From His Partner to His Prey

by Shay Cole

  “It won’t be a problem to bring them with you. Your office is pretty big. Just keep them in there and make sure they aren’t running around.” He told Keisha.

  At this point her only response was, “Ok.”

  After a few weeks of this, Keisha asked why the internet manager, who didn’t have kids, couldn’t work on Saturdays. She was never given a valid reason. This did not sit well with Keisha. Shortly after she inquired about the scheduling, she learned that she was the only manager who was paid hourly. This infuriated Keisha! She felt like she was being taken advantage of because of her situation. It made no sense to have two people with the same title with one of them being treated like a manager while the other was treated like an average worker.

  Keisha was doing more in this position but was being treated like she was incompetent. She couldn’t understand why she could not catch a break. When Keisha learned she was being excluded from management meetings, she had had enough! She was not going to be the ‘nice girl’ anymore. She confronted the rest of the management team again. During this confrontation, it was made clear that people of color where not meant to advance when there was a white person being considered or already in a similar position. Keisha could not believe what she was experiencing! At the end of the week Keisha put in her notice that she would not be returning to work due to the way the company operated. She quickly had to find a new place of employment.

  Keisha bounced around for a few months looking for a job that was a good fit for her. She eventually found a temporary job that seemed to be full of promise. It was a state job through an agency but there was an opportunity to become permanent within six months. Before she even reached the six- month mark, Keisha was offered a full-time position. She was overjoyed! She was finally in a position where she felt like she could advance. For Keisha and the kids, it seemed like things were looking up. Keisha was a quick learner and soon exceeded her superiors’ expectations. The more Keisha showed her value, the more responsibility she was given. It was nice. Keisha felt like she was appreciated in her position by her supervisor. It was a nice change.

  Although things were looking up for Keisha at work, she was still struggling with being alone. It was not how she saw her life progressing. Yet and still, she had to move forward and adjust. There was little time to spend thinking about the life she thought she would have at this moment. The kids were growing up fast and Keisha was barely staying afloat. She was used to handling things on her own and that’s just what she did. Day by day, Keisha fought hard to smile through the struggle. She was used to going through the motions and keeping her tribulations bottled up inside.

  She didn’t want to burden others with her problems. Keisha felt like this was her struggle to deal with and she had to do it with a forced smile and a tight lip. Sometimes she felt dumb or stupid about what she allowed to happen or for what she accepted. Sometimes she felt like she deserved the treatment because she chose Tyler. In her eyes, at times, this was her punishment. Regardless of what she felt and what she didn’t do, she knew she couldn’t give up. Keisha knew her kids were watching and depending on her success. One thing she wanted to teach her kids was to not settle for less than what they were worth. When she found out her salary was actually below the poverty line, she spoke up to her supervisor and requested an increase. He told her he would help her with this and would talk to his boss to get it all squared away. A couple of weeks went by and there was no communication with Keisha about fixing her salary. She went back to her supervisor, and they spoke to his boss together…however, the conversation did not go very well for Keisha. The manager offered to raise her salary if she would take on more responsibilities. Keisha felt like this was not fair treatment and declined the offer.

  The manager was not a nice person and was already dealing with issues regarding discrimination with some other employees in the unit. Keisha knew this wouldn’t last much longer. A part of her felt defeated but a part of her felt motivated.  She understood she had to use what she had to get what she wanted. So, she started to work on creating the life she wanted for her and her kids. Many days, while sitting at her desk, Keisha started working on writing her first book. It seemed like a fair trade to Keisha. If she was going to do any extra work, it would be her own.

  She used her downtime at work on compiling material for her book. She used the printers to print samples and included her coworkers by soliciting their opinions along the way. It didn’t take long for her to have what she needed. Keisha had been writing since she was young, so she had plenty of material to pull from for her first book. She didn’t know everything about publishing a book, but she knew enough to get it done. After nearly four weeks, Keisha had her first book completed. Her coworkers were so encouraging and supportive. She finally felt like she was on the right track!

  Although Keisha was proud of her progress thus far, she knew she wasn’t out of the woods just yet. Keisha occupied her mind with her book, but her reality was slowly creeping back in to slap her right in the face. A couple days after Keisha submitted her book to be reviewed, her lawyer reached out.

  “Hey Keisha, how are you?” Judy said.

  “I’m ok Judy, how are you?” Keisha responded unsure of what Judy was calling for.

  “I’m good thanks. I’m calling to see if Tyler has given you any child support since court?” Judy asked.

  “Well, he did in the beginning of the case, but I haven’t received anything in the last two months.” Keisha explained.

  “Well, that means we have to file a contempt order and go back to court. I’ll send you the date as soon as the clerk gets it to me.” Judy said.

  “Ok. Thanks Judy.” Keisha said before ending the call.

