The Chickenwire Incident

You don't want to miss out on any sales or risk [[having something stolen]]. You train your eye on the blonde with the dreadlocks. (click-append: "the blonde with the dreadlocks") [ who keeps modelling a strappy black bikini on Instagram that she stole from you last week] (click-append: "that she stole from you last week.") [ <img src="img/rackgallery.png" alt="clothing rack with stripper outfits" /> Most of the girls are honest (click-append: "honest") [ with you at least,] but there's always one or two who feel entitled to everyone else's stuff.] (click-replace: "stuff") [g-strings] (click-replace: "g-strings")[costumes] (click-replace: "costumes") [eyeliner] (click-replace: "eyeliner") [lipstick] (click-replace: "lipstick") [money] (click-replace: "money") [partners] <img src="img/sparkly.png" alt="clothing rack with sparkly outfits" /> Your phone rings again. It must be an emergency. You [[slide right to answer]].

The timing couldn't be worse. (click-append: "The timing couldn't be worse.") [ The girls are swarming around your rack of pretty things, asking for pricing, tangling bras in hangers and putting light-coloured garments at the risk of fake tan.] (click-append: "at the risk of fake tan.") [ You cringe as an 8-inch stilletto comes perilously close to shredding a pair of knickers.] (click-append: "shredding a pair of knickers.") [ "Can you please try those on over your G?" you call out to Bambi on Stilts.] (click-append: "Bambi on Stilts.") [ She stares blankly, not comprehending the basic rules dressing room etiquette.] (click-append: "dressing room etiquette.") [ <img src="img/heels.png" alt="stripper shoes" /> "Sorry," you say to Jade. "What's up?"] (click-append: "What's up?") [" "Someone just rang me on the intercom telling me they're here to install chickenwire fencing," she says. "I'm scared.] (click-append: "I'm scared.") [" "Who is it?] (click-append: "Who is it?") [" "They won't say.] (click-append: "They won't say.") [" "Call the police.] (click-append: "Call the police.") [" "Can't. I'm holding.] You tell her...(click-append: "You tell her...") [that it's probably just X, your erstwhile boyfriend.] (click-append: "your erstwhile boyfriend.") [ Do you [[panic because of what happened the other week]] or offer to [[call X]] to find out for sure?]

Tramp's not your usual scene. (click-append: "Tramp's not your usual scene") [, but you go there with Jade and X to watch your friend spin the decks] (click-append: "spin the decks.") [ <img src="img/dj.png" alt="DJ" /> There's MDMA going around in the water bottles, some marijuana in the cigarettes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Sunday night.] (click-append: "ordinary for a Sunday night.") [ <img src="img/tramp.png" alt="party girls at Tramp" /> X is convinced that you're on something he's not, so he searches your purse for pills and finds nothing.] (click-append: "he searches your purse for pills and finds nothing.") [ He swears he sees you giving your number out to other guys.] (click-append: "to other guys") [, so he searches your phone and finds nothing] (click-append: "he searches your phone and finds nothing.") [ <img src="img/purple.png" alt="blurry purple dress" /> Your edges are blurred (click-replace: "blurred") [a bit warm and fuzzy] so you shake off X's possessiveness and continue dancing.] (click-append: "continue dancing") [, trying not to let his paranoia kill the vibe] (click-append: "kill the vibe.") [ Next minute X is professing his undying love to Jade and calling her by your pet names.] (click-append: "love to Jade") [, who looks nothing like you,] (click-append: "your pet names.") [ "You mean you love Jenny," Jade says to X.] (click-append: "Jade says to X.") [ <img src="img/purpleblurs.png" alt="blurry girls" /> You're not jealous.] (click-append: "You're not jealous") [ because his disorientation is obvious] (click-append: "obvious.") [ X is existing in an alternate reality, where every woman is a reflection of you.] (click-append: "a reflection of you") [, and you are reflected in every woman's actions] (click-append: "every woman's actions") [, lit up by multi-coloured strobing lights] (click-append: "strobing lights.") [ <img src="img/tramp2.png" alt="girls in a row at Tramp" /> You start to fear for your own safety.] (click-append: "You start to fear for your own safety") [ (after all, he threatened to kill you if you ever left him for someone else)] (click-append: "he threatened to kill you if you ever left him for someone else).") [ In X's eyes you are every single woman who is making out with any man or woman on the dance floor.] (click-append: "dance floor.") [ You're gyrating against hundreds of bodies all at once.] (click-append: "all at once") [, texting scores of potential lovers] (click-append: "potential lovers") [, your flesh multiplied and embodied by every pulsing body in the venue] (click-append: "pulsing body in the venue.") [ <img src="img/blur.png" alt="blurred image" /> You are the hyper-sexual adulteress of his nightmares in every reality.] (click-append: "in every reality") [ except the one that you inhabit] (click-append: "except the one that you inhabit.") [ <img src="img/ohyea.png" alt="a psychedelic reality" /> Why don't you [[go to the bathroom]] to take a break from this insane convergence of dimensions?]

