Wrong One

Shaina cries with her head in her mother’s lap. Sharon hated to see her daughter like this but knew it was important for her to get it all out of her system. She’d always been the mother that never persecuted her children for what they felt. Emotions can be funny. Everything seems rational when you’re in an emotional state, but when you come out of it, reality always sets in. It’s just a matter of time. She continues to rub her daughter’s hair and wipe tears away just as fast as they pour. “When we first started dating, we talked about marriage and how important it was for us to have a family.” Sharon continues to listen and take in her daughter’s words. “After everything we did together, he just up and decided he wanted to take everything from me because I wasn’t willing to be in a polygamous relationship.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. Some men need more than one woman to compensate for the things they can’t or won’t bring to a relationship.”

“But mom, why wouldn’t he just say that’s what he wanted in the beginning? It makes no sense to waste my time, money, and energy like this! And then, he didn’t even try to compromise a little or see from my point of view, even though he knows this was a part of himself that he’s been hiding all along! It really pisses me off!”

“I know it does, baby.” Sharen says, thinking about how much she really liked the young man.

“I begged him to stay, mama, and he kicked me while I was on the floor. How low can you be to do something like that to someone you supposedly love?” Shaina continues to sob. She can’t help but think of all she’s given, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially to that relationship. It feels like her heart and stomach are being pulled from her body. “Mama, not even an hour after he left, he was posting pictures to social media with different girls in his lap. It was so embarrassing! Both his friends, family and mine were commenting, wondering what they’d missed. I feel like a complete fool, all because I wanted to love a man. You and dad didn’t go through these types of things did you? Please tell me it wasn’t this hard, and this isn’t just a part of the process to establish a romantic foundation! I don’t know how much more I can take!” Shaina’s crying hasn’t let up.

“Sweetie, your dad and I didn’t have the perfect relationship, but I can assure you, looking back, it wasn’t so hard. I wouldn’t trade our experience for anyone else’s. Look at me.” Sharon grabs her daughters face, wiping her eyes for the 200^th time. “You have just told me that this young man kept something very important from you while he took advantage of all you had to give. He took things from you that you owned and worked hard for. He literally kicked you while you were down begging to reconcile and left you there to wallow. He then posted disrespectful pictures for everyone to see while you were still dealing with your pain. This is the man you’re crying over?” Shaina looks at her mom and then holds her head down, immediately ashamed of the man she chose to give so much to. “Shaina, you deserve a man who has so much respect for you and himself, that he would be more than willing and able to give you all his love. He values his own love enough to keep it exclusive for one person. You deserve a man who is secure enough in his own ability to love you and you only, in a way that he could never love another woman. You deserve a man who won’t physically harm you. He’ll appreciate you, and everything you touch. He won’t disrespect you or take from you, because it is important that he can see the happiness he desires when he looks into your eyes.” Shaina’s sniffles become less frequent and quieter.

“My intelligent, beautiful, talented and loving daughter, I need you to understand some things.” Shaina looks into the strong gaze of her mother, who’s jaw is now clinching as tears well up into her eyes. “A man who will treat you the way he has is not the right man for you. He doesn’t deserve a speck of your mental and heart spaces. So get it together and wipe your face clean. Promise me that you will love yourself to the point that only the best man for you could surpass that love. He was the wrong one, baby girl. You’ve got to let him go. Every word her mother just spoke made all the sense in the world. 

THE END