Sleeping with the Enemy1991

Woman:
You visitin' out here?

Laura:
My mom's by herself in a nursing home. She's blind and can't move her left side very well. She had a stroke.

Woman:
I'm sorry to hear that. You live back East?

Laura:
I was visiting an old friend. She needed me.

Woman:
Sick, was she? [pause] Course, it's none of my business.

Laura:
She left her husband. He was a horrible man. He used to beat her.

Woman:
No!

Laura:
It started right after their honeymoon. At first he was charming, tender. But it all changed. He said if she left him he would punish her, and he meant it. His punishments were terrible. He would never let her go. Said he could find her anywhere.

Woman:
Couldn't she call the police?

Laura:
Well, she did. She called them, and a lawyer too. They said she could make a citizen's arrest, get a restraining order. It was pathetic.

Woman:
Well, how did she leave?

Laura:
She risked everything. Escaped. Started a new life.

Woman:
Brave girl.

Laura:
She thinks she's a coward.

Woman:
A coward? Not a girl like that.