Welcome back! Sorry I didn’t post this last week but life happens and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just don’t get everything done. And that’s okay! (See, I’ve been working on my perfectionistic tendencies.) Anywho, let’s dive into Part 4…

I continued to put up with the drink and emotional and physical abuse until one night.

I had made some real friends in the AOL chat rooms that I frequented. I would always get into them when he wasn’t home so it didn’t cause a problem. There was also one girl that was in college like me and we would meet up at IHOP and eat and do our schoolwork. It was nice to get out but I had to be back home before he got home.

Anyways, one night he hit me and then took off in my car. I told my friend and she and another one of our friends came over. We were all sitting in the car talking. They were trying to get me to calm down. But he kept calling and texting and I kept ignoring them and ignoring them. But he continued to keep calling and calling, so I finally answered the phone. And I’ll never forget what he said. He said, “The next time I see you, I’m going to kill you and I’m on the way back to the house now.”

That scare me, like the time when I was about 11 years old and a togue wave swept me out into the deep blue part of the ocean. That day my tween self thought I was going to die. And I felt the exact same way that night.

So I called 911. I told them what had happened earlier and that he had already put his hands on me once and then that my husband had threatened to kill me. They immediately sent officers out to my house. While they were there, he was still texting me. I told him the police were there and in just a few minutes he pulled right up to the house. I’m not sure if he just didn’t believe me when I said I had called the cops or what but they arrested him again that night. But this time I didn’t bail him out, his parents did.

The next day they brought him over to the house and I told him to get his stuff and get out. So he did. My dad happened to be there visiting, my parents were reconciling, and so he gave me no trouble.

After he left, I had to explain to my dad what had been going on for the past four years because he had no clue. He was furious when he found out and he even offered to have him “taken care of.” My dad knew all kings of people so I knew he was serious but I said no. I didn’t want that on my hands.

So I was finally free. Well sort of. He still had to see the boys. But my mom and dad got me a good lawyer for the divorce. Tim Sceviour was former military (Navy) and he was the BEST attorney I could have ever had. I got full physical custody and he saw Logan on Wednesdays and bot boys every other weekend. That was the best I could do because, at the time, he was living with his mom so the courts felt it was safe. Later on this agreement would change.

Come back next week to read about how co-parenting went!