I don’t know how else to put it,
Other than that my father,
Is the cause of my affliction.
He spent his life cheating on my mother with other women.
She had no one but him.
She always tried to please him.
The last atrocious thing he did,
Was hit her,
Because she bad mouthed one of our neighbors—
Someone he was involved with.
I’ll never forget when he slapped her and said,
“Watch your mouth!
Have you forgotten who you’re talking about!”
I’ll never forget that moment.
Just like I’ll never forget the beating and humiliation,
I was subjected to when he found out that I was in love.
He got a gun,
And held it to my neck.
If there’s a lesson I learned from all this,
It’s that I’ll never marry someone like him.
No matter how much I love someone,
I’ll never let them walk all over me again.