Skylar was the assistant team leader of the second shift staff team in a residential child care facility specializing in the treatment of adolescents in secure care. TASC was a place for a wide range of backgrounds. It was a last resort before a child was sent to a detention facility. It served as housing for children who endured great amounts of trauma and was too unsafe to be in the open and unlocked community of the cottage program. It was a program for teenagers who were on probation from convictions in the outs and within the system. Kids with cognitive disabilities also turn up in TASC frequently.

There were kids from sexually, mentally, emotionally and physically abusive homes. There is even a specific program for young girls who were involved in the sex slave trade and prostitution. The young boys and girls you ran into there had drug addictions. They were a mix of thieves, manipulators, sexual offenders, those who self-harm on a consistent basis, those who have assaulted others in a high degree, those who weren’t meant to be there, and especially kids who were victims of the cycle of abuse. The cycle of abuse was especially present in the party that night.

To say the least, the work was stressful, dangerous and heart breaking. You could not enter TASC under the assumption you will never be assaulted. These kids were always at a baseline of relying on using the survival hemisphere of their brain. When the team let off steam, it was with alcohol.

Skylar and this young man became best friends only a few months earlier when they “ran” from the cops after driving down the wrong way on a one-way street. A long story he loves to tell. Disappointing to him for a while, Skylar was dating a young woman named McKenzie. One of his oldest friends in Muncie was dating McKenzie’s best friend, Amanda. In the past, he had never heard any good things about McKenzie. She had a temper, was arrogant, and on occasion had been known to throw fists. He was an expert on the type because once upon a time, he was exactly the type. He never threw fists but he did speak in a dishonest and selfish tone. After his first unhealthy relationship, he discovered he had anger issues mixing with one hell of a childhood. It took him years to start facing those demons. When he did, he made a promise to himself. He was never going to let his childhood control his anger like on another human being which is why he started noticing the girlfriend.

It started out slowly. McKenzie constantly had eyes on Skylar. Skylar is beautiful with a sense of humor that is the right amount of sassy with the right amount of bitchy. Many people had eyes on her.  It was just sitting with the boy the wrong way.

The house was in the Southside of Muncie.  It smelled of Bud Light, cigarettes and cheap gas station liquor. Though that wasn’t new to the boy. What was knew was being outside the familiarity of the university neighborhoods. There were three condemned houses on the adjacent street, pot holes that could swallow your car, a random assortment of gun shells, sharp objects, liquor bottles, needles, trash, and cigarette butts lining the streets. The house on the next block was robbed and CPS was visiting the house in the neighborhood over.

It was almost one year ago, the Wal-Mart up the street from Skylar’s house found a man who set up a small meth lab in the men’s restroom. This was barely surprising though as poverty struck the once vibrant city. There is a reason Indiana was voted one of the unhappiest states to live in.

He was playing beer pong with a few of his co-workers when he remembered the story the girl was trying to defend that month. McKenzie had gone off in a violent argument which broke Skylar’s TV. While intoxicated, Skylar mentioned she felt unsafe when it happened. She further explained that it was okay because it was her fault. She was being a “bitch” anyway.

His coworkers kicked him out of the game and the guy sat on the couch next to the other losers. He noticed the girl was holding onto her phone tightly. He remembered another event. It was the first night they met outside of work. It also was the same party they ran from the cops. Before that had all taken place, he saw the girlfriends name on her phone. McKenzie was calling every two minutes. He took the phone jokingly from her and she drunkenly stumbled to hold on to even though she was borderline blacked out. The memory threw him off again. He’s on edge.

The behaviors grew more intense as the night passed. McKenzie was watching Skylar’s every move. Where ever Skylar went, McKenzie was within eye sight. McKenzie was seated on the couch next to the coffee table with her cigarettes and was in perfect eyesight of Skylar. Not too soon after, Skylar walked into the living room to tell McKenzie to take the cigarette outside. She had a rule that no one could smoke in the house.