You hurry up the stairs as fast as your boots will allow, your purple silk dress swishing at your thighs. (click-append: "swishing at your thighs.") [ You walk past security into the bathroom and enter the first stall on your right, locking the door.] (click-append: "locking the door.") [ You sit on the toilet and start to pee and then your heart sinks.] (click-append: "your heart sinks.") [ You can hear a commotion outside and you know it's about you.] (click-append: "it's about you.") [ A desperate scream from outside the bathroom door] (click-append: "outside the bathroom door") [: "My fiancé is in there!"] (click-append: "My fiancé is in there!") [" A low and commandeering voice: "Mate, you can't go in the girls' bathroom.] And then... (click-append: "And then...") [the door to the bathroom stall crashing in on your skull.] (click-append: "on your skull.") [ Your purse falls out of your lap and onto the ground.] (click-append: "onto the ground") [, your underwear still around your ankles] (click-append: "around your ankles.") [ "I, uh, thought you went in here with someone," he stammers.] (click-append: "he stammers.") [ Now you're furious.] (click-append: "Now you're furious.") [ You sober up instantly and ask Jade to help you escort X and his delusional thinking straight home.] (click-append: "straight home.") [ "It was the pot," he pleads, by way of explanation.] (click-append: "explanation.") [ But you know it was the ice that triggered his psychosis.] (click-append: "the ice") [ and his insane jealousy] (click-append: "triggered his psychosis.") [ The phone is still ringing. You're afraid that Jade is bearing the brunt of X's stalking while you're at work. You'd better [[call X]].]

He will drag you through the family court system for an entire year. (click-append: "for an entire year.") [ You will have a designated court outfit that haunts your closet and emerges on days that make you (t8n: "rumble")[tremble and shake].] (click-append: "tremble and shake.") [ How hard it is to smile in your skirt suit. (stop:) <img src="img/court1.png" alt="dressed to go to court" />] You will know all along that his goal is not shared custody. (click-replace: "not shared custody") [maximising your distress and suffering] (click-append: "suffering.") [ <img src="img/court2.png" alt="dressed to go to court" /> But the judge will not believe you because you've lived such a quote-unquote (t8n: "rumble") [colourful lifestyle].] (click-append: "colourful lifestyle.") [ The judge will disregard your sworn statements of domestic violence.] (click-append: "The judge will disregard your sworn statements of domestic violence") [ and X's admission of planting the listening device and stalking you] (click-append: "and X's admission of planting the listening device and stalking you") [, forcing you to see him several times a week "in the best interests of the child" even as X's drug tests come back dirty] (click-append: "even as X's drug tests come back dirty.") [ It will seem that nothing you do or say matters.] (click-append: "It will seem that nothing you do or say matters") [ until the man with hands dancing in and out of pockets says to the man with privilege as white as his wig, "Maybe I don't want to be a father"] (t8n-delay: 12s) + (t8n: "fade-down") [Words etched in your neuropathways.] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] (live: 0.5s) [(either: "maybe", "I", "don't", "want", "to", "be", "a", "father")] [[You expect to feel...]]

