From His Partner to His Prey Page 5

  Tyler wanted Keisha to stop attempting to explain her side, her feelings, her emotions, and any other concerns. He didn’t care about any of that. He wasn’t concerned about his wife or kids…he just wanted to do whatever he wanted and felt Keisha should remain silent. He stopped listening to Keisha anytime she spoke. He began to ignore her in a way that was evident to those who were around them. It was a strange relationship on the outside looking in. Keisha was aware that she needed to get out but didn’t have a clue on how to do it. She did not have money, support, or a plan. She felt like going back to school and earning her degree would put her in position to leave Tyler, but she had no idea what the journey would look like. She just didn’t care anymore. Her focus was just going through the motions so that she could get her degree and take care of her kids.

  Tyler didn’t care about what Keisha was doing outside of him as long as she followed his orders. The disrespect led to multiple altercations, until finally, it happened. Tyler pushed Keisha and made her hit the wall. He teased her about her past and taunted her until she reacted by yelling at him. Tyler thought that was funny and continued. He poked and pushed Keisha until she pushed back, and they began tussling. It was a quick altercation, but the damage had already commenced.

  Four

  Back To School

  Keisha had everything in place for her return to school. Just when she was about to register for classes, she was notified that her balance from the first university was carrying over and would need to be paid before she could enroll. Keisha felt like she was once again stuck. With all the turmoil between her and Tyler, she thought there was no way she would be able to have a conversation with him about the situation. However, after a few weeks, Tyler brought the conversation to Keisha.

  “What’s going on with your school shit?” he asked.

  “I have to pay the balance before I can register”, she told him.

  “So, what’s the balance?” he asked.

  “Forty-five hundred dollars”, she said.

  “Well let’s get a loan or something to pay it off so you can register”, Tyler told Keisha.

  “Ok”, she said with surprise and hesitancy.

  She was SO caught off guard that Tyler wanted to help her after everything that was going on. To her surprise, Tyler was actually acting as if he was truly invested in Keisha’s success. It was a welcome change as far as Keisha was concerned. However, she knew not to get too excited about Tyler’s attitude adjustment. Tyler didn’t really acknowledge the change in attitude or behavior. As time progressed. they learned that Keisha was ineligible for a loan because she was unemployed. Keisha decided to look for ways to earn money online from home so that she could look better to lenders. Keisha was having little to no success finding lucrative work from home opportunities. Keisha contacted one of her spouse friends and told them what was going on. They gave her info about a job on the military base that she might qualify for.

  Keisha checked into it and found out that it was a delivery driver position on base. She thought this could be a great chance to earn money while they figured out the loan situation. Tyler seemed indifferent about it. He didn’t show any interest in Keisha working again but liked the idea of having more money coming in. For that reason, Tyler didn’t object. Although Tyler was not keen on Keisha having full independence, he enjoyed watching her get excited about stuff. Keisha got the job and ending up being one of the most requested delivery drivers on base. Tyler didn’t like all the attention she was getting so he told her to quit. When she came home after her last day of work, Tyler told her that he was approved for a loan to cover the balance so Keisha could register for classes.

  Keisha didn’t know how to feel about this. She was confused. She didn’t ask questions, but instead kept going through the motions, looking forward to a real change. Tyler went out a few days later and completed the process to get the loan. He knew that this would help Keisha pay off her old balance and allow her to register for classes. He also knew that this would keep Keisha busy. He didn’t want her to have extra time that would keep her away from home. Keisha was excited and grateful that Tyler was willing to help her. Tyler came home with the check and told Keisha to deposit it into the account and get everything set up. As usual, she followed his instructions. The check cleared, and Keisha had the school set up the payment so that she could work towards completing her degree. This was a goal that Keisha wanted to accomplish before getting married or having kids. She wanted to be able to provide a stable life for herself and subsequently her family. Now she had the opportunity!

  “Did you get the balance paid yet?” Tyler asked a few days after giving Keisha the check.

  “Yes, they are processing it now at the school”, Keisha told him.

  “When you registering for classes then?” Tyler asked.

  “As soon as the balance is cleared and my transcript is sent over to the new school, I’ll be able to register”, Keisha replied.

