The South Sea Pearl

(This story contains domestic violence)

Janice opened the door and walked inside the mansion as she had done for the past ten months. She never thought her first in-home nursing job would be at such a luxurious place. Having just graduated nursing school, Janice was grateful for the ease of this job and her good-natured patient, Delia Lindstrom. Delia was in her eighties and had built a successful business. She only retired due to her health. Although the cancer was progressing, Delia was always in good spirits, and Janice enjoyed their chats. 

“Is that you, Janice?” said Delia from the bedroom.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Janice put some groceries on the kitchen counter and started preparing breakfast.

“The night nurse left you a note,” said Delia. “She needed to leave a little early today.”

Janice puts the milk into the refrigerator and goes to the bedroom.

“Ah, there you are, and don’t you look nice, my dear,” said Delia.

“Thank you,” said Janice. “How did you sleep?”

“It’s all in the note.” Delia laughs. Janice reads the note, crumples it, and tosses it into the trash.

“Haha. Why do you mistreat Wendy?”

“Because she’s boring and a sad sack,” said Delia. “Her kind of nursing would kill a healthy person. I much prefer you, in case you haven’t noticed.” Delia winks. Janice smiles.

“We have an anniversary coming up,” said Janice.

Delia nods. “I know. Soon, it will be one year since you have been my day nurse. It’s hard to believe that I have survived so well with this pancreatic cancer. I’m sure it has been due to your wonderful in-home care and attitude.”

“Thanks, Delia. Being a nurse is all I ever wanted to be,” said Janice.

Janice checks Delia’s blood pressure. It was 90/60.

“Blood pressure is low. Let me get your breakfast.” Delia notices a bruise on Janice’s arm.

“Is that new?” she said.

Janice doesn’t answer and tries to cover it with her sweater.

“You know you deserve so much better than that guy.”

“His name is Mark,” said Janice.

“A man who hits his girlfriend doesn’t deserve a name other than ‘asshole,’” said Delia. “Please, tell me why you stay with him. It breaks my heart.”

Janice sighs. “I don’t know. He’s not always like that. He doesn’t know his strength, and I bruise easily,” she said. After a long pause, she continued. “I also cannot afford to live on my own right now. I still have a student loan to pay off. Mark takes care of me and pays for all my expenses.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to hit you,” said Delia.

“I know, but where would I go if I were to leave him?”

“You would manage somehow,” said Delia.

I don’t know if I’m ready; I have never lived alone except when I was away at school. After graduation, the stress of everything was causing anxiety. I was a mess when I met Mark, and when he asked me to move in, I was so relieved,” said Janice.

“But he hurts you.”

“I know, but only when he gets angry.”

“That seems to be increasing these days,” said Delia.

“Well, he is under a lot of stress from his job,” said Janice, leaving the bedroom. She returns from the kitchen with Delia’s breakfast on a tray.

“This looks wonderful,” said Delia. Janice smiles.

 “Janice, I completely understand how you feel,” said Delia. “Like you, I was also in a relationship with a man where I received many injuries and not just bruises.”

“Really?”

Delia nods. “I had always dreamed of owning my own company. But I put my dream on hold because of my first husband."

“I didn’t realize you were divorced,” said Janice.

“We had our marriage annulled, and years later, I remarried. Although I managed to make a name for myself in the business world, it didn’t start that way.”

Delia continues. “I married young because that was expected of me back in those days, and my husband Steven was somebody I met at a church dance. Like all marriages, things can be difficult, especially when the children arrive. We barely got by when Jonathan was born, but when Michael came along, our marriage faltered,” she said. “Steven started drinking to cope with the demands of being a father and provider. I was a stay-at-home mom. When money got tight, as it always did, I wanted to help. So, I began doing what I love, which is interior design. I used to dabble in it before we got married. I was pretty much in demand since people liked my sense of style. It seemed to me to be the perfect way to help. I booked appointments, had a customer base, and could always bring the children along,” she said.

“So that’s how you started your business?” said Janice.

“Yes,” said Delia. “But in those days, men became threatened if the wife worked because it meant that they couldn’t provide for their family. That sounds unbelievable today since everyone in a household works, but not back then. So, Steven would get angry, criticize me for working, and tell me to stop. Then he’d hit me to end the argument. This scenario happened many times until I decided to stop working altogether. But one day, Michael had a very high fever that would not go away, so we took him to the hospital, and then he recovered. However, the hospital bill was expensive, so I decided to go back to work. Steven was furious and demanded I quit. I refused because we needed the money. Then he started to hit me, and he kept hitting me until I blacked out.”

“Oh my God,” said Janice. She hugs Delia.

Delia continued, “While I was in the hospital, the emergency room doctor brought a psychologist named Doctor Thorne to talk to me. Since wife-beating was a private affair and not a crime back then, nobody called the police. Doctor Thorne explained that I didn’t deserve such treatment and that things were not my fault. He spoke about Steven having hostility issues that he didn’t want to deal with and that these issues had nothing to do with me. Doctor Thorne wished to meet with Steven, but Steven was too ashamed to come to the hospital.”

 “Doctor Thorne told me, ‘I see women like you quite a lot, and I know that things do not get better if the couple stays together.’ I told him that I wasn’t going to leave my husband. After all, that was taboo back then,” she said. “But when he spoke of studies that showed how domestic violence also affects children in the long term, I was so scared for my boys that I started to cry. It was the first time I felt lost and alone with no way out. But Doctor Thorne was a wise man. He understood my dilemma and knew how to help me comprehend my situation by telling me a story involving a pearl that changed my way of thinking,” she said.

“A pearl?” said Janice.

“Yes, a pearl like this one,” said Delia.

Delia opens her bedside table, pulls out a small jewelry box, and opens it. A golden pearl around fifteen millimeters was inside, mounted on black satin.