McKenzie stood up, forcefully grabbed Skylar’s arm and headed into the kitchen. She wasn’t going to leave the house and then began asking Skylar for her phone. An argument followed and Skylar gave her phone to the boy. As he grabbed the phone, he understood this was the moment he was sure something was going to erupt. Something needed to happen, quickly.

He had another moment of memory about previous signs. Earlier in the week Skylar forgot the passcode to her phone. When she called McKenzie to tell her why she could not text back, she was met with anger and accusations. McKenzie was angry that she would even change it in the first place. Did it mean that she didn’t trust McKenzie? Did it mean she had something to hide?

He was good friends with Skylar’s boss, Sarah, the Team Leader of the Unit. They began to talk about the signs he had been seeing previously and in the evening. They decided to pass it around the house to try and understand what everyone else was seeing.

The boy went out on the porch to do some digging and a smoke. McKenzie and Amanda stepped out. Tension filled the wet spring air. On the outside, it seemed like nothing abnormal. Everyone is out for a smoke.

On the inside, it was much more. McKenzie was probing him for answers to some of her accusations. She believed from the start that he wasn’t there to be friends with her or really the girl for matter. Unknowingly the boy gave her one of the answers she was looking for. McKenzie said, “I’m so glad Skylar is mine. She is so great.” The boy answered with, “You have no idea.” The look on his face read something much more than the sarcasm coming out of his mouth. He finished his cigarette and flicked it over the fence into the neighbor’s yard.

He walked back inside to the party and started a new conversation with more co-workers. McKenzie and Amanda come back inside not too soon after. One of the more extroverted co-workers who didn’t put up with any bullshit began arguing with McKenzie about what song to listen to. Tara had ended up with Skylar’s phone because after so long, she won’t let anyone play anything other than the music she wanted to hear. It went back and forth with McKenzie promising she was going to give it right back. Explaining that she would give it right back. He remembers the exact moment she handed it over. There was no going back now. Whatever was on that phone was the final straw on the bomb that was looming all night.

He stepped out on the porch for a smoke to think about what needed to happen next. McKenzie had gone into the back and the boy knew the girl was in the bedroom. His body was tense and anxious. This easily could turn physical. He swore to the sky and put on his mental shield. Time ran out when McKenzie forcefully pushed her way through the crowd around the stoop. Skylar ran right behind yelling at the top of her lungs. This wasn’t an argument. It was a fight that was abusive, full of intimidation and condescension.

McKenzie yells, “You fucking slut! I knew you were talking to that bitch!”

The neighbors heard it. They came from the adjacent street. Four big men and a woman. The boy walks off the stoop to help. Sarah tries to stop him but he persisted.

“You are a fucking whore!”

“Baby, no! It isn’t like that!”

“Stop fucking lying bitch!”

Many of the neighbors don’t stir. This isn’t the first time.

Amanda tried to stop the boy from coming anywhere near them. She explained to the boy that his happened all the time. “They just had to go through the motions.” “The motions of what? You mean the cycle of abuse?” He exclaimed.

The boy told Skylar it was time to go inside. The neighbors had made it up to the crowd but abruptly turned around when they realized it wasn’t a man threatening Skylar. The Mid-West showed its heteronormativity.

Everyone was on edge. When would the first punch be thrown? By who? To who? He wasn’t going to let McKenzie hurt Skylar. He couldn’t. Skylar was directed back to the porch with the help of more co-workers. Adrenaline was flying through his body. Time was moving faster than he could keep up.  

They had all made it back to the stoop. McKenzie was running behind yelling at Skylar to turn around and come back. He knew this all too well. The boy had been on both sides of a situation like this. Something kicked on inside of him and all he knew was he needed to get her back inside. Many times, he tried grabbing her by the waist to get her inside but too many people were on the porch and she was only focused on getting back to McKenzie.

McKenzie made it to Skylar and shoved her back. Anger boiled in his entire body as he stepped in between Skylar and McKenzie. Two other co-workers got Skylar inside. The boy said, “You do not get to touch her.”