  “Then how long will it take you to finish once you get started?” He inquired.

  “I only have about 9 classes left to take so maybe a year and a half”, she responded with uncertainty.

  She thought Tyler was asking a lot of questions that she already answered. It was a bit weird, but she just kept answering his questions. Unbeknownst to her, Tyler was trying to decide if he wanted to continue his military career or if he wanted to venture off into something new.

  “So can you help me with my work if I register for these classes?” Tyler asked.

  “What?” Keisha responded with distinct confusion in her voice.

  “I’m thinking about starting these real estate classes before I get out”, Tyler explained.

  Keisha looked confused about why Tyler was asking her to help him with his classes when she would be taking classes herself.

  “Tyler, you do realize I’ll be in school as well, right?” she asked looking for clarity.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s not like you’ll be doing everything for me. You just gone be helping me a little bit”, he justified.

  Keisha attempted to explain that she would be doing her work, being a mom and a wife, keeping the house together, and helping him with his needs. Tyler couldn’t grasp where Keisha was coming from. He felt like he wasn’t asking much of her. He viewed himself as a great husband, a good father, and a decent man overall. He could not understand why she was overreacting to him asking for her help. As far as he was concerned, what she was doing wasn’t really that important anyway. Her focus should be keeping him happy and making sure he completed his courses since he was the sole provider for the family. Tyler explained how important this was to him and their family. He told Keisha he needed her, and she finally agreed to help him. The next month, everything came through for Keisha and she was finally back to school. She took four classes the first quarter because she was excited to be back and eager to be done. Keisha was rocking those classes out, just as she always did.

  Tyler was happy she was doing so well. Near the end of her first quarter, Tyler started his program. Around the same time, Keisha also received a refund from her school. Reluctantly, she told Tyler about it. She didn’t want to tell him because she wanted to be able to save it but she told him because she felt like she was obligated as a wife. Tyler was super excited when Keisha told him about the refund check. He immediately started making plans for the money.

  “Hell yeah! That’s wass’up! Now I can add those running boards to the truck and do a few more upgrades to my car”, he said.

  Keisha’s face displayed her disdain but her back was to Tyler when he said it, so he didn’t see it.

  “Do what?” she asked with her back still to Tyler.

  “Get some running boards and do some upgrades to my car”, he repeated.

  “I wanted to save that money since it’s from my loan. I want to use it for emergencies only and use it to pay off my loans if we don’t need it”, Keisha explained.

  “Nawh’, we ain’t doing that. We gon
e spend all these refund checks how I want to spend them”, he told her. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been back in school, so you owe me”, he continued.

  Keisha just listened and remained silent. She didn’t want to argue or fight about it. She just let it be. In all honesty, Keisha felt like her only option was to stay quiet, avoid confrontation, finish school, get a good job, and leave. Tyler kept money available to help his family and wanted to use what came from the refund checks to feed his desires but wouldn’t even give Keisha a monthly allowance to keep money in her pocket. She hated the feeling this gave her. She wanted to leave so bad, but she knew she couldn’t. It was so hard for her to stay positive and focused on her goals. Tyler didn’t feel as if he was doing anything wrong. After all, he was the one who got the loan to pay off the school balance. He was the one working so that Keisha could stay home and raise the children. He was the one who was able to purchase the house and cars. He was making all the money and should have things how he wanted them.

  Since he was providing so much for Keisha, she should be pleased and more than willing to accommodate whatever his needs were. Tyler felt entitled to any and everything that Keisha received. He also felt like whatever he earned was for him and that he could do what he wanted with it. The demand of the real estate courses began to overwhelm Tyler and he depended on Keisha more and more to help him complete them. Keisha helped him stay ahead in his courses. She also worked hard to stay ahead in her own courses as well. The entire time she was also picking up the slack in other areas where Tyler was falling short. She was slowly slipping into a person she could not recognize. Nevertheless, she knew she had to keep going.

