Land of the Free

April 08th, 1912

My husband and I both have our own reasons for going to America. He is going to America to strike it rich; I am going to America…and plan on escaping from him. I can no longer deal with his abuse, our town ridiculing me for “not being a good wife” while he is just being “a typical husband”. I have dealt with his multiple affairs, his drinking all hours of the day and even the fact that he lost his job. However, my final straw was when I was pregnant. I wanted to talk to him about what his plan was when the baby arrived. I had mentioned that I had saved money that we can use for the time being. He wanted the money to gamble with. I had told him no. That was when he became irate. I told him that I did not want to use my money for him to gamble with. That is when…he became angry. I began running and when he grabbed me, I tried to push him away and then he pushed me down so hard, I had bruises. When I woke up, he was gone as well as the money that I saved. This was the day, I hated my husband and made a plan to leave him.

We had not spoken to each other for two weeks. He was acting odd for those two weeks. He was getting rid of a lot of our furniture, jewelry and clothes. I noticed that my grandmother’s golden hair brush was missing. I did not know what had happened. That was when I overheard him speaking to our town reverend while I was in the kitchen. They were talking very quietly.

“ So I hear that you are going on that ship. The- what’s it called…the Titanic. How much did it cost you?” said the Reverend.

“Shhh! Keep it down! I cannot talk about it out loud with her here.”

“Why?” said the Reverend.

“Because…she’s not going?”

“Excuse me?”

“I am going to America on my own.”

“But…you are coming back…right?”

“Why would I need to?”

It was then that I had realized. He took all of the money that I had saved to go on that ship. I lost my baby because of him, and he is not only going to America on the Titanic, but he is to leave me here. I did not know what I was going to do, but I knew one thing, he was NOT getting away with this. The reverend and my husband continued to talk and it was then that I had a little more information.

“The ship is coming on April 10th. I have a few days and need to make a little more money so I can get by a little.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck in America, though I think this is not an appropriate thing to do.”

It was then that I needed to make a plan on how I would leave him. Some way, somehow I will make him suffer for all of the shame, abuse and trauma that he put me through.

April 09, 1912

I woke up very early and decided to sell all of my worldly possessions that my husband didn’t know about. I began selling my famous pies and biscuits to the town. Literally everything I own was gone but I did not care. I had one goal and that was all that I cared about. By noon, I had made more money than the money I had saved up. I waited for my husband to come back home to make sure my final plan, the most dangerous and difficult part, worked. He was in an odd, yet happy mood. I decided to play the “happy wife” role. I made his favorite dish, laughed at his awful jokes, and gave him so much alcohol that he passed out. Afterwards, I looked all through the house for the ticket. There were not a lot of places to look. Finally, I found the ticket. First class. He paid for a solo ticket…for 1st class. I could not sleep. I needed him to be out of it until the ship arrived and I was on board.

April 10th, 1912

Hours went by. I snuck out of the house in the middle of the night. It was cold, but I did not care. I waited until finally, I had seen that big, beautiful ship. I rushed to be able to be on board. I was a nervous wreck. Finally, I got on board. I had with me the money that I had made, my husband’s ticket and “his” money that he had left over. The moment I got on board, I began to cry. I was on my way to my new life. To finally escape from that wreck of a husband. The Titanic. A historical and memorable voyage.

April 14th, 1912

It had been four days since I left my former life. I was no longer the battered abused wife. I felt free. My room was much more immaculate than I could have imagined. Everyone was overjoyed and filled with laughter. The food was delicious. For the first time in a while, I had eaten to the point where I was full and not because my husband ate all of the food. I walked onto the deck. Just gazing at the beautiful water and feeling the breeze through my hair. I was smiling. It felt good to smile. I felt a touch on my shoulders. I was confused because I did not know anyone. They touched my shoulders again with more aggression. I turned around…it was my husband!

“Wh-what are you…?” I said.

“Don’t speak. Walk!” he said.

I was flabbergasted. How the hell did he get on the boat? How did he find me? Will I die? My stomach turned. I felt sick. We went back to my room. I felt his anger as he looked at the room that he was supposed to be in. He raised his hand and before he could hit me, I grabbed his hand. That is when he pushed me. His anger. His rage.

“You think you can get away with this? You think you can get away from me?!” he said.

“Obviously I didn’t” I said.

“You will pay for this. All of it.”

“I actually did pay for this! You stole from me after you caused me to lose the baby!”

“Oh get over yourself. It was never your money!”

“Go to hell”

He began to take off his clothes. It appeared as if he was to get into bed. I stopped him and made sure to kick him out.

“Get out”

“Excuse me?”

“GET…OUT!”

“Make me.”

I felt rage. My anger got the best of me. I threw a candelabra at him. Before he could get up, we heard people running, panicking. I checked outside. The captain and a few of the crew members were trying to tell people to calm down but it was hard to understand. Something about an iceberg? I had asked around. One woman said the iceberg hit the ship, another woman said she felt it hit the ship. As I was walking around, we heard yelling. People began running. It was then that one of the people who was sleeping in the lower levels said that the lower level was flooded. I began to run and my husband grabbed my arm. He would not let me go without him. The ship was in peril. People were running around screaming. All I could think of was how my last minutes would be with a man that I hated. That was when they began to put women and children on the smaller boats. I wanted to escape but he was grabbing my arm so hard, it was turning purple. Seeing everyone running, screaming, kissing loved ones and even jumping ship brought tears to my eyes. The saddest was seeing a young couple kiss each other as they jumped to their deaths. I pushed my husband away and jumped into the water. The crowd yelled. I finally felt like I was free…until I had seen someone jump right behind me. It was him! I swam as much as I could away from him. He grabbed me trying to kill me. He almost achieved it until I punched him. At that moment, I wanted to live. I prayed that I would be able to get help. It was unfortunate and awful seeing so many bodies drowning and people trying to live. Looking at the ship sink and all of the lifeless bodies made me shiver. Seeing my husband trying to swim almost made me feel happy, but in my heart I couldn’t let him die. I helped him. We got lucky eventually as we saw a boat. They tried to help us get on. He was bleeding. I was shivering.

April 18th 1912

My body was cold. We were all hungry. Seeing all of these individuals on the boat with me who wanted an once in a lifetime adventure that turned into a travesty was beyond heartbreaking. My eyes were so heavy from lack of sleep. That is until I saw her; the Statue of Liberty. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We made it. All of us on the boat cheered. We could not wait to get on land. They attended to us and made sure to check if we were okay. My husband tried to approach me.

“Thank you-for saving me”

“No problem.”

“I think we can go now and-”

“I’m…I am going on my own.”

“What do you-”

“Look, you came to America to get an opportunity. I came, to get freedom. This is the last you see or hear from me. It’s best that we go our separate ways.”

That was the last that I saw of my ex-husband. I do not know nor do I care about what happened to him. I escaped one of the most catastrophic events in history and I am finally in America. I was meant to be here. Finally, I am free. A moment that I will never forget, for a lifetime I will not regret.