Betrayal Comes Along

So I packed up everything in my bedroom, which wasn’t much, and headed out to my new place that Saturday. My mom asked if I would stay until the end of the weekend, and I said no. My dad changed the oil in my car, and I’m sure they were heartbroken when I left.

My new place had no furniture, and I slept on the floor. I had stuff everywhere in my little place, but it was mine…right? I still went to work every day, and I still slept every night. But my life was not the same after that break.

Three weeks later, on Easter weekend, I was in a wedding 100 miles from my city. I rode with some friends of mine, good friends, and we had a great time. Little did I know that my life was going to make a drastic turn for the worst when I returned.

My boyfriend had gone out with his sister and a friend of theirs to some bars that night. (He later claimed it was my fault because I wasn’t home.) Keep in mind, these were the days before cell phones and answering machines and GPS and pagers.

I called him all night long, and I went by his apartment several times. He just lived a couple of blocks away from me. Some of my friends came over, we drank some wine and fell asleep. About 6:00 am, I woke up, and he still hadn’t shown up. It was Easter morning, and I promised my parents I would be at church that morning. I had to check on him first, though.

When I got to his parking lot, I saw his car, and another car was parked really close to his. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach, and it grew worse as I walked up the sidewalk to his apartment. I had a key, and it seemed like slow motion as I put the key in the lock and turned it. When I opened the door, I saw him with another girl under some blankets on his living room floor. (He didn’t have any furniture, either.) I’m sure I had a look of horror on my face. Without really thinking, I turned around, shut the door and started walking towards my car.

And then, I thought, Why should he get away with this?

So, I turned around, went back in, walked right over them, introduced myself to her, said I wanted to talk to him, and walked into the bedroom. He came in the room, begging me to go home, and he would come over to talk. I said I would.

I cried, wailed, actually, all the way home. I seriously couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed! The girl he was with was his girlfriend who threw him in jail, the one he had beaten up before me! And she knew about me, too. Unfortunately, their sick connection lasted for our whole relationship and marriage and beyond.

And if you want to know the truth, I think our relationship was a sick connection, too.

So, he got there, came in, grabbed me by the throat and threw me into the wall, screaming that this was all MY fault for being in a wedding and leaving him home alone. HUH? My fault?

Needless to say, I didn’t go to church that morning. Just one more disappointment to add to the list for my parents and my relationship.

That afternoon, my first boyfriend, whom I had remained in touch with, and my other friend, who was dating him again, and a friend of my boyfriend, they were all at my house, and I told them what happened. Every one of them thought I was absolutely CRAZY to forgive him and move on with him. His friend, especially, knew what kind of a “man” he was, and he wanted me to get rid of him, too.

In all honesty, I couldn’t believe what had happened to me. In 4 short months, my life went from decent to chaos…. All because of a man who didn’t love me, but who wouldn’t let me go, either.