Men of Providence

Twenty runs in twenty-four hours, fourteen to go. We had a rash of wife beaters last night, three in a row between ten and midnight. An eighteen year old girl was hit in the head with a baseball bat, she was dazed but conscious. When we arrived on scene she was holding a ten month old infant, swaying from side to side, barely able to stay seated. She handed the baby off to her brother and came with us to the hospital. Twenty minutes later, a few blocks away another girl ran from her home, broken cell phone in her hand, new wounds included pain in her chest from being kicked, a lacerated nostril from where her nose ring used to be before her “boyfriend” ripped it out and abdominal pain from more kicks. Bruises covered her arms legs and torso, evidence of months of abuse. Another girl was found standing on Broad Street with no shoes bleeding from her mouth. Her boyfriend punched her in the face and threw her out.