“That’s beautiful. Where did you get it?” said Janice.

“It was a gift to me from me,” said Delia.

Janice picks up the jewelry box, stares at the pearl, and then looks at Delia. “What was Doctor Thorne’s story?”

 “While visiting the Philippines,” Delia continued, “Doctor Thorne and a few friends went deep sea diving and learned about the golden South Sea pearl. ‘This pearl,’ he said, ‘comes from the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster and is hard to find. They are also expensive and considered the pearl industry’s ‘crème de la crème.’ ‘To keep its beauty,’ he continued, ‘one needs to take care of the pearl so that it doesn’t lose its value.’”

Delia took Janice’s hand and continued.

“Dr. Thorn showed me a picture of the pearl and asked, ‘If you owned one, would you allow somebody to destroy it in anger?’ I said no, I would ensure nobody harmed it because it was beautiful,” said Delia.

Delia sighs. “Then he smiled and said that a pearl is just a thing and that I needed to give myself the same protection as I would this pearl because I was more precious. He explained that when I truly understood this, I was thinking logically and not emotionally, and this logic would guide me in making the right decision in my relationship.”

“Well,” said Delia, “that story changed my life, and I never returned to Steven; I didn’t want to live with a man who was destroying me and my children’s lives. So, I received an annulment, and the boys and I moved in with my parents. I started my interior design business and watched it grow into a multimillion-dollar venture. When I could afford a gold pearl, I purchased it. And still today, it is a constant reminder of how beautiful and precious we all are and how we must protect ourselves against those who harm us,” she said.

“Janice,” said Delia, “Each day when you come, I want you to look at this pearl and ask yourself if you would ever give it to someone who would destroy it. Ask yourself if it is logical for you to be with someone who beats you. When you see the logic, you will know when to leave. Will you do that, Janice?

“Yes. I will, Delia.”

Janice opens the front door to Mark’s house.

“Mark, honey, I’m home!” Mark was in the living room.

“So, has she died yet?” said Mark. “I don’t like having to share you with her.”

 “It’s my job.”

 “I told you before you don’t need to work,” he said.

“What will I do if I don’t work?” said Janice. Mark gets up from the sofa and grabs hold of Janice. She tries to break free but can’t. He pulled her close and said, “I’m your full-time job. There will be no more nursing jobs after this bitch croaks. Understand?”

“Yes,” Janice said, unable to look him in the eye.

In the evening, Janice starts getting ready for bed. Mark comes out of the bathroom.

“It’s all yours,” he said, leaving the light on. Janice goes inside and shuts the door.

Just then, her mobile phone started buzzing. Marks looks at the caller ID and sees it is Wendy, Delia’s night nurse. He presses reject.

Wendy called again, and this time, Mark answered.

“Yes, what is it? It’s late.”

“Hi, It’s Wendy, I’m the night nurse...”

“I know who you are, just not what you want,” said Mark.

“I’d like to speak with Janice; it’s important.”

“Well, she’s in the bathroom. Do you want to leave a message?”

“Yes, tell her Delia is getting worse and probably won’t last the night. She has been asking for Janice to come see her,” said Wendy.

“I will relay the message,” said Mark.

“Thank you. Tell Janice to hurry. There isn’t much time,” she said.

Mark disconnects the call and turns Janice’s phone off.

Janice comes out of the bathroom.

“Ready for bed?” She said.

“I sure am,” said Mark as he kissed her passionately.

The following morning, Janice approached the mansion and saw Wendy talking with Delia’s sons, Jonathan and Michael. Wendy sees her get out of her car.

“Janice, why didn’t you come? Delia was asking for you.”

“What do you mean? What happened?” said Janice.

“Mom passed away last night,” said Michael. “She was asking for you.”

Janice starts to cry. “I didn’t know.”

“But I called you, and Mark said he would tell you.”

Janice could not breathe but finally said, “He never mentioned it.”

Wendy hugged her, “I’m sorry, but she’s still inside if you want to pay your respects.”

 Janice entered the bedroom and sat next to Delia’s body.

“I will miss you so very much,” she said.

Janice gets up to leave. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said.

“Thank you,” said Jonathan. “Let me walk you to the front door,” he said.

While walking, Jonathan continues, “As we were at my mother's side last night, she couldn’t speak, so she pointed to the drawer on her bedside table. She addressed this to you. He handed Janice a manila envelope.

“Thank you,” said Janice.

“She loved you, you know,” said Jonathan.

“I loved her too.”

Janice arrives home and sees Mark’s car still in the driveway. Her anger wells up inside her. She enters the house and slams the door. Mark comes out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong with you?" he said. Why all the noise?”

Janice walks right up to him. “Why didn’t you tell me Wendy called last night.”

Smiling, Mark said, “Ah, the old bitch finally croaked. Good. Now you’re free and all mine.”

“How dare you,” she said.

“Excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to?” said Mark.

“An asshole,” said Janice.

Mark grabbed her arm, but Janice managed to escape his hold and ran toward the door. Mark ran after her and grabbed her hair, then he smacked her, and Janice fell spread eagle on the floor.

“If you ever talk to me that way again, I will beat you unconscious,” he said and left the house.

Janice gets up, sits at the kitchen table, and sobs. After a while, she notices the manila envelope on the floor. She opens it and pulls out money wrapped by a band. It was fifty thousand dollars. She screamed in disbelief. She carefully put the money back into the envelope when she realized something else was inside. She recognized it at once. It was the jewelry box with the golden pearl.

Janice continued staring at the pearl and hearing Delia’s words: When you see the logic, you will know when to leave.

“It’s time,” Janice said out loud. She packed her belongings and left the house.

A note on the kitchen table read,

Mark, you have hit me for the last time—it’s over.