One day we bolted into the house after a long, hot day of teaching, stripped off our hot and sweaty clothes and wrapped up in our lava-lavas. That is what we wore the majority of the time we were at home. When the humidity is so heavy you can see it hanging in the air, you will seek out whatever clothing is loose-fitting and light. It is surprising what one can do with two yards of cloth and the know-how to tie it around his waist. I bought my leopard skin print lava-lava in Guam before going to Yap and wore it every day of my mission at least once. In fact, I still have it now – twenty-five years later, even though I don’t wear it very often because my wife thinks it’s funny to rip it off at embarrassing times. Not only that, but in this western culture of rugged individualism, men wearing long, wrap-around skirts still hasn't caught on. 
Anyway, we were getting comfortable and about ready to fix dinner when a huge ruckus suddenly erupted outside. Doors were slamming and a lady was screaming for her life. I ran to the window to see what was going on. A middle-aged couple had recently moved in below our neighbor friends’ house and we thought it might be them having a knock-down-drag-out fight.
Sure enough! The man was holding the lady by the hair in a death grip with one hand while he pummeled her head with an un-husked coconut with the other. He was screaming that he was going to end her life and that is exactly what it appeared he was doing. She was so bloody and battered her face was completely unrecognizable.
I ran out the front door and down the small grade to the front of their tiny pad. I grabbed the man’s hand in my own death grip, threw him to the ground and held him there while his wife jumped up, wiped the blood out of her eyes and stumbled off as fast as she could go. I was surprised she could see well enough to run; her head and face was so swollen and damaged. The man gave me an evil look as I held him down and I knew right then I had made a fierce enemy. Within a minute, after I thought the woman had a good head start, I let the man up and he ran off after his wife.
I went back in my house and sat down to catch my breath and think about what had just happened. I figured my action in restraining the man was not the wisest decision, but I didn’t want to see the poor woman beat to death. I had been told it was taboo to interfere with marital squabbles and other domestic problems on Yap. According to many I talked with, it was a firmly held belief that a man could do to his wife what he felt necessary if he thought she needed to be punished. And it would be curtains for anyone who had the audacity to interfere.
It wasn’t long before the details of the domestic episode got around. A few days later, some of my friends from the north part of the island informed me that the man’s family was looking for me and would try to kill me if they got the chance. I had never had a contract on my life before, so that was a new experience. For the next while, I made sure I always had a good sturdy bamboo club nearby and was wary of spears and machetes flying out of nowhere.
After awhile, things settled down and were pretty much forgotten. The woman moved back to the village to be with her family and the man left the pad and did not return. The few times I saw him after that, he cast some evil looks my way but never came after me – probably because he didn’t want to chance having his cranium dented with my bamboo club.
Anyway, we were getting comfortable and about ready to fix dinner when a huge ruckus suddenly erupted outside. Doors were slamming and a lady was screaming for her life. I ran to the window to see what was going on. A middle-aged couple had recently moved in below our neighbor friends’ house and we thought it might be them having a knock-down-drag-out fight.
Sure enough! The man was holding the lady by the hair in a death grip with one hand while he pummeled her head with an un-husked coconut with the other. He was screaming that he was going to end her life and that is exactly what it appeared he was doing. She was so bloody and battered her face was completely unrecognizable.
I ran out the front door and down the small grade to the front of their tiny pad. I grabbed the man’s hand in my own death grip, threw him to the ground and held him there while his wife jumped up, wiped the blood out of her eyes and stumbled off as fast as she could go. I was surprised she could see well enough to run; her head and face was so swollen and damaged. The man gave me an evil look as I held him down and I knew right then I had made a fierce enemy. Within a minute, after I thought the woman had a good head start, I let the man up and he ran off after his wife.
I went back in my house and sat down to catch my breath and think about what had just happened. I figured my action in restraining the man was not the wisest decision, but I didn’t want to see the poor woman beat to death. I had been told it was taboo to interfere with marital squabbles and other domestic problems on Yap. According to many I talked with, it was a firmly held belief that a man could do to his wife what he felt necessary if he thought she needed to be punished. And it would be curtains for anyone who had the audacity to interfere.
It wasn’t long before the details of the domestic episode got around. A few days later, some of my friends from the north part of the island informed me that the man’s family was looking for me and would try to kill me if they got the chance. I had never had a contract on my life before, so that was a new experience. For the next while, I made sure I always had a good sturdy bamboo club nearby and was wary of spears and machetes flying out of nowhere.
After awhile, things settled down and were pretty much forgotten. The woman moved back to the village to be with her family and the man left the pad and did not return. The few times I saw him after that, he cast some evil looks my way but never came after me – probably because he didn’t want to chance having his cranium dented with my bamboo club.
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