


Erica just bought a house with her husband, “Paul.” Erica tends to avoid conflict. She just sprung it on me that they don’t have room to host us in their home. What? We’ve always slept on floors and couches when the need arises. I told her I knew something was fishy, and she fessed up. It turns out her husband has said that I am not welcome in their home. Frankly, I don’t want to be around him, either.
I believe the reason is that Paul and I have never seen eye to eye politically. Also, he sexually assaulted me about six years ago, while he was drunk. He thinks I have wrongly accused him. I never pressed charges and have since decided to push that aside because I don’t want to lose Erica.
I was thinking about staying in a hotel, but that defeats the purpose of us taking an affordable trip. I haven’t seen these friends, nor have I been to my hometown, in three years. Now I’ve been exiled from my best friend’s house because my aggressor is victim-blaming me. I don’t know what to do.
I feel that if I stay home, I’m ruining the others’ vacation. But if I go, it’s not much of a vacation for me. I’m worried I’ll never visit my hometown ever again due to this feud. How should I handle this?
You say you have successfully “pushed this aside,” but you haven’t. As is often the case with victims, you are still being — and are certainly feeling — punished. Your friend can’t have you stay with her because she has decided to stay with her husband. She has chosen him. I think you would mightily regret it if you let this keep you away from your hometown. Look for alternate housing (with other friends or family), consider tent camping, or spring for an Airbnb in the area.
But there’s something she keeps restating that really bothers me, about how I was “never there” at school. I have never responded when she makes the remark. I’ve tried telling her about my anxiety, depression and migraines, but she has no base in knowledge of any of it, so I feel like she’s never going to understand how much this comment hurts my feelings. It’s like she’s more interested in making the quip than she is concerned about my feelings.
Do I have to go into depth explaining my unstable family structure and how I basically hid from the world to cope? Should I keep biting my tongue and rolling my eyes? And if I confront her, what should I say? I don’t want to yell at her for being so careless.
Do not wait to bring this up until you (and she) have had some reunion cocktails. You should contact her beforehand, and face the momentary awkwardness of calmly explaining yourself, in depth, one time.
I am very relieved that you pointed out that Curt might actually be the monster his wife was describing. You wrote: “Many people operate comfortably in a duality ...”
I’m a survivor of just such a relationship.
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
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