Karla is owned by a boxer from Sydney. (click-append: "Karla is owned by a boxer from Sydney") [, or at least that's how it appears from the way she has to sneak around to have any semblence of a life] (click-append: "at least that's how it appears from the way she has to sneak around to have any semblence of a life.") [ You love her immediately when she and Carmella catch and call out the girl who rips an outfit off your rack and hides it away without payment.] (click-append: "without payment.") [ Karla buys Ed Hardy hoodies and dresses from you.] (click-replace: "hoodies and dresses") [shit] (click-append: "Ed Hardy shit from you.") [ The bikies love it.] (click-append: "The bikies love it.") [ One night Jodi organises a birthday party for one of her friends.] (click-replace: "friends") [clients] (click-replace: "clients") [suppliers] (click-append: "suppliers.") [ Let's call him D.] (click-append: "Let's call him D.") [ For Dickhead.] (click-append: "For Dickhead.") [ <img src="img/party2.png" alt="party girls in limo" /> Back at D's apartment after a typical Sunday (click-replace: "Sunday") [strippers' night out] at Love Machine, D is hellbent on getting Karla to fuck him.] (click-append: "to fuck him.") [ With Jodi unofficially acting as his pimp, (click-append: "his pimp") [, which is something she would never even admit to herself] (click-append: "which is something she would never even admit to herself") [, and bringing him girls he might like, or whom he might find easy] Karla is simply sport.] (click-append: "Karla is simply sport.") [ D won't let you leave until you each have a drink.] (click-append: "until you each have a drink.") [ He's spiked them all with G, which Jodi loves and you hate.] (click-append: "He's spiked them all with G, which Jodi loves and you hate.") [ Karla is freaking out, but quietly.] (click-append: "but quietly.") [ You never know what a scum-of-the-earth wanna-be baller (click-replace: "baller") [gangster] (click-replace: "gangster") [Romeo] might do. ] (click-append: "might do.") [ These are the kinds of guys who bolt the doors from the inside and then hide the keys.] (click-append: "These are the kinds of guys who bolt the doors from the inside and then hide the keys.") [ You might ask a pertinant question: Why the fuck put yourself in danger like that?] (click-append: "Why the fuck put yourself in danger like that?") [ It's partly to please Jodi.] (Click-append: "It's partly to please Jodi.") [ But again: Why the fuck would you want a friend like that?] (click-append: "Why the fuck would you want a friend like that?") [ Industry night is a gamble with high stakes.] (click-append: "Industry night is a gamble with high stakes.") [ You never know whether you'll make it til sunrise, whether you'll meet an elusive someone, or even how (if) you'll get home.] (click-append: "or even how (if) you'll get home.") [ <img src="img/melbourne.jpg" alt="Melbourne at night" /> On this particular Sunday night...] (click-append: "On this particular Sunday night") [, now technically Monday morning] (click-append: "Monday morning...") [you decide to play hero to Karla.] (click-append: "hero to Karla") [ by downing her drink as well as yours] (click-append: "you decide to play hero to Karla by downing her drink as well as yours.") [ In the end you and Karla make it out of there unnmolested.] (click-append: "In the end you and Karla make it out of there unnmolested") [, which feels like a win at the time] (click-append: "feels like a win at the time.") [ You wonder if Jodi will give herself to D as consolation prize after you and Karla leave.] (click-append: "after you and Karla leave") [ in exchange for a pipe] (click-append: "in exchange for a pipe.") [ Where's your head at? Your phone's still ringing! You'd better [[slide right to answer]].]

Just recently Jade had asked X how to install chickenwire fencing to prevent her cat from escaping off of her balcony. (click-append: "off of her balcony.") [ Who else would rock up at her apartment on a Friday night to offer chickenwire installation?] (click-append: "chickenwire installation?") [ You call X, demanding that he explain himself.] (click-append: "explain himself.") [ He denies (click-replace: "denies") [lies about] being at Jade's house.] (click-append: "at Jade's house.") [ <img src="img/rackgoldies.png" alt="clothes for sale at Goldfingers" /> Later that night when you pack up your suitcase to head to another club, the bouncer describes how a guy who meets the same physical description as X showed up at the club, asking for you by name.] (click-append: "asking for you by name.") [ They said he was short and bald.] (click-replace: "short and bald") [a creepy stalker] (click-append: "creepy stalker.") [ To protect your privacy, the bouncer had told X you weren't there.] (click-append: "you weren't there.") [ Now X is convinced that he's caught you in a lie.] (click-replace: "he's caught you in a lie") [all his worst fears about you having an affair are true] (click-append: "all his worst fears about you having an affair are true.") [ <img src="img/rackjen.png" alt="clothes for sale" /> You confront X.] (click-append: "You confront X") [ about spying on you at work] (click-append: "spying on you at work.") [ It's incredibly embarassing for you.] (click-append: "It's incredibly embarassing for you.") [ Of course he denies (click-replace: "denies") [lies about] checking up on your whereabouts.] (click-append: "checking up on your whereabouts") [, although later he will confess to the chickenwire in therapy] (click-append: "confess to the chickenwire") [ and the stalking] (click-append: "the stalking in therapy.") [ [[The next day...]]] <audio src="./audio/metal.mp3" autoplay loop />

X doesn't want you to sell clothing at the clubs. (click-append: "X doesn't want you to sell clothing at the clubs.") [ He phones you as you drive away with your bags packed for the night.] (click-append: "He phones you as you drive away with your bags packed for the night.") [ You're beginning to feel suffocated.] (click-append: "suffocated") [; you can't get out of the apartment quick enough] (click-append: "quick enough.") [ You answer the phone.] (click-append: "You answer the phone.") [ "The car is riding funny," he says, as you're halfway down the block. "You might want to come home."] Do you turn around and [[drive home]] or [[keep driving]]?

