On the Other Side by Michelle Janine Robinson

Author:Michelle Janine Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Strebor Books

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Damita’s cell phone rang sometime around five a.m. She already knew who it was. Neal had been calling every day, sometimes several times a day. When he figured out that he couldn’t get through to her at work, he started calling Carmella’s home phone number. He would almost always call her cell phone immediately after every call. Carmella didn’t think she should speak to him, but Damita realized that she couldn’t avoid him forever.

“Hello, Neal,” she said.

“Hello, Damita. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“When are you coming home?”

“Neal, I’m not coming home. That’s not my home anymore.”

“You’re my wife.”

“Why is that your answer for everything I say? Being your wife doesn’t mean I belong to you. I’m not your property. You can’t do whatever you want to me and expect me to grin and bear it. I’ve had more injuries in the two months since we’ve been married than I’ve ever had in my entire life. It’s not healthy. I loved you. I wanted more than anything for our marriage to work. When we got married it didn’t even occur to me that it wouldn’t work. In my mind you were the perfect man. You’re far from perfect. There aren’t many things I’m afraid of, but you scare me.”

“I can’t believe after all we meant to each other that you won’t give me another chance.”

“I’ve already done that. You did the same thing all over again. This is my life we’re talking about. The last time you beat me I thought you were going to kill me. Not only that, you’re doing drugs again. You didn’t complete your time in rehab. All of these things add up to bad news for me.”

“You keep talking about you. What about me? What about what I’ve been through. I haven’t been able to function without you. My business is suffering. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I need you. I can’t live without you.”

“Neal, the difference between you and me is I’m not hurting you.”

“You are. You are hurting me. Every day that you’re not here is agony for me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “Neal, I have to get ready for work. I can’t do this now.”

“Aren’t we as important as your precious job?”

“Neal, I’ve got to go.”

“Damita, if I can’t be with you I might as well be dead.”

“Neal, stop it. I’ve been trying to make sense of all of this. I’ve been reading everything I can about abuse and what you said is exactly what so many other men say. We made a mistake. Both of us made a mistake. Maybe the reason I anger you so much is because I’m not the woman for you.”

Damita knew that wasn’t the reason. She knew enough about abuse to know that Neal had a problem and it wasn’t anything she was doing or who she was.

“You’re the only woman for me and I’m the only man for you. We belong together.”

“We only knew each other a year before we got married. We didn’t spend enough time together to get to know one another.

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