Where do we go from here?

jefferyrn

March 27

The beginnings were all so romantic, or rather I made them so. Anyway, we dated, now I am a bit hazy, but it wasn't long. I tried to reach him but his phone was disconnected. This was before cell phones. General Telephone cuts you off when you don't pay the bill.

I drove over to his apartment to find him packing. His rent was up and he was moving out. This is where the story should have ended. One thing led to another, and I found myself offering to let him move in with me. I had a small two bedroom mobile home at the time.

He moved in the next day. His parents brought him. This gave me some sense of normality. Little did I know they were glad to pawn him off.

He had a job. He worked at McDonald's as a shift supervisor. Seemed like a good start for someone with no college education. I was working swing shift publishing technical manuals for aerospace. I thought I could be a writer by day and pay the bills at night.

The deception started soon after he moved in He went to work every day. I went to work every afternoon. I visited him at work a few times a week, before going to my job.

At some point he quit his job. His uniforms remained in the closet, clean. He was going somewhere, just not to work.

Things were getting more complicated. When I confronted him about the job, that's when the abuse started.

He threw things at me. Dishes can be replaced right? He got angry and said things, mean things. He knew just what to say.

Then there were the apologies and making up. He made promises that he wouldn't hurt me. He was digging into my subconscious. He had a grip on my soul.

I say this now. At the time I thought it was normal to fight in a relationship. But the problem was I was in a relationship and he was just taking advantage of me.

This went on for 12 years. We both had different jobs over the years. He had many. He never could seem to stay employed for more than a month at a time.

I am fast forwarding a little here. Let me back up and describe how the relationship grew and fell apart at the same time. (To be continued.)