Home is a prison. (click-replace: "a prison") [where he wants you because that's where he thinks a woman belongs] (click-append: "a woman belongs.") [ In the kitchen, cooking.] (click-replace: "cooking") [cleaning] (click-replace: "In the kitchen, cleaning.") [In the laundry, washing clothes.] (click-replace: "In the laundry, washing clothes.") [In the bedroom.] (click-append: "In the bedroom") [ tarted up in fishnet stockings and crotchless knickers] (click-append: "crotchless knickers") [, fucking] (click-append: "fucking") [, sucking] (click-append: "sucking.") [ And yet you're the one paying most of the rent and most of the bills, because he's on disability.] (click-append: "disability") [, even though his claimed disability doesn't prevent him from taking on high-paying cash jobs] (click-replace: "cash") [untaxed] (click-append: "untaxed jobs.") [ On second thought, who's going to pay the rent if you turn the car around?] (click-append: "if you turn the car around?") [ You can always call RACV in between clubs so [[keep driving]]. ]

Besides, isn't it odd that he would have noticed that something was wrong with the car? (click-append: "wrong with the car?") [ What is the possibility that he tampered with the car to keep you at home?] (click-append: "to keep you at home?") [ If you weren't scared before, maybe you should be now.] (click-append: "maybe you should be now.") [ <img src="img/gallery.png" alt="off of King Street" /> You pull up to one of the clubs with a flat tire.] (click-append: "with a flat tire.") [ Two minutes later X parks his car behind yours on King Street, a cop car behind him.] (click-append: "a cop car behind him.") [ You hadn't noticed X following you all the way to work.] (click-append: "all the way to work.") [ The cops find X's pornography collection and a drug scale in his car.] (click-append: "a drug scale in his car.") [ X gets off the hook by telling the cops that he uses the scale to make sure he doesn't get cheated when he buys drugs, that he's not a dealer.] (click-append: "he's not a dealer") [, even though he's got a two-page rap sheet for crimes including commercial trafficking] (click-append: "commercial trafficking.") [ You wish the cops would arrest him.] (click-append: "You wish the cops would arrest him") [ even though the two of you are engaged to be married] (click-append: "even though the two of you are engaged to be married.") [ The blinders have fallen away.] (click-append: "fallen away") [, and you don't understand what you ever saw in him before] (click-replace: "the cops would arrest him even though the two of you are engaged to be married. The blinders have fallen away, and you don't understand what you ever saw in him before.") [you could get away, but every dollar you have is tied up in your lingerie business, and you have nowhere to go.] (click-append: "nowhere to go.") [ No family here.] (click-append: "No family here.") [ No plan B.] (click-append: "No plan B.") [ You're in Australia on a prospective marriage visa and if you quit now you'll be destitute.] (click-append: "destitute") [ and homeless] (click-append: "and homeless.") [ You're out of options.] (click-append: "You're out of options.") [ You must've been blinded.] (click-append: "blinded") [ by love] (click-replace: "by love") [by sex pheromones] (click-replace: "by sex pheromones") [by drugs] (click-append: "by drugs.") [ The next day you insist that X see his doctor.] (click-append: "see his doctor") [, who doubles his anti-psychotic medication] (click-append: "anti-psychotic medication.") [ You're hopeful that life will stabilise now.] (click-append: "life will stabilise now.") [ And it does. [[For two weeks.]]]

Nearly two weeks after the suspicious flat tire, you notice X driving past your apartment multiple times each day. (click-append: "multiple times each day.") [ Although he's working across town, he pops in unexpectedly, supposedly for an iPad.] (click-replace: "an iPad") [a phone charger] (click-replace: "phone charger") [can of Coke] (click-append: "a can of Coke.") [ It would almost be funny, how winded he is.] (click-append: "how winded he is") [ after clearly racing up the four flights of stairs] (click-append: "racing up the four flights of stairs") [, throwing open the front door without so much as a hello] (click-replace: "hello") [text] (click-replace: "text") [knock] (click-append: "without so much as a knock.") [ <img src="img/comp.png" alt="girl using computer on bed" /> Except that it's not funny because he's looking in every room for a stowaway.] (click-replace: "a stowaway") [an imaginary lover] (click-replace: "an imaginary lover") [an invisible cuckhold](click-append: "an invisible cuckhold.") [ And there is none to be found because there is no one else.] (click-append: "there is no one else") [ and there never was] (click-append: "and there never was.") [ He leaves without a Coke.] (click-append: "without a Coke") [ because there was not a Coke in the fridge] (click-append: "a Coke in the fridge") [ and it was never about refreshments anyway] (click-append: "it was never about refreshments anyway.") [ He's doubled his antipsychotic meds on his own accord.] (click-append: "on his own accord") [, not under doctor's supervision] (click-append: "not under doctor's supervision.") [ [[Peacetime is over.]] <img src="img/boxing.png" alt="girl with punching bag" />]

