At first, she screamed.
Then she tried bargaining.
Then fighting.
Then escaping.
The courtroom became completely still.
Joan described early attempts to resist.
The scars around her wrists and ankles came from restraints used during periods when Greg feared she would run.
Food became another method of control.
Enough to survive.
Never enough independence to challenge him.
Greg disappeared for trucking runs and returned with supplies.
Sometimes Joan spent long periods completely alone, locked inside.
She learned to measure time through changes in temperature.
Winter meant cold leaking through the walls.
Spring meant the sound of water outside.
Summer meant heavier air.
Autumn meant wind through the spruce trees.
“What was the hardest part?” the prosecutor asked.
Joan looked toward her family.
Her sister was already crying.
“Not knowing.”
