JANE AND JAYBOB

[The following is true, only the names have been changed.]

Jane, a single mother, is getting her life back on track; she wants to live a responsible life for the sake of her young son. Jane has a new job and she's earning, but not wasting a paycheck on drugs.

As time passes, she's doing so well that her manager, Doris, promotes her to shift supervisor. Jane is pleased with herself and is determined to make Doris proud of her and show her that she has made the right decision by giving her the promotion.

Jane is in line at the bank one day. The line is one of those slow-moving ones and Jane is getting impatient, needing to hurry so she won't be late to work. In her new life, it's important to be punctual, a trait that shows you're dependable. Three people are behind her in the line and one of those three is Jaybob who starts watching Jane as the line crawls forward.

Finally, it's Jane's turn to be served by the one teller on duty. When Jane finishes transacting her financial affairs, she begins to walk out of the bank.  Jaybob leaves his place in line and catches up with her, and stopping her, tells her that she's dropped a bill in her haste to leave. He introduces himself and she tells him her name as they shake hands.

Jaybob says that it would be great if they could get together some time for a beer. Jane, smiles and agrees. Then he asks Jane for her phone number, which she writes on his hand since neither of them has any paper.

[Note: at his point, Jane has just told a complete stranger her name and has given him her phone number.]

With a week or so, Jaybob calls her and they go out together.

[Note: at this point, Jane goes out with a total stranger; the only thing she knows about him is his name.]

They continue seeing each other and within a short time, they move in together.

[Note: Now Jane is living with someone she knows little about.]

After work one day, Jane is leaving her office with a male co-worker, each one heading toward their cars to go home. At his point, Jaybob comes around the corner and seeing the two walking together and talking about work, is suddenly angry, but not only angry, he's in a jealous rage. He's ballistic, getting in the face of here coworker and threatening him. Jaybob is out-of-control-angry. Seething, he tells Jane that if he ever sees her with him again, she'll regret it.

[Note: Now Jane is concerned. But she continues the living arrangements.]

It's not too long before Jane shows up at work with one huge tomato-red bruise on her right arm. Doris realizes what's happening and tells her to go back to her apartment, pack up and get out and get out now. Jane objects, but Doris is insistent, telling Jane that once the abuse starts, it doesn't end, no matter what has been promised. Jane is convinced. After Jane rushes back to the apartment which is only two minutes  away, Jaybob shows up at her office, looking for her, can't find her, and heads toward their apartment. Doris knows he could turn violent if he catches Jane packing, so she picks up the office phone and dials 911.

When Jaybob gets to their apartment, he finds Jane as she's leaving with a suitcase. He drags her back into the apartment, hits her and tells her that if she ever leaves him, he'll kill her. At that time a policeman arrives, knocks on the door and Jane screams for help. The policeman draws his gun and plaeces Jaybob is under arrest. But within a few days, he's out on bail, paid for by his mother who claims, "He's a good boy." Jane has no idea that he's out of jail.

Doris talks Jane into coming to live with her and her husband while Jane's new living arrangements are being finalized. One night as Jane, Doris, and her husband are at home, Jaybob charges into their home with a gun and demands that Jane come with him. When Doris objects, Jaybob shoots and kills her while Jane is screaming at what's transpiring. Doris' husband rushes into the room and Jaybob kills him and drags a screaming, hysterical Jane out to the front lawn. A neighbor who's heard all this commotion comes out of his house. Jaybob kills him and, securing Jane in the car, takes off.

The police arrive and see that they have a triple homicide on their hands with the killer is on the loose in Baltimore with Jane. He takes her to a heavily wooded area in the Baltimore area and they keep moving after he ditches his car and steals another one. They are both exhausted and check into a seedy motel for the night, but Jaybob gets nervous and decides they have to leave because he's been watching TV and sees that almost the entire Baltimore police force is looking for them.

He takes her out to the motel parking lot and as he does, a police car, there on another matter, drives up. Jane knows this is a make or break moment and runs, screaming toward the officer. Jaybob runs to his car and takes off. Jane is safe, but the killer has once again escaped. In spite of a massive force of police combing the area, they can't find him. Jaybob is gone. The police put Jane in protective custody.

A few days later, Jaybob crashes into Jane's mother's house, demanding to know where Jane is, pointing his gun right at her mother, demands to talk to Jane.

The police, after learning the location of Jaybob, surround Jane's mother's house, but Jaybob isn't giving up. He demands Jane, but the police know that he'll kill her if they let her try to talk to him in person. Finally, after four days, Jane's mother drugs Jaybob by putting Xanax in his iced tea and escapes through a window; he's asleep on the couch with his weapon on his lap. This stand-off has lasted four days.

With Jane's mother now safe, a SWAT team moves toward the door. They break it down which awakens Jaybob. He stands up, aims his weapon at them. They open fire and shoot Jabob 27 times. He's dead. It's over.

But now, all because Jane gave her phone number to a stranger, three people are dead and her mother, who could have been murdered, has been through an agonizing ordeal. Jane lives with the guilt of those three lives lost to this day. She will never be free of it.

In all of this, does anyone ever think about the Bible? 

Proverbs warns  the reader not to form relationships with those who are angry. They'll bring us to ruin. We're naive if we think, I'm going to change them. We're not. Proverbs 22:24: "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered. . . and get yourself ensnared."

Proverbs 29:22: "An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression."

Ecclesiastes 7:9: "Anger lodges in the bosom of fools." We remember the first murder--anger was its parent: "So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “. . . 'Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.' . . . And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."


That one decision. "Here's my phone number," Jane said to a person she didn't know. Three people die. Jane is scarred for life.