All you want to do is get through each day, one day at a time, each day getting closer to your goals. (click-append: "closer to your goals.") [ <img src="img/secretshop.png" alt="secret shop" /> You have a secret shop in your rental apartment laden wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, with gorgeous little nothings and you allow the dancers (click-replace: "dancers") [glamour models] (click-replace: "glamour models") [escorts] (click-append: "escorts") [ and their friends] (click-replace: "their friends") [their kids] to come over to shop any time of night (click-replace: "night") [day] to shop.] (click-append: "to shop.") [ First, you'll pay your debts, then you'll buy yourself options.] (click-replace: "options") [freedom] (click-append: "buy yourself freedom.") [ When girls come over, you ask X to leave because he scares them.] (click-replace: "scares") [directs comments laden with sexual innuendo at] (click-append: "sexual innuendo at them.") [ You are all objects to him.] (click-append: "You are all objects to him.") [ You're working yourself to exhaustion but work is a pleasure compared to spending time with X.] (click-append: "spending time with X.") [ You visit his therapist with him often.] (click-replace: "often") [five times] (click-append: "five times") [, and each time he admits to wrongdoing and promises to make enduring changes] (click-append: "enduring changes") [, but the promises are as lasting as his cigarettes] (click-append: "cigarettes.") [ He accuses you of having an affair.] (click-append: "of having an affair") [ and of being on ice] (click-append: "of being on ice.") [ He says that you never even loved him, that you were only ever using him for a visa.] (click-append: "using him for a visa.") [ His logic implies that you had sex with him hundreds of times (click-append: "hundreds of times") [, sometimes three or four times a day,] (click-append: "times a day,") [ submitting to all of his perversions] (click-replace: "all of his perversions") [urination] (click-replace: "urination") [anal] (click-replace: "anal") [choking] (click-replace: "choking") [bondage] to trick him into marrying you.] (click-append: "marrying you.") [ You made sacrifices.] (click-append: "sacrifices.") [ You gave up friendships to please him.] (click-append: "to please him.") [ You even threw away your vibrators because he so envied the pleasure they gave you.] (click-replace: "he so envied the pleasure they gave you") [ the orgasms that he could not give you] (click-append: "the orgasms that he could not give you.") [ As if your pleasure belonged to him only.] (click-append: "As if your pleasure belonged to him only.") [ No woman would debase herself so completely (click-replace: "so completely") [so painfully] (click-replace: "so painfully") [so often] if not for love.] (click-append: "for love") [ or money] (click-append: "or money") [, of which he had none] (click-append: "he had none.") [ So if sex is a bargaining chip, we're all tricksters and harlots.] (click-append: "we're all tricksters and harlots.") [ Mirror mirror on the wall.] (click-append: "Mirror mirror on the wall.") [ You later learn that he was the one cheating, flying high as he was on ice.] (click-append: "he was on ice.") [ He once told you that his ultimate fantasy was to cage you in a room where you would remain 24 hours a day under video surveillance as his sex slave.] (click-append: "his sex slave.") [ It sounded an awful lot like jail.] (click-append: "jail") [, which is something he would know about, having spend 18 months inside] (click-append: "18 months inside.") [ But getting back to the [[chickenwire]]...]

