From His Partner to His Prey Page 4

  It was comforting for both Keisha and Brenda. They felt like they had a home away from home with women who understood. It was easy for them to connect with the women in the group. Everyone was vulnerable very early in the meeting, but guards were dropped immediately. They had an unbreakable bond by the end of the dinner. Keisha was thankful to have friends and an outlet. A few months later, Brenda, Keisha, and another one of the wives were all pregnant at the same time. Keisha and Brenda were so excited to go through this journey together. They had become really close since the meeting.  Keisha was especially happy because this pregnancy was carefully planned after a devastating miscarriage. Brenda was excited because this was her first child. The pregnancies flew by so fast for both of them.

  Before they knew it, they were having a baby shower and then a few weeks later, they had bouncing baby boys. Life was moving so fast, but Keisha and Brenda made the most of it. They were happy to have one another in the midst of a strange place and new life. Brenda and Johnson asked Keisha and Tyler to be the godparents of their son. It was a great honor for them to be thought of in that way. They humbly accepted and were thrilled about being chosen. Since Keisha and Tyler now had two kids, they were able to move into a larger house on base. Everything was improving in their life. Tyler made rank and things were good. Then things changed again. The relationship got even more rocky, and Keisha and Tyler were at odds. In the middle of the hostility, Tyler had to leave for deployment training.

  Three

  Meeting His Needs

  Keisha was devastated to learn that she and the kids would be alone while Tyler was away. However, all of that quickly changed. While Tyler was away, Keisha’s aunt died. Once the arrangements were made, the family began making travel plans to attend the funeral. When Patricia called and told Keisha that her aunt had died, she told her she would pay for their tickets home. Patricia knew that Keisha wanted to attend the funeral but couldn’t afford it on her own. Patricia’s sister saved Keisha’s life when she was younger, and they had a special relationship. Keisha was really hurt to hear about her aunt’s passing but thankful that her mom was making sure she could be there. Keisha told Tyler about her aunt, and he shared his condolences. Her flight left a few hours before Tyler’s flight landed back home from training. Tyler didn’t like that. When he spoke to Keisha, he let her know how he felt.

  “Hello”, Keisha said.

  “Where are you?” Tyler asked acting as if he didn’t know.

  “I’m in Detroit Tyler. I told you I was coming home.”

  “What are you up there for? You should be here with me! I just got home and I’m hungry.” Tyler explained.

  Keisha paused for a few moments before she responded, “Tyler, I told you I was coming up here for my aunt’s funeral. There is food in the fridge, and you know how to cook. What are you tripping on?”

  “It’s Thanksgiving and you should be here cooking me something to eat. Your aunt is already dead. She is not going to miss you if you leave and come back here.” Tyler told Keisha.

  “Are you serious?” Keisha asked with utter disbelief.

  “I’m divorcing you if you don’t come back home!” Tyler threatened Keisha.

  “No Tyler! Don’t do this! What is wrong with you? Why are you saying that?” Keisha cried out.

  “So, are you coming home?”

  “Yes Tyler. After the funeral. I’ll be home Sunday.”

  “No Keisha, come home today or I’m divorcing you!”

  “Tyler, stop throwing that threat around. That’s not funny.”

  “I’m serious Keisha! Come home or I’m shipping your stuff up there! You don’t have to come back!”

  “Ok Tyler.” Keisha said calmly.

  “What you mean ok? You coming home?”

  “No. You can ship my stuff up here.” Keisha said with a sound of defeat that weighed her voice down.

  Tyler hung up the phone and within 20 minutes, he disconnected the service on Keisha’s phone. She talked to a few members of her family about getting her and the kids’ things and getting a new phone. Some agreed to help her, and some encouraged her to go back and make amends with her husband. The next day, Keisha called Tyler from her new number and let him know she would come get their things. Tyler burst into tears and begged Keisha to forgive him. He told her he was stressed about training and getting deployed and just wanted his wife there with him. Keisha accepted his explanation and went home Sunday as planned. When they arrived to the airport, Tyler was there beaming with joy. Keisha was silent most of the ninety-minute drive home. Tyler talked a lot. When they arrived home, Tyler treated Keisha like a queen.

