Prologue
When I was younger I always knew exactly what I wanted. I planned my entire life out in my head and I was determined to reach my dreams. I would graduate, go to college, and become a big time lawyer. After graduating from law school I would marry the love of my life, whom I met in law school. We'd have three beautiful children and be successful and rich. What I forgot to plan out was what would happen around me. Things change all the time and one change in particular changed my entire life, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Chapter One: The Summer Before Freshman Year
I remember laying on the lower bunk of my cousins triple bunk in California that summer talking on the phone with my dad. He told me that him and my mom got in a fight. Fighting was never a surprise when it came to my parents. I was so used to it, it was practically a routine. Go to school, come home, watch TV, and listen to mom and dad fight. But this fight was different. Although my little brother and sister, Justin and Brooke, were completely clueless as to why this fight was occurring, I was well aware. Daddy had announced having an affair with a co-worker. I didn't think much of it at the time. I just thought they'd work it out. When my mother sent me away to California for a month, that's when I knew something was seriously wrong.
Daddy was telling me that mom left the house to go stay at a hotel for a night. This is something that had never happened before, and me being emotional, as always, started crying. I had never talked to my dad about his affair, but some how the topic came up in this conversation. I remember me pleading with him.
"Daddy, please don't leave us. I'll be better. Mommy will try harder. I know she will. Please don't leave!" I sobbed into the phone.
I knew I put him in the spot where he couldn't deny me, but he never should have said the next thing he said unless he intended on pulling through.
He said, "It's okay, baby. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I'm not going anywhere."
"I promise" was a statement I always took very seriously cause my mother always taught me it was a precious one. So, I instantly believed him and was content for the time being. When I came home in July my father had moved out. He took all his clothes and a pillow. That was the day I stopped trusting the statement "I promise" and when I stopped trusting everyone.