First Draft/Excerpt: The Reality Of My Life

“I thought he had an agreement.” Janice said. “You stay away from my son!”

I saw the yellow school bus pull up. I walked outside with Jake, kissed him, wished him a nice day and furiously walked back to the building and slammed the door. “We had a deal? What deal? You lied to your son about me. That’s why he left to California. He left me and his unborn child because you told him I had slept with his best friend.”

“If you had-”

“You drugged me and video taped Malcolm sexually harassing me and you gave it to Matthew, your own son! And told him I was sleeping around with his best friend. Now, how do you think Matthew is going to feel when he finds out the truth?”

“He is not going to find out the truth. I’ll offer you whatever you want. Please, don’t ruin his career. He has everything going for him. You have a boyfriend and a home, what more do you want?”

“I want you to buy me and my son an apartment in Manhattan with a great view of the Hudson River. I want it to be under my name and I want you to open a college fund for your grandson that he would have access to when he is 18 years old. And I want my job back.”

“You can’t be serious.” Janice leaned against the wall. She was breathing hard and I knew that she was afraid of what could happen if she said no.

“I’m the headline of the newspaper this morning, do you think I’m kidding? Everyone wants to know who I am and why Matthew couldn't take his eyes off me even though his wife was at the game last night. I’m going to do whatever I have to do for my child. And right now we are going through hell and I’m tired of my son living like he is not a Williams. You ruined my life Janice. And I’m tired of being the good one here. If you don’t do something to help us, I’m going to tell everyone what you did to me.”

I walked up the stairs and left her standing there against the wall. I had to leave Mark, I had to get out of the apartment before he killed me. I was tired of him pushing me around and giving me black eyes. I was tired of not working and living at his mercy.