  As she moved about the house, she was inundated with notes of gratitude, romance, and appreciation from Tyler. He made sure that she didn’t want for anything. A month later, Tyler left for his deployment. The deployment was hard on both of them. It was a four-month deployment due to the location. They couldn’t really talk on the phone much, so they emailed one another. Keisha was trying to keep everything together while Tyler was in a foreign country attempting to stay out of danger. Tyler was concerned about the kids forgetting him because they were so young. Keisha just wanted Tyler to make it home safely. After several months, they reached the end of the deployment and Tyler and his unit were headed home. Keisha was so happy! Tyler came home and Keisha showed him how much she missed him. Tyler was given two weeks off after a month of being home. Before the end of the first two week, Keisha and Tyler were suddenly on the brink of breaking up again. They couldn’t agree on anything. Every little thing became a big issue. Tyler didn’t trust Keisha. Keisha didn’t understand what was going on.

  Then boom...they found out they are having another baby! Keisha didn’t want to bring another child into this rollercoaster life. Tyler was happy because he wanted more kids anyway. He didn’t show any concern for the relationship. He only showed concern for things that were important to him. When Tyler’s family needed something, they called him, and he sent it. When Keisha and the kids needed things, Tyler wanted to see receipts for anything she had to spend money on. He would ask for proof that certain things were needed like diapers, wipes, and cleaning supplies.

  When Keisha would go to the store to get items, Tyler would randomly ask to smell her underwear when she returned to make sure she wasn’t cheating while she was out. More and more, the relationship became one-sided. Tyler treated Keisha more like an employee than his wife. Their life was completely different from what she imagined. In an effort to keep up the facade, Keisha went back to Detroit with Tyler for his two weeks off after the deployment. Tyler and Keisha did not want to tell anyone they were expecting just yet, but it came out while they were at Tyler’s parent’s house. Most of Tyler’s family was excited for the most part, but for some reason, Tyler’s mom had a disapproving tone whenever she spoke to Keisha about her children.

  Keisha could not understand why her mother-in-law’s had issues with her and Tyler having kids. In spite of what his mother said, Keisha stayed calm, respectful, and hidden most of the time they were there. One night after dinner, Tyler disappeared outside. His parents asked where he was after about 30 minutes, so Keisha went outside to look for him. When she stepped outside all she could see was a car sitting in the driveway with the parking lights on. She walked towards the car and just before she reached the hood, the lights came on and the door opened.

  Tyler hopped out from the passenger side of the car, calling Keisha’s name. Keisha’s eyes adjusted and saw Tyler standing outside of the car with the door open. When he opened the door, the interior lights came on in the car. Tyler told Keisha to go back inside. Keisha was hurt. She couldn’t believe that he was sitting outside all this time with another woman! She shook off the shock of the moment and did what Tyler said...she went back inside. Tyler came in about 20 minutes later. Keisha went to the back room where they were staying. Tyler came in and went straight into the front room with his family to avoid Keisha. He waited about an hour before he went
to the room with Keisha.

  “Tyler who was that?” Keisha asked immediately.

  “A friend Keisha.” Tyler responded as if he was annoyed by the question.

  “So why didn’t you invite her in so she could meet us if she is a friend?” Keisha inquired.

  “She didn’t need to meet y’all!” Tyler said as to end the conversation.

