Life After Heart Break

My life felt like one big joke. Everything around me was falling apart, and all I wanted to do was curl up in a corner and die. I didn’t know how much more of this mess I could take. I had lost my family... my children to a cheating asshole, and on top of that, he took all my money and probably used it to pay off my lawyer and the judge just to leave me with nothing. So, what was I supposed to do now? I had nothing, not even a car to my name, but I did have an apartment that was falling apart. Roaches were everywhere, and I wasn’t even about to start on the rats. They were so big, and if anything was left out, they ate it. The bitches even ate my last good pair of shoes and my coat. That was only part of it. I had to come up with my rent money, or I was going to be out on the streets. Everything in my life was ruined, and all I wanted to do was die, but I couldn't allow that to happen. I had to do something to get back on my feet, but I didn't know where to start. So, I sat and thought until I gave up and picked up my phone. “Hendrix, I know we ended things badly, but to take all of my money...” “Correction, my money. All you did was sit on your ass and did nothing. The money in your accounts belongs to me, and I took it back.” “Now that's a lie, and you know it! I worked my ass off before you got to where you were. I was the breadwinner! I helped you build your company from the ground up, and you repaid me by cheating, taking away our children, and my money because, like a fool, I listened to you and became a housewife! I'm living in a dump, and all I'm asking for is money to get back on my feet. Please?” I couldn't believe I was begging this man, but I had nothing and no one to turn to. My parents were dead, I had no siblings, and if I did, I knew nothing about them. The friends I thought I had turned their backs on me because I was broke. So, my best bet was to beg him until I could get back on my feet. “Hendrix...” “Get a job, Asia, and don't call my phone again, or I'm calling the cops and saying that you are harassing my family and me.” And just like that, he hung up the phone. I understood that he didn't want me, and he had another woman, probably the w***e he was cheating with, but I birthed his children. Hendrix wasn't like that at first. He was sweet and loving then. Over the years, as his company began to gain interest and money, he changed into someone I didn't recognize. I should have left when he hit me the first time, but I stayed until he grew tired of me, which ended with me in this predicament. However, he was right. I needed a job. I had a higher education, but I didn't use it. I was sitting back, looking for a handout; it had to end tonight... well, in the morning when I was able to go to the library and search for one. Yet it was going to be a long night since my neighbors were at it again, as they were every night. Both would drink all day and fight all night. Tonight Ebony was throwing everything she could get her hands on at Levi. There had been so many times that I called the police and others in the building, but it did no good. Therefore, I lay in my bed looking up at the ceiling as the bugs crawled across it and down the wall. The rats were another thing I could hear, running back and forth across the floor and through the walls. It got so bad that I put my pillow over my face and screamed, then cried myself to sleep. * * The next morning, I quickly did my morning routine, then tried to eat breakfast, but the rat had eaten my cereal and everything else I thought I had put up high so they couldn't reach it. It was some bullshit. I had no money and was still waiting to get approved for government assistance. There had to be something in this raggedly broken-down apartment. I was so ready to crash out again when I reached to open one of the top cabinets and a raccoon jumped out, nearly giving me a heart attack. “Oh, my f*****g goodness! How did you get in here? Out! Out! Out!” I screamed as I hit the thing with the broom, but I noticed it was more scared of me than I was of it, and it was nothing but a baby. That could mean there were more of them, as I quickly opened all the other cabinet doors until I found the hole it came from. “So, it was you running in the walls. Lord, I have to get out of this place, and so do you,” I said to the thing, as it looked at me, crying, and I sighed. It was a baby, and it was no telling where its mother was. Nevertheless, it couldn't stay with me... or could it? I had to find out later because I needed to get to the library. I wasn't used to using public places or public transportation, and it felt long, but I was happy to get to the library finally. I had to find myself a job, but there were none in my profession. There were many maid, waitress, and other low-paying jobs that I didn't want. Then, when I thought about it, it was enough to put food on the table. I didn't think about it as I applied for the two highest-paying