"BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK"

"DISCLAIMER"

"These characters in the story are fictional. The story is fiction based on actual experiences of the author. However, the story and characters are fictional and not all the story is based on actual experiences of the author.

The story is written and dedicated to all women who have had difficulty in abusive relationships.

The author was born in 1949 in the decades that women could not buy a house, own a car, have a bank account without her husband. This mentality created co-dependency between a woman and a man. The consequences of this mentality led to a woman being co-dependent on her husband.

A healthy relationship has love and understanding between a couple and understanding of equality between a couple. The couple does not have to be a man and a woman. The couple can be two women or two men. Love is love and equality is equality."

This story is about two characters; Elyse and Paul who live in North Hollywood, California. They are two intense artists who live and breathe art. The story is set in the spring of 2000.

They met at a party one night at Jack's Sugar Shack in Hollywood, California 12 years ago in the summer of 1988. Paul is a Yaqui Native American Italian. Elyse is Irish and part Choctaw mix. Paul is 6' with cold black curly hair and dark- brown eyes. Elyse is 5'1" with long curly black hair and deep blue eyes.

They dance to the music, drink wine, hug, laugh. The first years were so much fun if Elyse went along with Paul. There were good times traveling to San Francisco to show their films at The Palace of Fine Arts.

When they met Paul was a film producer. Alyse was a makeup artist in the film industry.

Paul is single. Elyse is recently divorced. Paul has no children. Elyse is in a custody battle with her ex to keep her one child.

Paul and Elyse move in together into an apartment in North Hollywood, California in 1989 after a two- week vacation in Palm Springs. Elyse is caught between an ex who will not allow her to date and a jealous Paul who is even jealous of her child.

Elyse lost the custody battle and can only see her child every other weekend. After she and Paul move in together her ex gets angry and tells the courts about Elyse and her wild artist boyfriend. Her eyes become a dull blue as she cries while she and her dad sit on the steps of the Los Angeles Courthouse after losing custody of her child because she did not have money and was living with her boyfriend. Elyse and her dad as empaths, cry not in tune to pay money out as her ex paid to bully them.

Elyse loves her child so very much but is too shocked to know what to do. Her dad drives her back to her apartment. Paul was working at Warner Brothers that day on a movie production. Her dad dropped her off telling her he would call when he got home.

The next years were busy as Paul and Elyse worked in the production of documentaries. Elyse quit her job at NBC Studios to work with Paul freelancing at Santa Monica Studios. They traveled all over California working with Native Americans producing educational documentaries.

They started another production with the California Country Music Association scene, rock-a-billy, blues scenes filming bands.

One night an acquaintance from out of state called to come over. Paul did not want the lady visitor to come over. Elyse told the lady visitor to come over. The three went out to eat and drink at a local Italian restaurant in Burbank. Paul purchased three more bottles of wine to take home to party at home.

They were all sitting around the coffee table drinking wine with a little pot as a treat. Elyse was sitting on the floor. Paul was sitting in the wooden rocking chair. The lady visitor was sitting on the white leather couch. After laughing and listening to music Paul jumps up and grabs Elyse by the hair, pulling her up to his knee yelling profanity in her face. He then pushes her to the floor, kicks her on the left side of her back. He kicks her again. The lady visitor jumps up from the sofa after a few minutes, managing to stop Paul from hurting Elyse again.

Elyse manages to get off the floor by pulling herself up with her hands on the very heavy decorative coffee table. Paul was in bed by then. Somehow the lady visitor had convinced Paul to go to bed. Elyse lies down on the bed next to passed out Paul. The lady visitor helps Elyse out of bed two hours later.

Elyse and the lady visitor drive to Kaiser Hospital Emergency Room in Panorama City, just north of Van Nuys and North Hollywood. Elyse waits with extreme pain in her back and side and can barely walk. The doctor finally checks her out. They took photos of her bruises to give to the North Hollywood Police Station.

They leave Kaiser to drive to the station to report domestic violence. It is 7am and the sun has risen. Elyse and the lady visitor follow the police back to her apartment. The police picked up Paul and reported to Elyse that Paul was sitting outside by the pool as if nothing had happened and he was laughing.

The detective tells Alyse and the lady visitor that Paul had a record of domestic violence and other violations. He showed them a file with so many court dates and violent abusive situations. Elyse was stunned as she sat there in pain with tears streaming down her face. Elyse told the detective that she did not know of the events nor that he was abusive or had committed other violations. She told the detective that there were good times in the film industry when they were working and traveling.

Elyse thought to herself, "That fucking asshole schizoid!"

The police filed a restraining order. Elyse filed for divorce. Her romance of ten years was over within a flash like a hurricane. Elyse was working at Universal Studios after a month of rest from her body injuries.

Paul started writing and sending threatening emails to Elyse. So, she had to file more court proceedings regarding two grocery fruit boxes that were full of emails. She took the boxes into the Burbank Police Station. She filed for the first ever court date over digital email threats, requiring a digital virtual reality restraining order.

I could write more about my friend Elyse; however, I will cut this short without any more court details.

I have just considered the falling and the ongoing of the abused. The abuser wants the abused to stay down to relish his statements about she cannot do anything in the industry without him. Paul told her all women turn into "whores." Alyse knew this was a lie.

