Hi guys! I decided to make this a two-part POV. Hope that's OK with you guys. Love my readers!
ALLY:
I had just printed out my timesheet and I clipped it to a clipboard. I had to fill out my hours in order to get my paycheck. My payday was next Friday and I was very excited for that. I picked up my pen and before I could fill out my timesheet, I noticed I was getting a call from an unknown number. I said,
"Hello?"
On the other side, I heard the voice of a man I thought I'd gotten rid of forever.
"Althea Dawson? I'm David Shigeta."
I wasn't schizophrenic, and I wasn't dreaming. My ex-boyfriend, David, was calling me. I broke up with him after he had gone to jail for DUIs, drug possession and statutory rape. I answered,
"I know who you are. What do you want, David?"
"Don't you disrespect me, whore! I'm calling because I want you to know it's your fault I'm on the sex offender registry."
I felt the pressure building up inside me, but I was going to try to stay calm because my six-year-old was nearby and I didn't want her picking up any expletives from me.
"My fault? How the hell is it my fault that you cheated on me with teenagers and got arrested for DUIs and drugs?"
"Because in our relationship, I'm the man. I make the rules. You are an ungrateful bitch. All you had to do was make sure the house was clean before you leave for work, and you bitched at me about how much chores you had to do. Name one way I fucked up our relationship."
My word was this asshole sexist. This wasn't the 1950's anymore. I said,
"Don't you know in the last almost a century, times have changed?! Women go to work, too. Men do housework as well as working. You clearly are clueless about twenty-first-century couples."
"What the fuck do you mean, bitch? There are things men do and things women do. Women cook and clean and men go to work."
"Get your ass out of the 20th century!"
"I'm watching your ass. I'm watching who you fuck at night, who you drink with and who you fuck around with."
"So you're stalking me?"
"And you're so pissed off with me, that you had a kid with another man! You're a bitch and a white trash whore."
To be quite honest, it was a little bit ironic that he was white, and I was every bit as white as he was, and yet he was calling me "white trash". I hung up on him. He then sent me a very disturbing picture of his hairy twig and berries. It was followed by a text that said,
"This isn't over!"
He called me the C word (you know, the one that rhymes with runt. But I didn't like to use that word because I thought it was beyond offensive). The fact that he was calling me names from "bitch" to "whore" to "white trash" was troubling enough. But the fact that he was bringing my daughter (By logic, his daughter, too. But when I was in my first trimester of the pregnancy, all the secrets that lead to our breakup came out. We were four and a half years apart- I was twenty-six, and I had Sofia six months before my twenty-seventh birthday, and I was going to be thirty-three in three months. David was about thirty-seven now) into all this was crossing the fucking line. I wrote his number down in case I had to file any reports with the cops. I printed out my timesheet and I decided to do my timesheet in the living room.
Sofia was laying on the sofa, sleeping with her Fur Real Friends panda with its rattle and bottle and her inhaler (with the spacer) by her side. She must have been playing with her panda earlier. She was covered in one of her blankets with Ariel on it. My god, did she look so adorable and peaceful while she was fast asleep. I filled out my timesheet and my mother came home.
"Hi,"
she said.
I whispered,
"Hey, Mom."
My mom was whispering too because she saw Sofia napping on the couch.
"Mamma mia, is it cold outside. We live in Florida, right?"
My mother was of Italian descent and at times, she would integrate Italian into her sentences, very much like Trish did with her Spanish, except Trish was Hispanic and my mom was a caucasian Italian-American.
"Where were you?"
My mom said,
"I was out getting my nails done. I had to grade a lot of papers, I need some pampering."
She took off her flip flops and showed me her fingernails and her toenails, which were colored in a gorgeous royal blue.
"Beautiful. I'm going to go make some tea. Do you want some, too?"
My mom said,
"I could go for some tea in this weather."
"What kind of tea do you want?"
"Chamomile."
"Me too."
My mom laughed.
"You are your mother's daughter."
I giggled.
"While you were out getting your nails done, I got a call from someone."
My mom asked,
"Who?"
I said,
"David."
"David? As in, your ex-boyfriend who's been in and out of prison and who is on the sex offender registry?"
"Yeah. Him. He was yelling at me about how it's supposedly my fault that he was arrested and is on the sex offender registry."
"Oh my. That's awful."
"But wait, it gets better. He was cursing at me and making sexist remarks about how men work and women stay home and cook and clean. He actually admitted that he was stalking me and when I abruptly hung up on him, he sent me a message saying that this isn't over, followed by a picture of his penis."
"So sorry, honey."
"I'm just very afraid. Afraid he'll hurt me, or worse, you or Sofia."
"I'm here if you need anything, Ally. If we need to file a restraining order against David, we will."
"Thanks, Mom. If it gets to the point where he physically does anything to me or you or Sofia, I will file a restraining order on him."
Sofia just staggered into the kitchen, slowly rubbing her large brown doe eyes that matched my own. Her small diamond stud earrings were slightly glistening in the lights. She had had her ears pierced since she was three months old. My mom said to her,
"Hi, my little munchkin."