When you were little your mother put up chickenwire fencing to keep out the rattlesnakes that slithered into your backyard, but which could not keep out the wild coyotes. (click-append: "which could not keep out the wild coyotes.") [ You have a visceral memory of running your hands along the chickenwire, one hand on either side of the fencing, hands clasped in prayer, sliding across from post to post, again and again.] (click-append: "sliding across from post to post, again and again.") [ How the thin braids of metal interrupted the sticky connection of palm on palm, where love line meets love line, creating additional friction that bordered on burn.] (click-append: "friction that bordered on burn.") [ <img src="img/snake.png" alt="girl wearing a carpet python" /> Today X shows up at Jade's apartment with a roll of chickenwire.] (click-append: "with a roll of chickenwire.") [ Today X reveals his identity over the intercom.] (click-append: "Today X reveals his identity over the intercom.") [ Jade asks him to leave.] (click-append: "Jade asks him to leave.") [ He won't leave.] (click-append: "He won't leave.") [ Today, against her better judgment, and because she's too tired to argue any more, Jade lets X in so he can install the chickenwire for her cat.] (click-append: "the chickenwire for her cat.") [ <img src="img/cat.png" alt="cat on couch" /> X insists he has something urgent to tell her.] (click-append: "X insists he has something urgent to tell her.") [ A secret about you.] (click-append: "A secret about you.") [ Once inside her apartment, he tells Jade that this is an intervention on your behalf, that you are an ice addict, But shhhh...don't tell anyone because it's our little secret.] (click-append: "our little secret.") [ Once more, she asks him to leave.] (click-append: "she asks him to leave.") [ He refuses.] (click-append: "He refuses.") [ She calls you, panicked, afraid.] (click-append: "panicked, afraid.") [ "He showed up and he won't leave," she says. "Please come help." You can't refuse.] (click-append: "You can't refuse.") [ By now the chickenwire fencing installation is proceeding against all protestation.] (click-append: "proceeding against all protestation") [ because some men are conditioned to think that no means yes] (click-append: "some men are conditioned to think that no means yes") [, that it is merely a token resistence that allows women to play the part of the pursued (click-replace: "pursued") [stalked] and men the part of the persuer] (click-replace: "persuer") [stalker] (click-append: "the part of the stalker.") [ As if women's desires and refusals are inconsequential.] (click-replace: "inconsequential") [meaningless] (click-replace: "meaningless") [token gestures of resistance, designed to be overcome] (click-append: "As if women's desires and refusals are token gestures of resistance, designed to be overcome.") [ Chickenwire fencing, purposed to keep danger away, is now the cause of your detainment in a small apartment with a madman and his whimsy.] (click-replace: "whimsy") [stubborn resistance] (click-replace: "stubborn resistance") [continued efforts at coercive control] (click-append: "continued efforts at coercive control.") [ You sit stone-faced in a lounge chair in Jade's living room, your side-eye trained on the minor construction project, making sure the nail gun isn't aimed at either of you.] (click-append: "making sure the nail gun isn't aimed at either of you.") [ For hours.] (click-append: "For hours.") [ He has done his best to alienate you from one friend after another.] (click-append: "He has done his best to alienate you from one friend after another.") [ It's a textbook tactic from any abuser's playbook.] (click-append: "It's a textbook tactic from any abuser's playbook.") [ You wish you hadn't saved him the night he went into convulsions from taking too many drugs.] (click-append: "he went into convulsions from taking too many drugs.") [ The night of your engagement.] (click-append: "The night of your engagement.") [ You fantasise that he'll fall off the ladder and land in hospital, where he can't threaten you any more.] Do you [[go back to your apartment with X]] that night or do you [[beg him to stay at his mum's house]] for awhile?

If this were a game of survival, you'd be in real trouble now. Can't you see that you need to get as much distance between you and X as possible? (click-append: "you need to get as much distance between you and X as possible?") [ Apologies for bringing you here under false pretence.] (click-append: "Apologies for bringing you here under false pretence.") [ You navigated here under the illusion of choice (click-append: "illusion of choice") [, or perhaps a misguided hope of reconciliation,] (click-append: "a misguided hope of reconciliation") [, thinking perhaps that this was a game] but the reality is that the stage is set for disaster.] (click-append: "the stage is set for disaster.") [ It's only a matter of time until his next episode, so you better stave off chaos and [[beg him to stay at his mum's house]].]

You need time to think. (click-append: "You need time to think.") [ To plot a way out.] (click-append: "To plot a way out.") [ How can you extricate your life from his when you are under 24/7 watch?] (click-append: "How can you extricate your life from his when you are under 24/7 watch?") [ You're exhausted. <img src="img/catnap.png" alt="cat nap sleep mask" /> Your time in Australia could be cut short.] (click-append: "Your time in Australia could be cut short.") [ X has phoned immigration to notify them that your relationship has broken down.] (click-append: "your relationship has broken down.") [ If he can't have you then he doesn't want you here.] (click-append: "If he can't have you then he doesn't want you here.") [ He's told you dozens of times: He'd rather kill you than see you with anyone else.] (click-append: "He'd rather kill you than see you with anyone else.") [ If you're lucky you'll have another 60 days to make money and pack up your life.] (click-append: "If you're lucky you'll have another 60 days to make money and pack up your life.") [ In the meantime, you feel imprisoned in your small apartment, as if the walls have eyes and ears.] (click-append: "the walls have eyes and ears.") [ Even when you're alone you're not.] (click-append: "Even when you're alone you're not.") [ This isn't paranoia.] (click-append: "This isn't paranoia") [: it's coercive control] (click-append: "it's coercive control.") [ You give X the illusion of hope.] (click-append: "of hope") [ and tbh you want just as badly to salvage the relationship you'd fought so hard to build] (click-append: "fought so hard to build") [, those interminable nine months of global rendezvous as you awaited your visa approval] (click-append: "as you awaited your visa approval") [, neither his country nor yours permitting the other entry] "Just a few days," [[you plead]].

