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The following is a slightly fictionalized account of actual events. Liz is a pseudonym for one of the most violent regulars I ever had when I worked on an ambulance in Brooklyn.
It had been a cold and stressful morning for Liz Moreno. An aggressive and violent woman, she had done far more ‘ass-kicking’ than usual that day. She had a black eye and several bruises. Her right arm was also severely painful.
She tried to deaden the pain with alcohol, more alcohol than her usual allotment, but it had not done anything significant to help. If Liz felt the need to smack someone else that disrespected or inconvenienced her, she would be at a disadvantage.
Normally she was very quick to utilize the city’s ambulance resources but today she had some errands to do before she would spend more of her valuable time in a hospital. She also decided to turn over a new leaf by getting involved with a new religious philosophy.
Liz had never been one to embrace any religion or spirituality. Religion was for suckers, she’d often say. With all its talk of being kind and good, it was just a way to keep people in their place. Turning the other cheek was for the weak and those who didn’t know how to fight.
But her last stint in prison had taught her that churches and temples were good for more than a free meal or a place to sleep…