Sofia said to her,
"Hi, grandma."
My mom got down to her height and cooed,
"Aren't you a little sleepyhead? Huh? Yeah."
I said,
"Yeah when I came into the den, she was asleep on the couch."
My mom planted a kiss on Sofia's cheek and Sofia started coughing a little bit.
"Oh, that reminds me- Sofia, you should probably take a breathing treatment."
"OK."
I went to the closet and got the nebulizer out and I had Sofia sit in the armchair. I attached the mask to Sofia's nose and mouth and she started breathing. Her pediatrician and a few respiratory therapists had strongly recommended it. It was one of the things that kept her asthma from flaring up and helped her breathe.
AUSTIN:
I had proceeded making dinner, which was pork chops and green salad and bread. Jessica walked in, carrying a Wet Seal bag and a Forever 21 bag. I said,
"Hi, sweetie."
My daughter giggled.
"Hi, Daddy."
I asked,
"How was the mall with your friends?"
"Hella lit. As always."
"Lit" was part of the jargon teenagers used nowadays. It was different from when I was a teenager in the late 1990's, early 2000's, but hey, you know. Jessica Athena Moon was thirteen years old, but she looked and acted like she was fifteen years old. I said,
"That's great. Glad you had fun with your friends. Where's your brother?"
Max opened the door and I thought to myself, Speak of the devil. I said,
"Hey, son. How was the Legend of Zelda movie?"
"Awesome. It was actually one of the few video game based movies that was actually good. Plus, there were tons of women in it. Maxy likey!"
Jessica rolled her blue eyes.
"Jesus Christ, Max, you're such a perv."
I said,
"Jessie, we don't take the lord's name in vain."
Max had quite a thing for women, particularly older women. He now had posters of bikini models in his bedroom. He had cut them out from my old Playboy issues.
"Anyway, I'm glad you kids are back. I have something serious I need to talk to you two about. Max, I'd like you to set the table because your sister did it last night when Ally and Sofia came over. Just get three plates, three napkins, three forks, three knives and three cups."
"Sure, Dad. By the way, have you asked her to be your girlfriend? She's hot,"
asked my son as he laid plates and napkins on the table.
"I'm going to ask Ally to be my girlfriend at some point. But I really like her, and she made me remember what it was like to be in love again after your mother and I split."
"Aw, are you not over Mom, Dad?"
Jessica asked me as she took a glass down from the cupboard and poured herself a glass of sparkling apple cider.
I said,
"Your mom and I are friends, Jessie. Depending on the state of affairs, I think it's perfectly fine to be friends with a former significant other. Which reminds me, what I need to talk to you guys about."
Both my kids were sitting at the table, either side of me.
"You guys remember my ex-girlfriend, Brooke?"
Max rolled his eyes and scoffed while picking up his knife and cutting his meat.
"How could I forget her?"
My daughter added,
"She was a prostitute, a drug addict, an alcoholic, only wanted sex with you-"
Max continued,
"Stole my pills and scarred me for the rest of my life when I walked in on you and her watching a smut movie."
I said,
"Not to mention porn seemed to be all she wanted to watch. After you kids left to go hang out with your friends, she facetimed me while she was topless and she had a balaclava and sunglasses on. She called me six times today and was sending me very indecent pictures on my cellphone."
My son and my daughter both grimaced. Jessica said,
"I'm not sure, but I think I just lost my appetite."
"She was saying a bunch of rude things about Ally. The point is, Brooke is a very maniacal person. If either of you come face to face with her, when I'm not there, you will call me, yes?"
My kids said in unison,
"Yes, Dad."
Jessica took a bite of her salad and swallowed it. She then picked up her knife and fork again.
"I was sleeping over at Alanna's house the other night and we actually saw Brooke through Alanna's bedroom window."
"Wow."
Later, I got a call from Ally, saying,
"Hey, Austin. Can I talk to you?"
I said,
"Of course, Ally. My door is always open."
"I got a call from my ex-husband today. He was making a lot of chauvinistic comments to me, and he was berating me, and actually admitted that he's stalking me."
"It's OK, babe. I know how you feel."
Ally said to me,
"You know how I feel? What do you mean?"
"This morning, I was doing work on my computer for a couple of clients. My very maniacal ex-girlfriend Brooke called me six times, seven if you count a FaceTime call where she was bare-breasted and she was screeching at me. I worry about the safety of Max and Jessica, because Brooke doesn't live far from my house."
"I worry about the safety of my daughter and my mother and myself."
I said,
"If you need to, I can move you and Sofia in with me, and I swear I'll protect you guys. I'll be the father figure that Sofia needs and deserves."
Ally giggled a little.
"That would be amazing, Austin. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met."
I hope Austin and Ally can keep their kids safe from their maniacal exes. Because I don't even know who's worse- Brooke or David. But I'm just glad Austin and Ally are doing the best that they can to protect their children. If you like the story, remember to favorite, follow and review! Love my readers to the moon and back!