You go to couples therapy. (click-append: "You go to couples therapy") [, or rather you plead your case to X's therapist] (click-append: "or rather you plead your case to X's therapist.") [ X apologises for his behaviour.] (click-append: "X apologises for his behaviour.") [ He promises not to track you anymore.] (click-replace: "track") [stalk] (click-append: "He promises not to stalk you anymore.") [ He promises to stop threatening to kill himself if you leave.] (click-replace: "threatening to kill himself") [threatening to kill you] (click-append: "if you leave.") [ He begs you to give him one more chance.] (click-append: "He begs you to give him one more chance.")[ He threatens to kill himself if you leave him.](click-replace: "threatens to kill himself") [threatens to kill you](click-replace: "leave him") [ever meet someone new] (click-append: "ever meet someone new.") [ He tracks you.] (click-replace: "tracks") [stalks] (click-append: "He stalks you") [ again] (click-append: "again") [ and again] (click-append: "again and again") [ and again] (click-append: "He stalks you again and again and again.") [ You go to couples therapy. X apologises for his behaviour.] (click-append: "You go to couples therapy. X apologises for his behaviour.") [ [[But all of his promises are dandelions in the wind.]] <img class="passage-image" src="img/dandelions.jpg" alt="dandelions" />]

It's not just one thing. It is many repeated variations on the same themes. * Popping In (click-append: "Popping In") [—as in "popping in" to pick up a non-functional iPad when he's meant to be at work.] (click-replace: "a non-functional iPad") [his passport] (click-replace: "meant to be at work") [sworn to give you space for a few days and is not actually planning international travel] (click-append: "not actually planning international travel.") [ "Popping in" also includes spying on you through the gap under the front door.] (click-append: "front door") [ while pretending to have dropped a non-specific something] (click-append: "a non-specific something") [ that requires him to examine the drafty space between the front door and floor] (click-append: "the drafty space between the front door and floor.") [ There's never anything but lint.] (click-replace: "lint") [awkwardness] * Driving By (click-append: "Driving By") [—this would seem to straightforward, and at first it is.] (click-append: "at first it is.") [ You spot his vehicle travelling up and down your street at all hours.] (click-append: "at all hours") [, so you call him on it] (click-append: "call him on it") [—because you aren't crazy] (click-replace: "aren't crazy") [are sick of his gaslighting] (click-append: "you are sick of his gaslighting") [—and he says that your street is en route to his jobs] (click-prepend: "street") [suburban, not very well trafficked ] (click-append: "he says that your suburban, not very well trafficked street is en route to his jobs") [. After that, he starts borrowing his sister's car to disguise his stalking] (click-replace: "sister") [mum] * The Illegal (click-append: "The Illegal") [—as you would expect, there's basic stalker operandus modi like breaking into your phone.](click-replace: "breaking") [trying to break] (click-replace: "phone") [apartment](click-append: "apartment") [ long after he's stopped paying rent] (click-replace: "stopped paying rent") [vacated the premises] (click-replace: "vacated the premises") [no longer got access to your place due to changed locks] (click-replace: "changed locks") [an Intervention Order] (click-append: "Intervention Order") [, which you realised you needed when you found a GSM listening device under your bed] (click-append: "when you found a GSM listening device under your bed.") [ You started sleeping with a hammer] (click-append: "You started sleeping with a hammer.") [ So, once again, [[you plead]] with him to change.] What else can you do but [[keep trying]] to help him see the truth.

You try so hard to connect with him at a deep level. (click-replace: "at a deep level") [through endless drug-fuelled DMs] (click-replace: "endless drug-fuelled DMs") [hours of mind-numbing sex] (click-replace: "mind-numbing sex") [desperate sex] (click-replace: "desperate sex") [humiliating sex] (click-append: "humiliating sex") [ and from this destructive union your cells merge and divide] (click-replace: "your cells merge and divide") [you conceive] (click-append: "you conceive.") [ <img src="img/pregnant.png" alt="pregnant woman" /> Now with ever more reason to work things out, [[you plead]] with him for a fresh start.] (click-replace: "for a fresh start") [to go back to the way things used to be between you when you had love and mutual respect] (click-append: "when you had") [ the illusion of] [[But all of his promises are dandelions in the wind.]] (if:visits >= 2)[[You've been stuck in a loop for so long.]]

