The Choice ✔︎ Blake Griffin

40✔︎ The Last Choice

I dedicate my last chapter to all of YOU! My loyal readers, commenters, and voters! I can't thank you enough for coming along on Jubilee and Blake's journey with me! Stay tuned for an author's note! 😩😭☺️😍❤💖🙌🏾

Two Weeks Later - Saturday, March 28, 2015

Jubilee

Sitting at the gate for my flight to Sacramento was so surreal. I had actually done it. I had walked away. After crying all the way to the airport, I had no tears left and didn't want to draw attention to myself in public. As difficult as everything had been the past couple weeks, as many times as I doubted if I were doing the right thing, I just kept reminding myself that this was all for my child. That no one would understand, but that was okay because my child would be safe.

Jordan had gone back on tour about a week ago, and watching her and DJ together was so comforting, knowing that they'd have each other and knowing that Blake would at least have someone close to me around pretty regularly. Blake's parents also left a few days ago since Blake was finally able to begin physical activity again. All dizziness, headaches, and nausea had disappeared, and he was no longer sensitive to light or sound. So, he was back to taking care of Ford and at least doing some conditioning and weightlifting. His black eye had even faded away for the most part.

The media continued to act like the vultures they are, trying to connect the dots between my relationship with Trenton and my relationship with Blake. Blake never even alluded to me and Trenton's relationship or how he suffered a concussion in his press conference though, and for that, I thanked him. He just repeatedly apologized for his actions, stating that he knew there was a better way to represent himself, his family, the Clippers, and the NBA, and he would not stop until he had made things right. His dedication to protecting me had become abundantly clear, and if it were just me and him, I would tough it out with him and let the police figure things out with Trenton. I just wasn't willing to take that chance when my child had been threatened.

The NCAA had not completed their investigation yet and did not divulge to me or my father what was taking them so long. I had a feeling they were just stalling due to March Madness. Either way I just hoped my dad, nor the basketball program, incurred any fines or probation for something involving me seven years ago. The NBA on the other hand, suspended Blake for the first five games after he is cleared to play from his concussion, the total money lost amounting to over a million dollars. Blake had also written letters of apology to the Clippers and his fans, as well as Sacramento. He was doing everything he could to repair his image without having to expose the fact that I was a victim of Trenton's abuse.

I also squared things away with my school, informing them that I would be taking personal leave for private reasons that I was not willing to divulge at the time. Telling my seniors that I was leaving and there would be no SBS programming was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a teacher. To see the disappointment in their eyes was pretty devastating, and I never thought I'd be the source of such feelings possessed by my students. I was still trying to get over that, and did my best to not remember the looks in their eyes when I told them. Tim Tebow and Tori Kelly were also pretty bummed out, but both agreed to participate whenever the programming started back up, which was encouraging.

I also informed my dean at USC that I was pregnant and would need to postpone the defense of my dissertation for the following year after adjusting to life as a mother, which also was very difficult to do. I had been working myself to death to get those letters behind my name, and to postpone it felt like a another failure on the list of failures I'd accumulated in the past few weeks.

Everything in my apartment was packed into bins and boxes that were in my closets and guest room. No one would be using anything there, and I wanted to be ready to move everything out in case I found someone to sublet it until my lease was up.