With soaked, trembling fingers, I dialed 911.

My voice was shaking, but my words were clear:

— Attempted murder. My husband pushed me into the water. I hit my head. They laughed and didn’t help. I need a police unit right now.

The police arrived quickly — probably because they could hear in my voice that I wasn’t joking.

My husband tried to pretend it was “just a harmless joke,” but the soaked clothes and the scrapes on my head spoke louder than any excuse.

They arrested him right there on the pier. My mother-in-law turned pale, my father-in-law stood in shock. And then the most interesting part began — they both rushed toward me:

— Withdraw the report… please… it was all a misunderstanding…

— He didn’t mean it… he’s just an idiot… don’t ruin his life…

But I stood there, wrapped in my freezing jacket, looking at them the way someone looks when they are no longer afraid.

They wanted a “funny joke.” And they got a criminal case.