“You have no room to be speaking here. Get the fuck out!” He soon realized this was much more than a domestic dispute, it was a warning directed straight at him for messing with her girlfriend. The boy walked into the house to make sure Skylar was safe.

Sarah pulled him aside before he could reach the bedroom and told him to call the police. McKenzie had walked off the porch and was heading to the back porch. He dialed 911 but the call was static. Hanging up, his friend lit him a cigarette. He took a long drag going deep into his lungs. Adrenaline rushed his body. He felt his heart pound inside his chest and his head swims into black abyss. Letting the smoke exit through his nose, his body vibrates and feels euphoric.

He felts a hand on his arm. “Please don’t’ call the cops, Kon.” Skylar’s face was covered in tears. He felt his phone go off in his hands. He clicked the power button and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t imagine in a million years, this was going to be the position he was put in that night. How did he even get here in the first place? Barely three months ago, he was considering moving to North Carolina with his girlfriend and graduated with a degree in Sociology.

He balled his fists. None of this was okay. There was a human out there ready to physically assault another. For most of his life, this boy has been living by solely on survival mode. His main questions were always, “Am I safe? Are you safe? Are we safe?”.

His phone went off again. Looking down, the screen read, “THIS IS DELEWARE CO 911 PLEASE GIVE US INFO WE CAN GET HELP TO YOU WHAT IS YOUR LOCATION”. Quickly, he texted the address.

It was cold outside. The cold spring rain had just finished earlier in the evening and the temperature began to drop. It smelt like cigarettes and the Virginia Bluebells blooming. There were about ten people on and around the front stoop. The air was quiet and you could hear cars passing by in the distance on the wet cement.

Everything that happened felt like ten minutes passed. It all happened in a blink of an eye. McKenzie made it back around to the front porch and saw Skylar on the front stoop. McKenzie pushed her way through the crowd and her hands began to raise.

The boy dropped his cigarette. Closer the hands came to her face. The boy’s hands went directly to Skylar’s waist. McKenzie wrapped her hands around the girl’s neck. Dogs were barking at the house next door. Others dropped their beers. The front door opened. The wind began blowing.

He yelled, “Get the fuck off her!” Everyone began yelling at McKenzie and working to get her off. Alexis grabs Skylar along with him and they pulled her into the house. Our largest team member, in height and muscle, turns around and pushes everyone off the stoop and into the grass. Part of the house’s framing broke off with them and the roof made a loud popping noise.

Skylar, Alexis and the boy fell straight down onto the carpet as the door was immediately locked behind them. Others rushed through the house to lock the other doors and windows.

Skylar’s neck was bright red with scratch marks running down to her collarbone. She was hysterical. He picked her up off the ground and held her in his arms. He could hear yelling outside from multiple different people. It was time to call the cops. Alexis and Sarah helped her into the bedroom and locked the door behind them.

The boy once again stepped out of house to get a hold of the police. There was no way he was going to let McKenzie into the house. No one would. You could hear McKenzie going around the house banging on the windows and trying to kick in the back door. Amanda was furious, covered in grass and the had starts of a shiner.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

McKenzie voice carried into the night, “Let me the fuck inside!”

“We need a patrol car sent. There is a domestic violence situation.”

“We’ve already dispatched a car to your location, please stay on the line. Are there any weapons on the premises?”

“Just knives in the kitchen but the victim is in the house and the girlfriend is outside.”

He heard McKenzie come around the corner. His body immediately tensed up and he slowly put his phone in his jeans. McKenzie immediately came up to the boy and looked him straight in the eye. Tensing up ready for the punch she yells at him to, “Get the fuck out of the way.” She hadn’t yet realized the police were on their way.

“Skylar, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!”

The staff team knew, though. They also knew McKenzie was going to come after him. They told him to go inside and get the cops here. The boy immediately began to talk to the operator and finished explaining the situation. A patrol car was three minutes out.

