A Bizzare Little Smile

As they boarded an airplane for Bermuda, Marita's head was still full of all that she had just been through. Though she was all healed and no one would ever know if she didn't tell them she could not get that night out of her head. James was trying so hard to help her forget and move on but she was not sure that it was even possible. Even sitting here in first class with all the amenities...that night just kept playing over and over in her head.


She ran screaming into the night and arrived at home with a smile, a bloody, toothless smile. What had happened? How did this beautiful woman who had run out to the local bodega to pick up a few things for dinner end up so battered and broken.

"Oh my God, Marita, what happened to you? How are you smiling? Who did this to you?" James head was full of questions and anger. He just wanted to know who had done this to his beautiful wife.

"I...i...I'm not sure..." She answered with great difficulty as the blood trickled down her chin. " I had spent a great deal of time in the bodega looking for vegetables for dinner. All I could see was an empty case . Finally I asked Benito and he said that it was broken but if I told him what I needed he would get it from out back. So I told him that we needed spinach, scallions..."

James was losing his mind. He just wanted to know what happened and as usual Marita was telling him the whole sorted tale.

'Honey!" He barked interrupting her list of produce. "How did you get all bloody? Who knocked out your teeth? Why did you run up to the house screaming with that bizarre smile on your face? Please, you can tell me about all the vegetables later."

Marita began to sob. There were huge tears running from her chocolate mousse eyes intermingling with the blood that was running from her now swollen mouth.

"I am trying to...to tell y...you and y...you are yelling at me."

"Oh, Mari, don't cry...I just need to know so that we can take care of this." He said as he came back from the kitchen with an icepack and white towels.

He placed the ice on her mouth and noticed that it looked as though the corners of her mouth had been slashed. He stopped and said..

"I need to call the police and get you to the hospital. These injuries need attention." He added walking to the phone in the livingroom

"Okay, but I want to see first."

"No, Mari, you don't want to look until the Doctors have ..."

He stopped because he realized that she had slipped away into the bathroom and was looking in the mirror now.

"Oh my dear sweet God, help me!" She wailed, as she looked upon the cuts and missing teeth that left her face stuck in the bizarre smile that James had mentioned.

The trip to the hospital was never ending. When they arrived they were met at the ER doors by the police and a Forensic RN. The two women took Marita by the hand and lead her to an exam room.

"You can wait right here in this chair we will come get you in just a few moments. It is important that we speak to her alone first." The Forensic RN said closing the door to the exam room behind her.

Inside the room Marita was made to feel as at ease as was possible in a situation like this. The policewoman, Officer Kelsey, and the Forensic RN, Angie, explained that they would need to carefully take off all of her clothes and place them in bags because they were evidence. They took scrapings from under her fingernails and placed the tools in bags as well. All the time they were making every effort to be kind and gentle. Angie asked if the attacker had assaulted her sexually. Marita, gasped and made the sign of the cross,

"No, no thank God No!"

"Good," Officer Kelsey chimed in. "Continue telling us what happened, Marita. What happened after the man knocked the three bags full of groceries from your arms?"

Marita told the women every gory detail and then they let James and the plastic surgeon into the room.

She could not believe how well all of the surgery and implanted teeth had turned out. She would have to let this trip wipe all of the bad memories of that night from her mind. This trip and her wonderfully, handsome, gentle, understanding James.