Joanne sat at her desk at her home office, working. A noise from behind her caught her attention. Maureen was in the doorway sitting in her chair. Joanne smiled.
"Hey Honeybear, why don't you come in here?" she suggested. Maureen shook her head.
"I don't want to." Joanne stood up and knelt down in front of Maureen. Sammy was resting comfortably between Maureen's thigh and the side of her wheelchair.
"What's wrong baby?" Tears began to form in Maureen's chocolate eyes. "You know you can tell me anything."
"He raped me, in this room; a week before, before he…" Joanne squeezed Maureen's hand affectionately.
"Why didn't you tell me…or anyone for that matter?"
"I'm sorry!" Maureen cried. Joanne's heart melted.
"Oh no, it's not your fault. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
"He said not to, and then, then he attacked me. I figured that it didn't matter anymore after that."
"Of course it does. Dan degraded you." Maureen leaned forward against Joanne and continued to sob. Joanne couldn't figure out how she could have missed something as huge as this.
Maureen sat off to the side of the stage behind a curtain. There was a large crowd of people gathered around the performance space; far more than Maureen had expected. Those fliers for Olivia had really paid off. Maureen fingered her denim jacket. Nerves were coursing through her body. Joanne appeared.
"You about ready?" she asked. Maureen looked up.
"Yeah, it's now or never." Joanne gave Maureen a kiss. "I'm a little nervous though."
"Don't be, you'll do fine." Joanne gave Maureen another kiss. "I love you."
"Love you too." Maureen waited until Joanne had climbed up the ladder to the spotlight tower before wheeling herself to the center of the stage.
Upon seeing the spotlight come down and focus on Maureen, the vast crowd fell silent. Maureen took a deep breath. She could feel all eyes on her.
"Normally, my protests are wild and eccentric," Maureen started. Her powerful and unusually strong voice carried to the back of the performance space thanks to her microphone. "Unfortunately, things have now changed. My abusive ex boyfriend attacked me a few weeks ago after escaping from jail. There needs to be more help available to battered women! Some women are too afraid to come forward. We need to let them know that there is help available!" Several people cheered. "There needs to be support groups designed just for battered women to help them heal with people who really understand what they went through. There needs to be harsher punishments for abusive men. The American government has no problem helping other countries, but what about the women in their own backyard, their own people, who need help? As American citizens, we have the right to live somewhere where we don't have to sleep on a mat in the closet, or where we're locked out of the pantry to keep us thing, and our only purpose is to cook, clean and provide sex whenever we're told. If women have had rights for over seventy years, then why am I sitting here in a wheelchair!?" Maureen's passionate message hung in the air. Someone began to cheer. This was followed by a thunderous roar that filled Maureen up from the inside out. Smiling, Maureen wheeled herself off to the side of the stage that was curtained off for privacy. She had done what she had set out to do; make a difference.
Fifteen minutes later, Maureen carefully wheeled herself down a platform to the floor below. Right away, she was greeted by hugs and kisses from all her friends.
"That was fantastic, Mo," Collins said.
"Good job, sweetie," Mimi added. Maureen was all smiles.
"Thanks you guys." Maureen turned to Joanne. "Did Elliot and Olivia come?" she asked.
"I'm pretty sure I saw them. Do you want me to go find them?" Maureen shook her head.
"No, I've got it." Maureen said goodbye to her friends and went to go look for Olivia and Elliot.
Maureen saw Elliot and Olivia talking to two blondes. One appeared to be a teenager and the other looked to be around forty. When Olivia saw Maureen, she smiled.
"You did a great job," she said.
"Thank you. I'm glad you both came."
"I said that we'd come. I also wanted you to know that Dan got life in prison." Maureen was utterly speechless.
Elliot said, "Maureen, this is my wife, Cathy, and my daughter, Maureen. Cathy, Maureen, this is Maureen Johnson." Maureen shook both Cathy and Maureen's hands.
"Nice to meet you both," she said politely.
"Your speech was very moving," Cathy said. "You have a true gift for performing."
"Thank you. Once I get better, I'm going to start performing more." Maureen talked to Olivia, Elliot and Elliot's family for a little while longer before they left to go home. Maureen looked around the now semi-crowded performance space. She knew deep down in her heart that her story had made an impact. She knew that her purpose was to help, to make a difference for battered women. That was how she planned to fight back.
The End
Thank You, Jonathan Larson
A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers who wanted a sequel!!
Tina101