  It seemed like every other month after the first contempt date, Judy was calling to check and see if Keisha was still getting child support. Even though Tyler told the judge he would pay whatever, he wasn’t keeping his end of the agreement. His only obligation was to pay what was ordered. When Tyler got the hearing postponed from December to April, it gave him the opportunity to complete his time with the military. When the April court date came, Tyler told the judge he was longer employed. As a result, the child support obligation was cut in half for Tyler.

  What was strange to Keisha was the fact that he was having an issue paying, but the amount was greatly reduced, and this was all he had to do. At this point, Keisha knew Tyler was still playing games and this was another attempt to hurt her. Keisha was faced with dealing with this all on her own. Her military friends were gone. She was far away from any type of support. For so many reasons, she felt hopeless. She felt like this cycle would never be over as long as Tyler controlled a part of her life. At this point, he was affecting her ability to financially support HIS children. In her mind, it seemed like Tyler felt like he had something to prove. She just didn’t know who he was trying to prove it to.

  About a week later, things started to look up. Keisha’s cousin asked if she could stay with Keisha while she got on her feet. Keisha happily welcomed her with open arms. Keisha was so happy to have someone there with her. Even if it was temporary, she was grateful for the help and the company. Her cousin saw firsthand what she was dealing with, but she admired Keisha’s hustle and drive. However, after a few months, her cousin grew tired of staying with Keisha…she wanted to get out in the new area and do her own thing. Their relationship started to struggle as a result. That’s when it happened…

  “Keisha?” The voice on the other end of the phone said softly with an emotional tone. “You need to go see Dad.” The voice continued.

  It was one of Keisha’s brothers. He told her that their dad Gerald was in hospice and was holding on waiting to see her. Keisha immediately informed her job about the situation, then asked her cousin to keep an eye on the girls while she and her son went to see her father. When Keisha and her son arrived at the hospital, they were greeted by a few of her other siblings. Her sister took her and her son up to the room to see Gerald. Her sis
ter told Keisha she would let her have some alone time with Gerald and she took Keisha’s son with her. Keisha decided to stay the night in Gerald’s hospice room on the pull-out couch.

  She read the DNR information next to his bed and saw the bracelet on his arm. Keisha’s heart sank. She knew that Gerald was done fighting and that this was the end. Gerald survived 10 strokes, a heart condition, hypertension, glaucoma and was diabetic. He had been suffering for a few months after the last round of strokes, unbeknownst to Keisha. She spent her time with her father telling him that she would be ok and that she loved him. As Keisha hugged Gerald and assured him that she was ok with him letting go, she saw tears fall from his eyes. Those last moments she spent with him were priceless for both of them.

  Keisha finally laid down to get some rest after she spent time loving on her father. In the middle of the night, she heard his breathing change. The sound of each breath grew louder and louder. Keisha jumped up and called the nurse. It was a terrifying moment for Keisha. The nurse was able to give Gerald more pain medicine to keep him comfortable and they went back to sleep. The next morning, she met her sister in the lobby with her son and drove back home. Three days later, one of Keisha’s brothers called, “Keisha, he’s gone.”

  Nine

  The Struggle Gets Real

  Keisha felt so emotionally drained. It was extremely difficult for her to see her father laid to rest. When she returned home, it was hard to adjust to not having her father. She spoke with her cousin and asked her to start looking for places to move because things seemed to be getting more and more complicated between them. Her cousin understood and began looking right away. After a few weeks of looking, she found her own place and moved out. Once her cousin left, Keisha was alone…again. She appreciated her cousin staying and helping but she was glad to have the house to herself again. She felt like this was the first step to getting back to herself. However, when Keisha returned to work, she learned she still had a long journey ahead of her.

  More frequently, she was tested by the manager at her job. Keisha had no problem speaking her mind. They would bump heads most times because he would say something off the wall and expect Keisha to just accept whatever he said without question. That was not the way Keisha operated. The constant court dates and random child support payments made it more of a struggle for Keisha to stay consistent with bills and daycare. Keisha completed her book right before her dad passed. When she started researching how much it would cost to print the books, Keisha put the project on hold. Everything seemed to be going against Keisha and she didn’t know what to do. Just when Keisha thought it couldn’t get any worse, she found out more devastating news.

  “Hello, may I speak to Keisha please?” the voice asked.

  “This is Keisha. How may I help you?” she responded.

  “I’m calling from the victim’s advocacy office. This is a courtesy call to notify you that all charges against Tyler have been dropped.” the voice told Keisha.

  She didn’t know how to respond or why this was happening. She asked a few questions but there were very few answers. The most they told her was that ‘due to HIPAA regulations they could not disclose more information.’ She was oblivious to what was going on. She just knew she didn’t like it. The last thing Keisha heard about Tyler’s case was that he was charged. The victim’s advocate contacted Keisha again and asked to meet with her in the office at once. During that meeting, Keisha was told that her testimony would be needed, and Tyler was facing felony charges.

