Misguided

Chapter 9: Does This Make Two?

The preschool was having their annual gala in a few days and all management and board members were required to attend.

Jamal hadn't told anyone that he would show, nor did they expect him to, being that he was out of town.  He desperately was making an attempt to be there for the sake of seeing Tanya.  In his mind, it would be a nice surprise for her.  He just prayed that it wasn't too late for him to try and get her back. 

After just one month of dealing with Christine, Jamal almost lost it.  He figured he would go insane if he tried to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.  Everything she did was a reminder of why they separated in the first place.   

Christine wouldn't let him catch a break.  She had never been understanding, and it didn't look like she planned to.  She would trip about him working long hours, accusing him of cheating.  Then, turn around and ask for money for unnecessary things. 

She had always taken advantage of Jamal's willingness to provide, and formed a habit of quitting jobs when he was around.

Of course he didn't mind her staying at home, she just never did anything productive.  Besides her ridiculous spending habits, she barely cooked, and he did the majority of the cleaning.  

To top it all off, someone who dated Christine while they were separated was claiming to be the father of five week old JJ and that angered Jamal to no end.

Before he did something he would regret, he moved into one of his condos that was close to their home.  He still wanted to be around his kids, he just couldn't stomach the site of a devious Christine.

He requested a paternity test some days later, and was patiently waiting on the results.  The scary part was, he had already formed an attachment to the baby and couldn't imagine not being his father.  He would be so disappointed.

It was situations like this that reminded him of his parents marriage, and he wondered if history was repeating itself.  Jamal's father had cheated on many occasion, eventually having a child out of wedlock.

He questioned his actions, wondering if he was just like his mother.   Was he sticking around despite the unhappiness he was feeling, and disregarding all things Christine had done to damage their relationship? 

The mistrust and embarrassment lead to endless arguments, and in a fit of rage he told her he was moving back to where he was happy AND making an effort to get back with Tanya.  He had always felt a strong pull to be with her and figured this would be another chance.  No matter what the DNA proved, or didn't for that matter, he wouldn't stick around, pretending to be happy.  He was at his wits end with this sham of a marriage.

Christine started making empty promises and not even attempting to follow through with them after Jamal threatened to move back where he was comfortable.  When she saw that nothing could change his mind, she focused on finding Tanya's contact information. 

Jamal thought he could have snapped Christine's neck when he caught her snooping around in his phone for her number. She was on a mission to further complicate things between them and keep her at bay.  She would intervene in any way to keep her husband. 

Jamal now sat there with regret, contemplating on the number of things he had done wrong.  There was no material thing, or any amount of apologies that would erase the rejection from Tanya's memory.

Not only had he yanked himself from her life, but he barely contacted her since their last conversation. She had to call him and even then he wouldn't answer. Sometimes he would send her straight to voicemail. Weeks had even gone by without so much as a text message to her, and he was dishonest about his living arrangements. He wouldn't tell Tanya he was moving back to be with Christine, because he needed to keep a strong hold on her heart.