-JP, Albuquerque
I will never forget how to choose loved ones over someone you’ve fallen in love with. It was April fifteenth, 2023, when I had fallen madly in love with this one boy. It felt like a dream come true, it was only a slight talk on the dance floor before he asked to dance.
I felt like a princess, and how he called me “beautiful like the night sky.”
He was always complimenting me until one cold night we were out, took a couple of drinks, and like the wise say, “drunk words are sober thoughts.”
Oh my, how I remember those words, “you disgust me,” and like a puppy I chased after him.
I ran until I couldn’t catch up begging for him, pleading, and it worked. What seemed like a nightmare was real. I don’t recall when the beating started, but it happened.
My friends and family would tell me to leave, but he was in my ear telling me how evil they are. What seemed like protection was pure manipulation. I recall one night I was beaten black and blue. I came home and my momma begged me to stay home but I left. I only came back home when I found a job.
I was proud, but that didn’t last long. He was yelling, hitting until I had enough. I left and tried to commit suicide. I was in fear while he hit me to stay awake. A few days later, I found out I was pregnant. I was in a daze, in love with myself, but when I told him, he was shocked and happy at first, but he was still the same.
He slipped something in my drink and beat me. The only thing was pain in my stomach and heartbreak. I had a miscarriage. I was a fool to think he still loved me. I stayed a little until my friend made me realize I was trapped.
Those three days I stayed with her broke the cycle of death, and I broke up with him. I rekindled my relationships. What I thought was love was actually fear, and I learned that family always has your back, no matter how difficult.
That’s how I learned to choose loved ones over some boy because after all I did, I was never judged.