A Different Life: Football Wife by Melody DuPree (story books to read txt) 📕

I had just gotten off of the phone with my friend Deanna when there was the sound of breaking glass and my blinds came off of the window. I stared into the face of my boyfriend and realized with a moment's hesitation that he had successfully found a way into my house. He grinned at me so maliciously that I turned and ran towards the living room while dialing 911. But to my dismay I could not get the front door open. My mom had locked me in a house by myself with no way out except through the back bedroom door and my way was blocked by a man who wanted nothing more than for me to have his baby. I grabbed the bottle of wine that my mother had put on the television stand and swung it around just right to where it caught him off guard and broke against his thick skull. It gave me deep satisfaction to know that I had caused that bloody wound on his head and that he probably wouldn’t mess with me now. But I was wrong. He grabbed me by my wrist and sent me sprawling to the ground. Then he proceeded to climb on top of me and do what he came to do. By the time he was done I was unconscious and had a deep cut going from my left temple to the bottom of my jaw. At least I had the satisfaction of knowing that I screamed help before I passed out. Just as I came around a key was inserted in the lock and I heard my brother’s voice say my name.

“Michael,” I whimpered as he bent over to help me up.

Just as he took my hand the front door slammed open and in swarmed the police. They pulled him away from me and called for an ambulance. I heard my brother protesting as he was led into another room away from the scene and my mother came in to find the police surrounding me. I don’t care what happened after that all I felt was pain all over my body and found that I could barely move my legs and that I was bleeding pretty badly. I heard the sirens blaring and turned my head to face my mom. She looked down at me with absolutely no pity in her eyes and I knew this would be the last time I returned to her house or stayed here alone with the damage that was done to her back bedroom window. In that moment I knew that all I could do was hope that I became pregnant and had a baby so I could get on welfare. Hell I would even welcome twins if it got me out of this house faster. Then the military police swarmed in followed by my grandparents. I laughed a weak laugh and then I heard more sirens blaring as an ambulance pulled up outside of the house. The paramedics rushed in and loaded me onto the stretcher and then placed me into the back of the ambulance. My grandparents made to climb in with me when my mom stopped them and climbed in herself.

“They can come too,” I said and gestured for them to climb in.

They got in the ambulance and my grandmother sat on the stretcher next to my feet and held my hand while my grandfather sat in the only other seat with a seatbelt. My grandfather took my other hand and rubbed soothing circles into the back of my hand as I started to cry. We got to the hospital and the Emergency Room staff immediately got me checked over and cleaned up. I refused to take the morning after pill and they settled me in for the night. When the police came in to check on me they pulled my mother out of the room and asked her a few questions. After that I heard her yelling and protesting as they gave my grandparents custody of me due to the knowledge my mother had that I was in danger and she did nothing to prevent it. I smiled at the fact that I had finally won and gotten what I always wanted and that was to be with my family.

"Mimi can I ask you something," I said and she turned to face me.

"What is it sweetie? You can ask me anything," she said even though the look in her eyes said that she already knew what I was going to ask her.

"Why did you send me away," I whispered and she started to cry. 

“Sweetheart we didn’t want to but when your father gave up his rights to you social services said we had no choice but to give you up,” my grandfather said to me.

“That is what I always told people but no one wanted to believe me. They all said that no one ever wanted me not even my mother,” I whispered and finally I let the tears fall down my face.

As the night turned into day I got a hold of a phone and called my school to tell them I would not be in today. When I hung up I noticed that my grandfather was at the doorway watching a scene unfold as none other than my now ex-boyfriend was wheeled into the emergency room on a stretcher. He was clearly unconscious and in the same clothes he had on the night before so my best guess was that he did not make it to his front door. I grabbed the phone and called his dad and immediately heard the same ringtone that his son had.  He picked up and the ringtone stopped and I said what I had to say then hung back up.

“Papa come sit down. That is nothing you need to be worrying about,” I said and he came and sat back down.

Just then Junior’s dad appeared in the doorway and looked at me with a contrite look on his face. I gestured for him to come inside and he came in and sat down on the opposite side of me from my grandparents. He reached for my hand and brushed my erratic hair out of my eyes. I smiled and let out a laugh that woke up my grandmother.

“Melissa, who is this,” she asked me not liking the way our hands were entwined.

“Sadly enough he is the father of my so called polite and well raised ex-boyfriend. He is the only one who probably won’t press charges against me for smashing that wine bottle against Junior’s thick skull,” I said.

“No I won’t because I know that his blood was found on the remains of the wine bottle in your house and that alcohol was found in his bloodstream. And that your blood was found on a knife that was lying beside him on my front porch,” Senior said as he got a good look at the side of my face.

“Wait a minute! You raised that monster,” my grandmother exclaimed.

“Actually his mother did. Senior here was always travelling for his job. Therefore he wasn’t there to help raise his son. I fully vouch for him when I say that he would never raise his children to be disrespectful towards women,” I said.

“Actually I want to transfer his trust fund to you so you have some money to help take care of yourself. I don’t want you to go through the pain of having a child you are not going to want to be around. Therefore I am willing to pay any medical expenses you have and will have in the near future,” Senior said and I looked at him like he was crazy.

"I have no intention of having an abortion. I am not a killer and I won't start now," I said.

“I was just trying to say you could give the baby up for adoption if you wanted to,” he said and I immediately shook my head.

“Okay, I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do but now I am,” he said with a smile.

Just then a nurse came into the room and asked to speak with my grandparents and me in private. My grandparents agreed and Senior left the room to go check on his son. That was the last time I saw him for the rest of the day.

Just as I was getting ready to leave with my grandparents I was immediately surrounded by news reporters and cameras just because the word had gotten out that I had been attacked by a star football player’s son. I pushed through them and met Senior at the door of his son’s room. As I hugged him goodbye I heard cameras go off and Senior wrote down the account number for me to access my new bank account and I left to face the rest of the world. At the end of the day I had been changed and at the end of the week when Junior came around he would be served with a restraining order. I walked down the hall and out to my grandparent’s car which had a recreational vehicle attached to it. My grandmother and I got into the RV and my grandfather pulled out of the parking lot. My grandmother showed me to the upstairs floor of the RV and I found that all of my stuff had already been picked up.

“Mimi, does my dad still want to be a part of my life,” I asked and she nodded.

“He loves you very much and he wants to see you again,” she replied and I nodded. 

I let a smile come forth and I sat down on the comfortable bed with my grandmother for the rest of the ride until she had to switch with my grandfather. I sat on the bed and looked out the window as we travelled farther and farther away from the last home I had ever known. As we got closer to Texas I let my eyes drift closed and I went to sleep curled up on top of the comfortable blankets. I don’t know how long I was asleep but when I woke up we were in Arizona already. I got up and walked down the staircase to find that my grandmother was making breakfast for me but the smells of the bacon threw my stomach into disarray.

“Mimi, I don’t feel so good,” I murmured and she came over and felt my forehead.

“Well you don’t have a fever so it must be motion sickness from the swaying of the RV,” she said and I sat down at the kitchen table.

The moment I sat down the stomach ache went away and I was able to eat the wonderful fat filled breakfast that my grandmother made for me. Just then the RV turned and pulled to a stop in front of the house I would be living in until I got my own apartment. A man with short brown hair walked out of the house and walked around the back of the RV until he came to the door. He