Feminism on Trial

Failure in Florida

Ginny's first surprise of many that were to come on what turned out to be a vicious and deadly odyssey was that she and Jack would not be alone. Arriving at Jack's new Pontiac Bonneville she was stunned to see another person sitting in the passenger seat. It was Wasyl Bozydaj, a young man in his late teens who had been Jack's bar back at Villa Lipani.

As the trio left New Paltz and headed south, Ginny felt strangely alone in the back seat. She had envisioned this as being a romantic trip for just the two of them, yet here was this third person she hadn't been told about. Jack and Wasyl had been chatting amiably and trading off on the driving, virtually ignoring Ginny for the first few hundred miles. Finally Ginny decided to join in the conversation, asking Jack for some particulars about the deal he had supposedly worked out for the restaurant. They were a few miles outside Washington, D.C. and Wasyl was driving.

"Stop the car," Jack ordered.

Wasyl pulled over onto a shoulder. Jack grabbed the keys, hustled out and yanked open the back door next to where Ginny was sitting. Savagely grabbing her by the arm and jerking her out the car, he dragged her around toward the trunk. Shocked and fearful, Ginny pleaded with him to tell her what she did. He seized her by the shoulders and slammed her backward against the trunk, causing a sharp pain in her back.

"What do you mean, asking me about my business?" he shouted. "Who do you think you are? You're not my mother. You're not my wife. You're just some whore I brought along for the ride. Anytime you don't like the way I'm handling things you can leave."

Slapping the car keys into her hand, he told her, "You want to leave now? Open the trunk and get your stuff out. We'll leave you right here."

Having burned all of her bridges behind her, including the option of returning to her parents, Ginny knew she had no choice but to continue the journey with Jack. She handed him the keys and they were off once again.

On their arrival in Florida, at a town whose name Ginny couldn't recall, more disappointments awaited. For two days, while Ginny waited anxiously by herself in the motel room the three of them shared, Jack and Wasyl were out all day. On the third day, Jack came back drunk and upset. He paced the floor, cursing and yelling. Ignoring Ginny, he told Wasyl that the "deal" had fallen through. No partnership, no money, no jobs for any of them.

When Ginny suggested the possibility of going back to New York he beat her viciously all over her body and threatened to cut off her breasts, all the while warning her about nagging him or asking him questions about his business. The sex act that followed was equally vicious and brutal. While making love to Ginny, Jack continued to hit her.

Then, when it was over, a bizarre transformation came over him. He started crying, apologizing, and stroking Ginny's hair, telling her how much he loved her. He was just upset over the way his business deal had fallen through. Ever the forgiving one, Ginny forgave him and, in typical fashion, blamed herself.

A long, nightmarish journey was just beginning in more ways than one.