Copyright © 2013 by Ladylurve

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“Go brush your teeth and wash up. Here, put these clothes on after you’re done,” Lisa instructed her son as she handed him a blue shirt and a pair of beige pants. Climbing down the bed, Jake glanced at his cupboard and frowned. Instead of taking the clothes from her hand, he just stood next to his bed.

“Hurry up. We don’t want to be late. Aunty Elaine will be here soon,” Lisa said. Jake continued frowning and made no attempt to take the clothes being shoved his direction.

“What’s the matter now? Why are you being this way?” Lisa asked, patience thinning in her voice.

“You didn’t pack all my clothes Mommy. Look!” Jake said pointing to his opened cupboard where more than half of its content was still sitting comfortably in it.

“We will come back for everything another day. There’s not much room in Aunty Elaine’s car. And I think she said Uncle Chris might tag along too. That means less space for our things,” she said, coaxing her son.

“Urmmm… When is another day Mommy? Tomorrow?” Jake asked, after a few seconds. His expression bore a resemblance of someone who lost all his prized possessions.

“No, not tomorrow. But soon enough, I promise you,” Lisa said in a tone she hoped sounded reassuring to Jake.

“After tomorrow?” He asked, hopeful.

Lisa thought about his question for a minute. Technically, after tomorrow could really mean any day, couldn’t it? If so, replying yes was not considered lying then, was it? She grimaced at the thought of pushing the notion of technicality upon a five year old but quickly put it aside. She must remain focused on their long term goal. Soon, she will be able to make things right for Jake. Soon, she thought, she will be able to provide Jake with the kind of happy life she had always envisioned. She will be able to buy him anything he wanted but often denied. By leaving, she thought, we are giving ourselves a chance at a better life. A happy and peaceful one.

“Yes Jake, after tomorrow,” Lisa smiled and handed clothes to him a third time. He finally took it and headed for the bathroom. Before she managed to continue with her task, she heard him again. This time, he was standing at the bathroom door, both hands hugging his clothes.

“Please Mommy, can I bring Mr. Snuffles?” Jake asked, anxiety written all over his face when he further added, “And Mrs. Molly and doubly deck and… cookie monster?”

Lisa knew better than to leave her son’s favorite toys behind and she had no intention of doing so. However, seeing her son anxious tugged her heart. No child should ever have to worry at such a young age. But before she could reply, Jake added, “Please Mommy. I promise to stuff them all in my backpack so there will be enough room in Aunty Elaine’s car. Please Mommy, just Mr. Snuffles and Mrs. Molly and doubly deck and cookie monster. I don’t need my other toys. Pretty please Mommy?” As an afterthought, he further added, “We’ll get the other toys after tomorrow, okay Mommy?”

Hearing him pleading with such insistence, Lisa nearly laughed and cried at the same time. Struggling to calm herself, she simply smiled and nodded at Jake who reciprocated by sighing a relief. She looked on as he closed the bathroom door and thought about her decision to pack and leave.

She made this decision almost a month ago while having lunch with Elaine at The Little Cottage. Sure she had thought about divorce long before then but there was always a part of her which kept insisting that she could make the marriage work. Despite struggling for years to do so, she never thought divorce would be the best way out for her.

Growing up, there were stories she had heard about divorced women. These stories stayed with her and made it harder for her to consider a divorce. She remembered hearing how divorced women were like cancer in a healthy society, causing mayhem and destruction through their engaging habits of lurking and luring men. She heard them being labeled as desperate women who resorted to black magic in hopes of winning their husbands’ affections. There were stories on their persuasiveness in captivating men and once a man is targeted, he could never hope to escape. It was like being caught in a web of trance.

Many lived on as single moms, never finding another partner. Some remarried but of those who did, many regretted their first divorce often quoting first love as the sweetest. The worst of the lot, in Lisa’s opinion, were those who continued pursuing the ex-husbands for years and years after their divorces, either failing to find closure, or desperately seeking another chance –which is clearly denied to them- or in search of solace through mentally torturing their former partner’s new spouse. Of all the stories she heard, none portrayed a positive picture of divorced women. Imagining herself as one of them brought fear in her.

“You’ll never find another man like me,” he said, during one of their fights when she brought up the topic of divorce. His insistence that she would be condemned to a life of misery continually played in her head, tormenting every waking thought.