Old childhood heartbreak

Jennie stared at Rose with pity in her eyes. They had been sitting in silence for the past twenty minutes, and her mother-in-law had not changed her position. Rose kept her gaze on the light from the window.

Suddenly the glow faded away, and Rose remembered how she felt like a dying light when she stood at the building with her baby boy and wondered what was behind its doors.

"What happened next, mom? Jennie asked. She couldn't stop herself from inquiring. Rose did not move a muscle as she continues with the story.

The building had the name "Divine lovers hotel" in pink letters written on a billboard attached to the front of the building.

"Mom, come on! Let's go look for dad!" Jackson screamed at me.

Before I could come to my senses and stop my son from entering, Jackson had pushed the door open and entered. I went after him in a hurry. When I finally caught up to my son. He was standing still like a statue. I walked in front of him and squatted with my hand resting on his hips.

"Honey, you can't keep making your mother chase after you. It's not fair to mom, and you may get hurt if you don't walk slowly." I warned him.

However, Jackson did not answer. Instead, he asked me, "Mom! Why are dad and that lady doing the same thing you and dad do when he leaves the house or comes home to us?"

I felt confused about what he was saying, so I turned my head toward the direction he was staring. There I saw my husband embracing another woman while they kissed passionately. At that moment, I got crazy with anger.

He had left his son and me at various times with restless nights believing he was busy with his work. He misses his son's birthday because of his mistress. Devin made me feel like an awful wife for thinking he was spending too much time at his office than his family. He had me crying in bed alone while he warmed up another woman's bed. All these thoughts crowded my mind, and I lost myself to rage.

I march over to him, leaving Jackson behind. When I reached him, I remember collaring my husband and slapping him in the face. He kept pleading that he was sorry, and he did not mean for it to reach this far. But his words increased the flame of hate in my heart at that moment.

I recalled the hotel became occupied with people staring at us, and they had so much to explain. I could hear them say, "Oh my God, another filthy husband got caught cheating." "I can't believe he left his home to be with another woman." "Poor woman, she has to deal with a cheating husband." "Man, like him who got married but still go out to sleep with other women are the worst."

They said all these statements and more. I knew that Jackson heard everything because he stood close to us, watching the entire scene.

My husband's mistress seemed shocked about what was happening. I guessed she was a victim of his lies too.

"Do you know the eighth of May was your son's birthday?" I screamed in his face. My husband's eyes grew somber. He had forgotten Jackson's birthday without even realizing it. How pathetic he appeared in my eyes. I feel sick in my stomach, looking at his sad expression.

"Devin, who is she?" His mistress asked him.

But my husband kept silent, and his behavior irritated me more. The fact that he could not inform her I was his wife made everything an endless mess. I started calling her abusive words, and the situation escalated from there.

"Rose, please don't call her names. You can insult me. I was the one who cheated on you, not her." My husband pleads with me. I realized on that day that I may have been his legal wife, but his mistress came first in his heart.

I felt like a clown at that moment, and I did something stupid out of resentment for both of them. I slapped his mistress in the face. Without thinking, I dragged my nail into her skin, leaving red cuts on her fair face, and it made her mad. She grabbed my hair and pulled it intensely. That's when the fight begins.

I did not notice my son staring at us, nor did I remember he was there. His father was so busy trying to separate us that he did not see his boy either. There was a lot of slapping and pulling of hair. Then I rib her blouse open, exposing her bosom to everyone.

That's when my husband got mad. He dragged me by my t-shirt and shoved me toward the water fountain. I lost my balance and hit my head on the stone, which made me bleed from the cut I sustained.

"Wow, he wounded his wife for the mistress. Some man he is!" "What kind of husband hits his wife, disgusting!" "He does not deserve to be called a human being." People said.

The hotel got noisy as unfamiliar people shouted out their opinions. Yet there was one voice that made me reflect on my actions sensibly. It was my baby boy. Jackson kept screaming, "mom!" He raced to my side, shaking me to get up.

However, my wound was too deep for me to act normal. Nor could I stand up from in the pond of blood caused by excessive bleeding. My eyes got dim, my body felt weak, and I was losing conscience. I could not see my son, and I got scared that I was about to leave my boy at such a young age.

I think Devin tried to come closer to me, but Jackson wouldn't let him. With all the screaming and noise, I could hear my son yelling and crying, "Awful man! Stay away from my mother and I. You are not my father. You can't be my dad. My father is a kind man. He will never hurt my mom."

After I woke up from a two-month coma, I received the news that Jackson had grieved for days to stay at his grandma's place. When I got discharged from the hospital, I took him from my mother's house. We spent a year in a rented apartment before I could forgive and go back to my husband.

I remember most of the people I knew at that time called me stupid for returning to my partner, but I was stupidly in love with him. So we made up and started fresh.

However, our getting back together was not that simple for Jackson. He had repeated nightmares about the incident for three years straight. I had to carry him to therapy in those three years because Jackson would not allow his father to tag along.

My son grew afraid of his father. He could not sit at the same table to eat breakfast, meal, or dinner with his dad. As the years passed, it became a distant thing. Jackson distanced himself from his dad and made sure that his father could not be involved in any life-changing events in his life, even if he wanted to be there.

When Jackson became older and understood the original story, he was not afraid anymore. My son did not hate his father again, but he just did not want his dad anywhere closer to him. My husband became a stranger in his son's eyes. To this very day, he still is, and Jackson is thirty now.

Rose ended her story and finally turned towards her-daughter-in-law. Jennie felt chills running through her spine from the thought of Jackson treating her like a stranger someday. The idea seemed like horror to her. "Now that you know my past and his, do you have anything to tell me, Jennie?" Rose asked her daughter-in-law. Jennie felt her heart skip several beats. She held her breath, hoping this question would go away.