After being arrested in the middle of the night, having disobeyed police orders and returned, Bill spent the night in jail and was released the next day. Conditions of release were that he not contact me and that he obtain an alternate residence. He moved into another motel down the street, and called me.

Knowing he would be released the next day, I fled that night, driving to a motel on the connecting street. I didn’t go far as I had been drinking as well. I paid for two nights but only stayed one. I woke the next morning, about ten o’clock, and called some shelter numbers provided by the police officer. All shelter were full. There were no vacancies anywhere. Bill called my cell phone after he got to the motel to pick up clothes and his company truck with all of his tools for work. At first I hesitated to answer. I just knew he would throw a fit and I’d get an earful for daring to call the police on him.

To my surprise, he thought someone else had heard him and called the police. I told him I did and why. He claimed not to remember threatening me with the knives and remarked that “that explains the domestic violence charge.” He’d also been charged with disturbing the peace/drunk and disorderly. He went on to swear it would never happen again and he wanted to work things out, to return home after his next court date. We agreed that in the interim, he would stay at his motel and I would stay in our place, thus paying two weekly rents, and he would watch his drinking, cutting way down on it. I soon noticed, however, since he would call every night, sometimes more than once, that he was still drinking. If he called late, he would be just as drunk but very careful about what he said and I began to think that perhaps he was monitoring his own behavior. I should have realized he was only showing and saying what I wanted to see and hear.

I met him at city court on the appointed date. Given the choice, he opted for the diversion program, thus avoiding a trial and possible jail sentence. This included mandatory group counseling for alcoholism and domestic violence. Finally, I thought, he’s getting the help he needs. Little did I know he would pay lip service to it and continue on exactly as he was, though that was gradual process, but I let him move back in with me. Actually, there was no discussion of much, though we did talk about the issues and what possibly made him do that. I tried to point out it was mostly alcohol but he maintained it was all stress, that he worried over the economy and how long he’d have his job as the work was really slow and the company had little to nothing coming up in the near future.