  Keisha dropped her head and thought about how close they were to ending their marriage and having another baby. She could not wrap her mind around what had just happened. Tyler was not concerned about how Keisha was feeling. He was only worried about himself and what he wanted. He left the room and didn’t communicate or spend time with Keisha for the rest of the trip. When she wanted to go out of the house, he would tell her to find a sitter for the kids and leave. Tyler began to treat Keisha even worse than before. He focused more on making her suffer than making her happy. The last few days of the trip mellowed out and when it was time to leave, the family shared hugs and well wishes as Keisha and Tyler loaded the truck. For Keisha, she was simply going through the motions. She felt a strong, disapproving vibe from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law…stronger than in past visits. For Tyler, this trip was different. He was enjoying being with his family and doing what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted, without regard for how it would affect others. The drive home was rather quiet.

  Everyone slept most of the ride while Keisha drove. When they returned home, it was back to the normal schedule. Keisha wasn’t working but wanted to do something productive with her time. She helped Tyler complete his real estate courses and thought about going back to school. She talked to Tyler about it, and he encouraged her to do it. He did tell Keisha that she had to use their joint bank account for her refund checks from school. Although they were not in the best place, Keisha agreed. She thought she would have a degree at the end and have a great career that would balance things back out. She started the process of applying for school. Tyler completed his real estate program but was not able to take the test. Right after he completed the last course, he was notified that he was being deployed again. When he told Keisha, it was like all their problems disappeared and they were one again. They were devastated. Tyler had to leave for training eight days after he learned of the deployment. Tyler was worried about Keisha being pregnant and alone. He encouraged her to find a job she could do from home. Keisha liked the idea of that because she would still be able to do her schoolwork if she worked from home.

  One of Keisha’s friends told her about in-home day care as a business and how lucrative it is. She investigated it and went to the next information class that was available. Before they knew it, it was time for Tyler to leave for his deployment. It was a weird time for them. Nevertheless, they knew what they had to do. Tyler wiped Keisha’s tears away and they kissed good-bye. Tyler loaded up on the bus with his fellow soldiers. Keisha stood on the sidewalk with their children until the bus pulled away. Once the buses left, Keisha packed up the kids and went home. A few weeks after Tyler left, Keisha received her certification to operate her in-home day care. She was still waiting on her transcripts from her previous school to be sent to the new school. She was happy to have the daycare going while she was waiting and Tyler was away. Things were going well for the first few months. Keisha’s business was doing well, the kids were doing good, and Tyler was safe. Although he was safe, he was miserable.

  “Hello” Keisha said as she answered her phone.

  “Hey baby” Tyler said after a slight delay from the other end.

  “Hi Honey! How are you?” Keisha asked with pure concern and excitement.

  “I’m ready to come home baby. I can’t take this.” Tyler said fighting back tears.

  “I know. We are ready for you to be home.”, she said in an attempt to comfort him.

  “No. I NEED to come home! I need YOU to help me get home early!” he shouted.

  Keisha heard the despair and pain in his voice and told him she would come up with something. He told her that a friend was killed in action near his location. He was watching horrendous acts take place constantly. He had to endure every moment of it because it was all part of his job. Tyler didn’t reveal how heavy his friend’s death was on him. Nor did he share his true feelings about Keisha. He ended the call and Keisha began to worry. She had to come up with a plan to get Tyler home early. She asked some of the other wives what she could do, and they helped her pull it off. Within weeks, Tyler was scheduled to fly home. He arrived back two months earlier than everyone he was deployed with. When he came home, things changed very quickly. The baby was due in a couple of weeks after he came home. Their home life was tense. Tyler spent a lot of time away from home when Keisha was supposed to be on bed rest. Tyler started hanging out with his friends, who were still on base, almost every night until the day Keisha’s water broke.

  “Tyler!” Keisha yelled upstairs.

  “What?!?” He yelled back.

  “Bring a towel down please, my water just broke.” she told him as he leaned over the stairs looking down at her.

  “Are you sure? Or did you just pee on yourself and you don’t wanna’ tell me?” Tyler joked.

  “Bring a towel please. I did not pee on myself. I’m going to the car while you get the kids, ” she said with an unbothered tone as she walked outside.

