Falling

October

———Originally this was titled March. But I mixed the months up. So it's technically October from the previous chapter! 🤔

Even though I left with my uncle, I didn't bring my son. Only because my uncle had a truck, and it's not safe for car seats in a two sweater truck. We went to the next street over to my moms' apartment. She already knew my relationship with Mark, and she was horrified to see the bruises all up and down my arms.

No one knew when he would get mad; he would bite me. I mean, at least he wasn't hitting me.  I never really thought of it that way, but deep down, I knew it wasn't right. I just felt stuck at the time, and I needed a plan to escape.

My friend Nicole took my mother and me to the old apartment to pick up my son and our things. His father and his grandpa had called the police on me for child abandonment, or so they thought. We are all outside at this time, and I have my son in hand along with his car seat and necessities for the time being. My sons' grandpa and grandma are outside across the parking lot with his father. They knew of my upbringing and how my grandmother raised me and not my parents.
They decided to run their mouth to the police about my mom; it was typical for his grandpa since he was an alcoholic anyway. They began saying things like,

"you weren't a mother then, and now 18 years later, you wanna be one?" 

It boiled my blood, but I couldn't say anything because we had to be the ones with any kind of common sense or decency in this situation.

The police had talked to me, and I explained to them everything that was going on. But of course, they needed to hear their side as well. Once the verbal abuse continued, the police were done with it. They threatened him and his family if they didn't keep their mouths shut, they would all go to jail. But as for me, I was able to leave with my son. I was told if I needed any help removing my stuff to call them back, and they would gladly assist.

I figured this was the end of it, and I would move in with my mom, and everything be okay.  And they weren't going to make it easy for me...

They tried to file for temporary emergency custody of my son! No way in hell was that ever going to happen. Just because I didn't have a job or things like that does not mean he wasn't better off with me. And we lived across the street from my sons' grandma; she watched my every move...

I had no idea my life would be a living hell in the months that followed, but sure enough, here we go.

Six months later

We were still arguing all the time, and Mark continued trying to control me. Said I was nothing that no one would want me. We had agreed to get back together, I couldn't put up with it anymore, and I broke up with him again.

And on April 25th, inside my mothers' apartment, he raped me and tried to cut himself in front of me. My son was asleep in the other room; it's a wonder my neighbors didn't hear me screaming. My fists were nothing to his back as he was 160lbs, and I'm only 90lbs. I tried to get up, and he choked me and pushed me back down told me to be quiet. Said, "you wanna leave me? You wanna leave me?" I cried for him to stop and not touch me, but he didn't listen. There was a hate in his eyes, something I'd never seen before. There was a glass on the table behind my mothers' couch, but I couldn't reach it, or I'd have smashed it on his head.

I hated myself for letting this happen and thought it was my fault. When he left, I screamed into my pillow and texted my mother. My friend Ronnie came home, and I told them what had happened. He threatened to go after him, but I told him I was calling the police. He's not getting away with this. The police escorted me to the NORD center, where a rape kit was completed.

Fast forward to a while later,
I took it to court, and Mark got a slap on the wrist, probation, and labeling as a tier three sex offender. But justice was served, so it meant a lot for my son and me.

"Hey Siri, play Somebody that I used to know by Gotye."