coach has been working on some of the projects around the little tin can today….we went to the home depot and the walmart to get a few materials that he was in need of…. and while he was working, the electricity was shut off…. so i got my camera out to entertain myself….
after the longest few minutes she could remember in a long time, she finally just floored it… leaving the driveway and the monster behind…. in her mind, somewhere in the abyss, she knew this was the last load… it wasn’t everything… there was no way she could have gotten all the precious things of her life… but she had the most precious thing… her child…and her safety.
there were so many things left behind… she thought maybe she could go back in a few days, with a truck and some help, and get the rest of her things… her clothes, some furniture that belonged in her family, some heirloom knick knacks… her baby girl’s things.. toys, crib, clothes… and pictures… oh the pictures…
she drove down the highway trying to see through the tears, through the pain. she tried to stay on the road as she comforted her baby… poor girl was crying so hard. so much confusion and anger hung in the air. there was only one place she could go – it was a place she knew she would be accepted and loved, sheltered and protected.
her father was waiting for her. of course he would take them in. of course he would help her. he even gave up his room for her and the baby… he moved to the couch. she felt so guilty about the sacrifices that were made for her. and again, she tried to think of her options… there weren’t many, if any at all.
the last load was taken into the house. she and the baby tried to get settled into the new room. so calm – it was painted a light blue and there were shutters on the windows. she laid on the bed and cried. and cried. she wondered how long it would be before the monster showed up. she thought he would be there soon – he was not a man who would give up the fight, even if it was a fight that was already over. when she left him in the driveway, she knew it would be his ego that suffered, his machismo… what would his friends think? he let his wife leave with the child. he allowed her to make a choice without his knowledge.
so she cried and wondered. a day went by…she heard from a friend who had gone to check on him. he was found passed out on the living room floor… and a large fire burned in the front yard. all of her things. burning. the clothes, the pictures… and all the baby girl’s things too… her crib, her clothes, her toys… who would do such a thing? how could he burn his child’s things?
a week went by…no news
a month went by… still no news… she hadn’t heard from him… she hadn’t seen him… what sort of father would stay away from his child like that?
about six weeks after she left his driveway, he called…..