  Tyler took his time bringing a towel and the kids downstairs. He did what he wanted and how he wanted. He felt like there was no need to rush because it’s just going to take all day to have the baby anyway. He moved slowly loading up the car, he drove slowly to the hospital, and he didn’t make any urgent moves when they arrived. Once they got Keisha checked in, they learned that there was meconium in the fluid, which could pose a major threat to the baby.

  Keisha remained calm and Tyler was just as indifferent as he was when they arrived. Keisha was concerned but remained calm. She knew she had to keep it all together. Time continued to pass with no baby being born. Tyler laid on the hospital couch in the delivery room waiting room, waiting for something to happen. Keisha hid her disdain with Tyler by practicing her breathing techniques. A little later, the nurse came in and talked to Keisha about getting an epidural to help the dilation go a little better. Hours later, the nurse came in to check Keisha again to see if she had dilated more since her last visit.

  “Keisha, it seems like you are stuck at 7cm and it has been about 12 hours since your water broke. We are at the point where we need to bring the doctor in to prep for a c-section”, the nurse told Keisha

  “Ok”, Keisha said with a somber response.

  Within moments, things shifted swiftly. The nurse came back into the room and checked Keisha once again.

  “Well, Keisha. I have good news”, she said.

  “What?” Keisha responded with pain and concern.

  “You’re completely dilated. It’s time to push. We are gonna get the doctor in here and you’ll start pushing”, she said.

  Keisha kept breathing and thinking about the experience. Although the room quickly filled with people, Keisha felt completely alone. Tyler’s nap was interrupted when the wave of people entered. He quickly sat up on the couch, watching the staff get Keisha ready to deliver. He sat there until they called him over to help hold Keisha’s legs to push.

  “Alright Keisha, this should be the last few pushes and you’ll have a baby”, the nurse said. Within moments, Keisha gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

  When they got home, it was a whole new life for Tyler, Keisha, and their family. Although Keisha did not like the idea of having another child, she was overwhelmed with joy when she met the baby. Tyler seemed extremely happy with the birth of the new baby. He was so pleased to have what he viewed as a “perfect baby”. She was everything he wanted Heaven and their son to be. She was immediately his favorite. The joy of the new baby quickly wore off once they were home and Tyler went back to work. Tyler returned to his old self and Keisha was now a mom of three. It was evident that Tyler was eager to ha
ve the baby but could care less about taking care of anything associated with parenting. Keisha realized she was in this alone.

  Tyler began to spend more and more time away from the house, hanging out with his friends. Keisha spent most of her time just trying to find herself again. She talked to Tyler and let him know how she was feeling. He encouraged her to go back to school and finish working towards her degree. Keisha was so excited to do something for herself, she jumped in headfirst. As soon as she jumped, Tyler started tripping again.

  “WHAT?!” Tyler responded to Keisha, after she interrupted his video game.

  “I need to go to the store”, Keisha told him.

  “Well, you better take them with you cause I’m busy”, he explained.

  Keisha dropped her head, rolled her eyes, and got the kids ready to go to the store. “What are you buying now?” Tyler asked.

  “The kids need diapers, we need toilet paper, and I want to get laundry detergent”, she told him.

  “Well make sure you not getting the name brand, expensive shit!” he instructed. Keisha shook her head in agreeance. “You hear what I said?” Tyler asked as he walked up to Keisha and stood in front of her.

  “Yes Tyler, I shook my head yes”, she explained.

  “I wasn’t looking at you, so you need to make sure you answer me out loud”, Tyler scolded Keisha.

  “Whatever Tyler”, Keisha said.

  For months, their relationship continued in the same manner as this encounter. Tyler instructed and Keisha reluctantly followed along. Tyler became more and more self-centered in his actions and interactions with his family. He and Keisha continued to grow further and further apart. This was a hard pill to swallow for Keisha. She felt like her marriage was falling apart right in front of her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it. The more Tyler pulled away, the more Keisha tried to keep him connected to the children. She knew at this point that he was no longer interested in being her husband.