Outer Banks: A Story of New Beginnings and Hope

“Alright everyone, I think that’s it, ready to roll out?” Anna talks to her three kids while plopping into her run down black Suburban. It had 300,000 miles and the paint was bubbling on the wheel wells but she loved that thing. She quickly adjusts her long sandy blonde hair in its messy bun and puts her sunglasses over her ocean blue eyes. They back out of the driveway of the rancher she had rented during her divorce from her now ex husband, Heath. Their dog Beau, a massive German Shepherd sat in the trunk area with his head sticking out of the rear window, tail wagging. The kids, Drew 10, Lilly 9 and Ben 7; all let out a bated “yeah” and turned their attention back to their tablets. Anna brought up the GPS app on her CarPlay and set it to Nags Head, NC. Their new home. Next she her playlist on pandora, and a Foo Fighters song started as she turned off their old road headed to their new life. Seven hours later,a stop on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnels to view the bay and they pulled up to their new home. All four exited the suburban and looked at the house just 400 ft from the tideline on the beach. It stood on pilings, the sides of the house covered in cedar shingles matching the roof. A small dry entry under the house that would be their new front door. Drastically different from the farm fields and grassy lawns of New Jersey. Drew let Beau out from the car and the dog trotted to the ocean. Anna and the kids ran after him and found Beau laid down with his paws just into the tideline. The kids stood with Anna and looked out over the rolling waves. Listening to the sound of the oceans repetitive swell and crash of the waves peppered with the laugh of the sea gulls. Finally taking in the salty taste on their lips and the smell of freedom. “I love you, mom,” Lilly uttered just audibly. “I love you too, I love all of you so damn much,” Anna replied. “Love you,” “Love you,” Ben and Dylan said in turn. Anna looked back at the house and the car. Finally, they were away from the drama, bad memories, they no longer needed to run. Anna turned and started toward their new home. She grabbed the keys from the cup holder of the car and turned to unlock the white painted dry entry door. Each picking up a couple of the grocery bags on the way in that were waiting for them. They climbed the flight of stairs up to the second door that let them enter the house. “Do we get to pick our own bedrooms!?” Lilly asked excitedly as she plops her bags on the kitchen island. The first excitement anna has seen from her in the last month. “Sure but NO fighting and master is mine down the hall and to the left. It had the bathroom in it,” she advised her kids. Anna turned to adjust the thermostat down and checked to make sure the fridge was cold and running. She snagged her Red Bull out of her bag and cracked it open. One of the things her ex always nit-picked was her pension for caffeine; coffee, Red Bull, tea, whatever, she loved it. The house quieted and she checked to see which room each of the kids picked so she could bring them each their stuff from the car. Beau even found a place to lay out on the screened in porch. The moving truck would be here tomorrow with the rest of their belongings. But for now she ordered a pizza and they turned on the TV. Glad her dad prematurely gave her the house on the stipulation she just pay the property taxes each quarter. This was their childhood vacation home now, she was guessing, would be her permanent residence, hopefully to pass down to her children. Tonight she was enjoying a peace she had not felt in forever. She had the sounds of waves crashing, the smell of salt air, her kids snuggled up with her (a rarity at this age); she felt free to be who she was without someone trying to rein her into a cookie cutter box. She fell asleep with a tummy full of pizza and the warmth of her kids love. The next morning she woke up before dawn. She found a can of coffee and filters and started brewing. She had groceries delivered before they arrived yesterday so they would have breakfast and snacks until she got to actually grocery shop. She filled Beau’s food bowl and stepped out onto the open deck connected to the porch. She sat out there and watched the sun rise. Contemplating the last year. A whirlwind, really. She was married to Heath for 10 years but since the beginning something was always off. The ten year age gap for starters. She was so young and naive at 19. Just starting out. The world was her oyster. He had taken every opportunity from her. He took over her car, made her quit her bartending job, her father would no longer pay for her college if she was with Heath, separated her from her friends and family. She would still see them from time to time but that was mostly holidays and birthdays, to keep up appearances. He just made everything so damn difficult. Then the abuse started. First was a fist slamming on the counter. Then cabinet doors were broken, light fixtures, drywall, he threw a coffee table at the wall when a two year old Drew jumped on him while he was lying on the floor. Then the s****l abuse. But Anna couldn’t think about it or she would be curled in a corner hyperventilating and she could not do that with her kids around, even if they were sleeping. So instead, she thought about what she had to do today. The moving truck would be arriving, she had to enroll the kids at school, go meet her new boss over at the pier house restaurant, actually go into the grocery store and show the kids around the villages.