He knew Skylar was angry at him for calling. They both knew that there was enough evidence for McKenzie to be arrested. It wasn’t her first time in this situation. There were too many witnesses, the operator heard the conversation, there was evidence of physical abuse. McKenzie was undoubtfully going to jail.

The police car was two minutes out. Sirens were beginning to be heard. It didn’t stir us because police sirens are a normal occurrence. McKenzie kept yelling over and over to come out of the house so she could apologize.

One minute out. Amanda began to pull at McKenzie and suggested that it was time to get out. 30 seconds.

As they begin walking to the car, the patrol car turned the corner. Both tried to get into the car but as the patrol car comes to a stop, they shined their spotlight onto the car. The boy walked out onto the stoop and flagged one of the officers. The boy was stopped and searched as he was explaining he was the one called. The officer began to ask the boy questions about who everyone was. He began to explain the story as the officer across the street was questioning McKenzie and Amanda.

“Where is the victim?” The officer rested his hand on the Taser. In the Midwest, you are only going to come across two types of law enforcement officers. Those who are actively against the LGBT community and those that weren’t. It was a 50/50 call every time someone from the community was in the path of the police. He himself had been harassed by law enforcement for being a transman.

“Inside, follow me.” He said with caution. Walking through a smaller crowd of people, due to a quarter of the staff splitting to avoid the police, they made their way into the house. The girl was locked in a bedroom with three other people. The police walk through the living room and into the bedroom. The girl is in hysterics.

The officers pulled everyone out of the room so they could speak only to Skylar. The rest of the team waited anxiously in the kitchen wondering what the next move was going to be. One at a time, everyone in the house gave their version of what happened. Affidavits were filled out, licenses were copied and pictures were taken.

Skylar didn’t want to press charges.

The officer informed her of all her rights and the State of Indiana acknowledged same-sex domestic violence. The officer dropped his guard and told her that a gay man officiated his wedding and he wasn’t there to hurt her.

Her face was bright red, covered in tears and scratch marks on the side of her neck. The officers explained to Skylar there was enough evidence and witnesses to arrest McKenzie for domestic battery. She was going to be arrested whether she wanted to press charges or not. Skylar broke down and begged them not to. The officer gave a signal and McKenzie was put into handcuffs and taken to Delaware County Jail. What is insane is how much power McKenzie had over Skylar even when she wasn’t around. The boy was going to stay the night at the house on the couch to make sure that she was going to be okay. Amanda, who was still around, looked at Skylar and told her that wouldn’t be a good idea. Just in case she did get out that night.

Reluctantly, he told Skylar to call him if she needed anything. She agreed and he walked out the door debating about staying anyway. But if by some wonder, McKenzie were to get out, him being there would cause a lot of dangerous air.

Upon arriving home, he bolted the door, put the chain on, locked the door knob, put a baseball bat by his air mattress and stared at the door. He sat in his one bedroom apartment on the floor of the living room, smoking a cigarette inside with all the windows open. The scene played relentlessly in his head. He was enraged, confused, overwhelmed, depressed, anxious and thankful all at the same time. His body was safe but his mind was at the party. He was having flashbacks of his childhood and previous relationships. He wasn’t going to sleep that night.

The next morning, Skylar went to go bail McKenzie out of jail. Maybe this girl is so far deep into the cycle of abuse, she can’t see anything else. Maybe the girlfriend truly was sorry and it really won’t happen in the future. No one truly knows what the outcome of all this truly was.

The scary and unfortunate ending to this story isn’t anything new in our society. The cycle of abuse is a force of nature not many can escape. Even if they try, it takes seven or eight occurrences of violence before the victim leaves.

This girl had an entire team ready to save her life in a moment’s notice. Her abusive girlfriend was put behind bars. Humans to confide in and to keep her safe, physically and mentally. Our white night learned one of the most important life lessons. You cannot save others if they are not willing to receive help.