jobs and decided to use the last bit of my money to buy food and milk for the raccoon I left in my home. It made me feel good about something because I had an animal to care for, and I had done that with my babies. Now they were out of reach when they needed me. All of them were still babies... I should have listened to my dad when he said that Hendrix was no good, but I wanted to be my own person. I was in love and scared to tell my father that I was pregnant at eighteen. I didn't think I would be in this place four years later with three children. Thinking about it made me want to cry as something caught my attention. There, Hendrix sat in a restaurant with the b***h he threw me to the curb for. I also wondered what she looked like, and now I saw. She was a bit younger than me. I wondered if that was it, but the mess pissed me off, and before I knew it, I found myself in the restaurant. I wasn't there to show my ass... then again, that's what I was doing, and I didn't care. “Who are you?” “The f**k? b***h, I’m the one you took everything from! He was my husband, the father of my children, then your little skinny ass came along, and he dropped me like a sack of s**t!” “Yeah, and I can see why.” I couldn't stand looking at the b***h or listening to what was coming out of her mouth. Something about it made me crack, as I quickly punched her and grabbed her hair, and the rest was blank. All I remember was Hendrix holding me as he told me to calm down, and his new girlfriend crying, “Call the police!” “No, Mai, I got this. We don't need the police. Let me talk to her.” “Talk to her! I'm your fiancée, and you want to talk to the b***h!” “b***h, I'll beat your ass again. Keep running your mouth!” “Sir, get her out of here, or I will call the police,” one of the workers said as Hendrix carried me out of the place. He made sure I couldn't hit him, but I could tell by the way his body was tense that he was mad, although I didn't give a damn. He threw me away for a f*****g child, who couldn't have been no older than eighteen. “What the f**k, Asia? This isn't like you.” “Yeah, well, you did this when you left me with nothing, Drix. How the f**k do you want me to act? Four years! I gave you four years of my life and three damn children that I'm not allowed to see. You took their mama away when all you had to do was divorce me and at least leave me with some of my money,” I yelled, as he looked at me like I was insane. He didn't care about me or my feelings. It was all about him and what he thought was right. “Asia, I divorced you for a reason. You changed. All you wanted to do was argue, sleep, and neglect our children...” “What?! That's a lie, and you know it! I never neglected my babies, and you were the one coming home at all times of the night wanting to argue. We hardly saw you. You know what, you can have your little w***e, but you're not going to keep my babies away from me. I'm going to fight this—” “With what money, Asia? Plus, they will take one look at the place you stay and revoke it. I won, now accept it.” Hendrix spoke as he put a roll of money in my hand. I couldn't believe him. This was all a game to him. Everything was always a game to him, and this time, I was the victim. “Is that what you see me as? A game? Then what is Mai to you? You were nothing before me. I helped you build that little construction company. I didn't need you; I had money, and I made money in real estate. It was your jealousy that made me stay home to take care of my babies because you were never there. For the last few months, I've been sitting on my ass feeling sorry for myself because I lost the man I loved, but looking at you today, I realize that it's you who I should be feeling sorry for. I hope your new fiancée does you the same way you did me. Oh, you're not getting your money back because I deserve this, jackass.” It hurt to see him with another, but I should have never shown him the truth. Now he thought he'd won something, only to find out he wasn't going to have s**t. My mom always told me it was wrong to wish harm on someone, but that's how I felt at the moment. I wanted Hendrix to suffer, but I didn't want my children hurt. The best way to do that was to beat him at his own game. So, besides going to the restaurant where I had applied to, I walked into the nearest real estate office. I was going to take my life back, but it was going to be without him. I wasn’t dressed for the job, but I had experience, and hopefully that would count. I knew some people would take one look at someone like me at the moment and assume the worst. I used to be like that until I lost everything, which made me see the world in a different light. The only difference in my situation was that I was about to do something about it. Besides sitting in my misery, crying about what I had lost, if I wanted my children back or the ability to see them again, I had to do better. Which made me step into Clark's Real Estate as I took a deep breath.