  She informed Keisha of her limited available resources and said they would be in touch. Many months had passed between the last time Keisha heard from them and now. She was under the impression that they would reach out again, before this moment, with different news. She was expecting to go to court, but this news was bittersweet. She was relieved about not having to appear in court, but she was also upset that the charges were dropped. Keisha felt like Tyler would not be held responsible for his actions. She thought he would have to explain to a judge why he did what he did. She thought he would have to justify why he felt it was ok to disrespect Keisha the way he did. She felt like he should explain his carelessness when he destroyed so much inside the house. She wanted him to explain what drove him to cut up her clothes, shoes, purses, and stuff.

  Keisha could not wrap her mind around the fact that Tyler threw bleach on her, destroyed the house, and was able to just walk away. It seemed like she was being punished for something that was done to her. This was unreal! She couldn’t believe this. ‘Why was he getting off so easy after all of this?’ Keisha kept thinking to herself. That phone call from the victim’s advocate changed everything. In the midst of the news, Keisha had to make some quick life changing decisions. She was finally starting to believe in herself and her talent as a writer. She was starting to think she could actually be successful with this writing stuff. With everything going the way it was, Keisha was also a little afraid of how she was going to make things happen.

  She didn’t have the answers, but she knew that something would pan out for her. With the lack of consistent financial support from Tyler, Keisha struggled to live her dream and maintain her family. Before she knew it, Keisha was faced with the choice to pay rent or print the first set of books. She felt like printing the books would be a great investment in herself. She also knew that rent still needed to be paid so books had to be sold. Keisha didn’t talk to anyone about her dilemma. As usual, Keisha did what she felt was best for her and the kids. In this moment, she felt like getting her books sold was worth the risk.

  In her mind, investing in her books and her writing was important. She had come so far and accomplished so much, she just wanted to continue to grow and not be stuck anymore. A couple days later she contacted the printer and placed her order. Within days Keisha held copies of her first book. It was such an amazing feeling! She felt so proud! She shared the news with everyone she knew and before she knew it, she was selling copies left and right. Keisha felt so accomplished. She was able to work something out with her complex regarding her rent so that she didn’t risk eviction. She was officially an author!

  It was an amazing feeling for her. There was nothing that could ruin this moment for Keisha. She was overjoyed. Keisha started to promote her book to her coworkers and to others on social media. Book sales were going well for Keisha. She reached out to her cousin living in the area to help promote the book at local malls.

  “Is there anything specific you want me to say to people about the book?” her cousin asked.

  Keisha explained what she wanted her to do, and they set out to gain new customers. Keisha’s cousin introduced her to someone who could relate to her story. In that moment, Keisha knew she couldn’t quit. Within the first two weeks of selling her books, she sold enough copies to cover her rent. As her excitement grew about being an author, she remembered something else she wanted to do…complete school. Keisha didn’t like to leave things incomplete. What she started, she liked to finish, even if it took her a while to do so. Keisha started thinking about how she would incorporate school back into her schedule.

  She started looking at her transcript, talking to advisors and gathering as much information as possible. She wanted to make sure she would be able to complete the program without any interruptions. The more information she received about her program, she realized she wouldn’t be able to complete this program without the support of her village. After multiple phone calls and discovery conversations, Keisha and her advisor reached an ‘ah ha’ moment.

  “Well Keisha, you could use the courses you’ve already completed towards a different program that will allow you to work closely to the field you wanted to initially work in. The only difference is you’ll have to take a few more courses instead of completing a practicum. In addition to that, this program will not allow you to be on track to become licensed when you complete the degree. You would have to check with your state to find out what their requirements are for licensure with your degree.”
the advisor told Keisha.

  She was happy that she could complete her degree in roughly a year, but she was a little disappointed that she had to change programs. At this point, Keisha was just looking forward to moving forward. She had already been through so much. She was ready for a fresh start.

  Ten

  Try it Again

  At this point so much was changing and shifting in Keisha’s life. It seemed as if she was on a wild roller coaster ride that would not end. One moment things were great and in the next, just horrible. After a while, Keisha felt like things were becoming more stable and she wanted to do whatever she needed to do in order to keep it that way. As a result, Keisha decided to take a critical look at her struggles and figure out how to handle any future obstacles so she could continue to progress. One of the main things Keisha needed was support. She was so far away from everyone she knew and loved… the people who could help her. She looked at her finances and realized just how unstable they were. She looked at her job and the way she was being treated. She looked at her living arrangements and she decided she needed to change a lot of things in her life.

  She felt like moving back to the area she was familiar with would be good for book sales, support, and financial stability. The area was much more affordable, and Keisha knew what to do. She contacted her old boss and asked for her old job back. Then she put in her two weeks’ notice at the current job. As soon as it was worked out with the jobs, Keisha started looking for places to live. This was extremely difficult because Keisha didn’t have any savings and needed a hefty amount to relocate.

  “I saw on social media that you’re moving, are you going back home?” Keisha’s friend Krissy messaged her.

  “No. I’m moving back there!” Keisha responded.

  “Oh wow, ok! Do you already have a place to live?” Krissy asked.