Relief, maybe, or a sense of freedom? (click-append: "Relief, maybe, or a sense of freedom?") [ So you would expect after two-and-a-half years of abuse drawn out through court proceedings and other systemic abuse...] (click-append: "systemic abuse...") [ Instead you're a puddle after the rain. <img src="img/baby.png" alt="toddler looking into puddle" />]

But now you are in hyper-drive, ready to fight for the sub-three kilo person who has total faith in your ability to nurture and protect him. (click-replace: "has total faith in your ability to nurture and protect him") [deserves a life free from violence] (click-append: "free from violence.") [ <img src="img/baby1.png" alt="mum and baby cuddling" /> You battle for your rights, reading the fine print.] (click-append: "fine print") [, demanding explanations] (click-append: "demanding explanations") [, getting everything in writing] (t8n-delay: 9s) + (t8n: "fade-down") [If you go with the flow...] (click-append: "If you go with the flow") [ you risk being victimised by a system that was written by those with the privilege to write the rules] (click-replace: "write the rules") [bend the rules and to sway the interpretation of those same rules against you] (t8n-delay: 12s) + (t8n: "fade-down") [Abusers] (t8n-delay: 14s) +(t8n: "flicker") [twist] (stop:) (click-append: "Abusers twist") [ the system to their advantage.] (click-append: "to their advantage") [ so that the justice system becomes another weapon in their arsenol] (click-append: "in their arsenol.") [ They become] (click-append: "They become") [ * the applicant in Family Court * the so-called injured party * the victim] (click-append: "the victim") [ (because it's easy to label a woman crazy when she's doing everything in her power to survive his [[campaign of terror]]).]

[(enchant:?passage,(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white))''[[THE CHICKENWIRE INCIDENT]]'']

It's 9pm on a Friday night. (click-append: "It's 9pm on a Friday night.") [ You're selling stripperwear at Goldfingers in the CBD, fitting dancers into sparkly bikinis and sequinned gowns.] (click-append: "sequinned gowns.") [ <img src="img/rack6.png" alt="clothing rack with sparkly outfits" /> <img src="img/rack4.png" alt="clothing rack with colourful outfits" /> The money you earn is covered in sweat and cocaine.] (click-append: "sweat and cocaine.") [ Isn't all money, really?] (click-append: "Isn't all money, really?") [ Tired of exploiting yourself, you tap into the niche dancewear market instead. Your goal is not to take advantage of the girls, but to provide a service.] (click-append: "provide a service.") [ You play stylist.] (click-replace: "stylist") [cheerleader] (click-replace: "cheerleader") [confidante] (click-replace: "confidante") [seamstress] (click-replace: "seamstress") [stage mom] (click-replace: "stage mom") [therapist] (click-replace: "therapist") [partner in crime] (click-append: "partner in crime.") [ <img src="img/party.png" alt="party girls" /> Your life bleeds into theirs: their customers pay for your product; their customer's powders line your nose.] (click-append: "line your nose") [, because to refuse would earn you the label of snitch] (click-append: "snitch.") [ That is to say, you're an active participant.] (click-replace: "an active participant") [a consumer as much as a hawker of pretty things] (click-replace: "a consumer as much as a hawker of pretty things") [as likely to keep a corset for yourself as you were to sell it] (click-append: "as likely to keep a corset for yourself as you were to sell it") [. Which means you have to sell more to buy more to wear more to sell more] (click-append: "to wear more to sell more.") [ <img src="img/corsets.png" alt="girls in corsets drinking champagne" /> Ten years into this cycle (click-prepend: "cycle") [very fun whirlwind ] (click-replace: "very fun whirlwind cycle") [expensive and sometimes debt-inducing lifestyle] and your world is about to change.] (click-append: "about to change.") [ Things had already begun to turn upside-down, but now other people are being sucked into the hellish vortex that is your life.] (click-append: "hellish vortex that is your life.") [ <img src="img/party3.png" alt="more party girls" /> A certain incubus picks you as an easy target.] (click-replace: "an easy target") [his mark] (click-replace: " his mark") [ his source of narcissistic supply] (click-append: "source of narcissistic supply.") [ He's in the process of draining the light out of your life.] Your phone keeps ringing. Do you [[slide right to answer]] or [[ignore it]]?