He was telling the people the reason that they broke up and he beat her up was because of her being caught in bed with another guy. That was a lie. Elyse despises Paul. She will swear to ten thousand Bibles she was telling the truth.

This woman, this man, why fight?

Elyse remembers how she despises him after a $75 joint was more important making love. "You hit, you scream, I hate you back."

"Love is patient,

Love is kind,

Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way,

It is not irritable or resentful,

It does not rejoice in wrongdoing.

But rejoices in the truth.

It bears all things,

Believes all things, hopes all things, love never ends."

This is a story about not just two people, but other people who are in the control of an individual who wants to control another's life. The controlling person is all irritable dreaming up lies about the other individual to save themselves from ridicule or to not reveal the truth. Liars are a dime a dozen in the controlling fields of these players who continue to tell lies about the person they wanted to control.

They pick on strong women who have their life together and then they tear them down to control them, so they want leave: they fly away like a butterfly.

Elyse lived in a universe of truth. She flew away. She continued to tell the truth.

Characters in this scenario of life patterns are truth, poetry, fiction, non-fiction.

Elyse was true to her so-called abuser who yelled at her, "You cannot talk about your kid."

Then he beat her, kicking her shortly after moving in together. He told her he believed that any child born with another man should be thrown away. She yelled, "You are full of shit!" That was a sad existence of a former abuser and rapist of women. There were records to prove of his rape and violence of innocent victims from his former years on drugs. Alyse was unaware of the dude's former police records. She wore rose colored glasses going into the relationship of pure unadulterated passionate love making of the utmost height of twin flames bursting into a volcano.

Elyse did not know the man she married on the Native American Indian Reservation. He had her 'under his thumb.' She was mesmerized by his sex.

Elyse was raised in a decent home by wonderful loving parents. Her dad was kind and caring.

Now Elyse was no longer naive to her abuser's psychological shifting of his controlling brain.

She escaped with no money; but she believed in the light of the universe.

Paul tried to dispel Voodoo and control over her.

The light of the universe was her guide.

Lies are only what they are. Elyse was happy to be alive and to become the person she has become today.

Her abuser Paul wanted to kill her the night he kicked her and sent her to the hospital. There are no boundaries or excuses for what went down that dark night. He would attack a woman again. Manic, depressive and for himself only and what he could take from others was his work of art.

There are no boundaries for this type of individual with all their psychological defense mechanisms.

Paul had thrown away her psychology books because he did not want her to know about his sociopathic condition.

The truth prevails.

A story about love, domestic violence of pain of the heart through a twisted love.

Tears, so many years together in a tangled web of lies and verbal and violent abuse.

A story based on real life experiences of a woman falling into a sort of love.

This story is dedicated to all women of domestic violence of verbal abuse and tempers exploding by men who think they are men when they have complete control.

The violence is embedded within their brains from their family methods of control and not talking about grief or expression of sadness. They were taught; a real man never cries or shows feelings.

Manic depression,

Expression turns into violence.

The man yells, he kicks the expressive lady trying to shut her up.

The door closes as Elyse steps into the light.

"THE LIGHT, THE DARKNESS, THE BLUE ROOM"

"Sitting in my blue room

With sounds coming in

Wondering where

Was the hopeless sin?

Too late do you realize the need for faith today.

The faith that was taken in disguise

Too quickly it flew away.

I wish you knew how much I care.

I wish you were here instead of there.

I see you stand in the light of day.

Shadows form into night to slip away.

So near we are, but so far apart.

I give you my love and my heart.

I see you stand in what could be,

On this maddening trip

Over the moon, over the stars

Away from the maddening crowds

Away no more to stand before you or

You stand before me.

I crashed down to the ground.

My head pounding as I cry for the light

To appear above the clouds of darkness

To flow across the blue ocean as I sit on the beach.

Shifting sand through my fingers

Staring at the sandcastle crashing into the ebb tide of life."

These characters in the story are fictional. The story is fiction based on actual experiences of the author. However, the story and characters are fictional and some of the story is based on actual experiences of the author.

The story is dedicated to all people in abusive relationships.

This story was written in the spring of 2000. The author, myself,

Vicki Lawana Trusselli has edited and added to this serious situation that many people have faced in their life.

The best friend I found out is learning to love myself as my best friend cause' friends come into your life and some go away. Lovers come into the heart. When you sit in a room alone the room is blue without clouds of rain if you love yourself.

Out of the depths of my heart I have created this story.

"I AM A WARRIOR, A SURVIVOR,

IN THE EYE OF THE TIGER,

IN THE EYE OF THE THIRD EYE OF LIGHT

OF THE STENGHT OF THE BEAR

OF THE MOUNTAIN AIR

OF THE BIRDS IN THE AIR

AND THE OCEANS DEPTH

OF THE CONCEPT

OF TRUTH, REALITY

WARRIOR, SURVIVOR DUAL PERCEPTION

OF VIRTUAL AND 3D REALITY OF THE TIGER AND THE BEAR."

I love California and how they handled my case. I appreciate the detectives and the people who helped me survive.

Written by

VICKI LAWANA TRUSSELLI

AGE 74

Los Angeles, California

October 2023