  Keisha knew her children deserved more. and she had to fight through what she was feeling to get to the level she wanted and needed to be at. Tyler had no idea that Keisha felt trapped…he just knew that he wanted her to do what he wanted her to do. By the start of the second quarter, Keisha was doing great in her classes and had successfully gotten Tyler through the first set of lessons and written exams. When it was time to start his next set of lessons, Tyler learned that he would be getting deployed again. This deployment was coming at a time when their relationship was at its rockiest. Neither of them knew what to expect this time around. Both of them were looking forward to the break from each another. It was bittersweet for Keisha because she knew she would be completely alone. It was hard to accept being alone with three children and no support.

  As usual, she knew she just had to keep going. There was no training this time, just a straight deployment. Tyler was scheduled to leave two weeks after he was notified of the deployment. Keisha had everything set up from the last deployment, so it was a quick and easy transition. She was able to take a break from helping Tyler complete his work since he would be gone. Although she didn’t really want to be alone, she was grateful to have a break from him. The length of the deployment was supposed to be between four and six months. Tyler had to do the full deployment this time since there would be no way to get him home early. He was concerned about going away this time. He was going to a war zone on this deployment, and he was terrified of not coming back home. Keisha did not know the extent of danger Tyler would face. The time came for Tyler to leave.

  It was a different departure than the ones before. It was silent and distant. The children didn’t really know what was going on. They just saw their dad leave with his coworkers. Keisha watched them pull away with a slight sense of relief. She was happy that she didn’t have to deal with his demands for the next few months. Their communication dwindled quickly after Tyler left. Since he was going to a war zone, he wouldn’t be able to contact Keisha very much at all. and she didn’t mind one bit. She was ready to get her degree finished and move on with her life. Keisha worked diligently to stay on track with her courses. It was a lot of work to be a single parent, of sorts, and a full-time student. She felt like all she had were her kids and school. She was so ready to be done that she kept taking the maximum number of classes to speed up the process.

  Weeks passed quickly and Keisha grew weary. The children were growing more and more demanding. Although Tyler was overseas, he was still very much in control of the money. Keisha was limited on what she could pull out of the account. Not because Tyler put restrictions on the card but because she was afraid of how he would react if he did. Instead of tampering with the account, she just used her next refund check. Since Tyler couldn’t communicate much with her, he couldn’t check on what money she was getting and what she was doing with it. She tried to save as much of the check as she could, but she had to dip into it since she could only take money off the card to pay bills. She also dipped into the money to celebrate when she completed her courses.

  She finally completed her degree and although she wasn’t able to attend her actual graduation ceremony, she decided to throw herself a graduation party. Shortly after, she started filling out applications. She was so excited to start looking for a job so she could work in her field. But soon, her excitement wore off because she could not secure a job in her field. She was unsure why she wasn’t getting any responses from all the applications she submitted. It was very frustrating for her to try over and over again just to be overlooked. Before she knew it, the time had come for the deployment to end. Keisha had no idea what things were gonna be like when Tyler got home.

  Five

  Never the Same

  Tensions were still high when Tyler returned. It felt like they were strangers living in the same space. Keisha was still looking for a job in her field. She had been contacted for a few interviews and even did placement testing, but she didn’t receive any employment offers. It seemed like things were just going…not in a particular direction, but just moving. It was as if Tyler was a completely different person when he returned. Anytime Keisha tried to talk to Tyler, the conversation always went left. One day in particular, Tyler decided to discuss a financial dilemma with Keisha to get her insight.

  “So, my brother needs money to pay for an abortion for this girl he got pregnant. He called me and asked for the money, but I wanted to talk to you about it first.” Tyler rambled to Keisha.

  “Well…honestly, I don’t think we should get involved in their situation. It doesn’t make sense for you to pay for their abortion. Especially when that money could be used for something in this house.” Keisha explained.

  Instantly Tyler responded, “Well I’m giving him the money!”

  “Ok. So why did you talk to me about it if you’re just going to ignore what I say?” Keisha questioned.

  “I thought you would understand…that’s why! I didn’t ask for your advice.” He told her. “If you want to have any input on what I do with MY money, you need to have some INCOME. Until then, I really don’t give a fuck how you feel about shit!” Tyler continued.

  Keisha felt like she had been slapped across the face and punched in the stomach. She was devastated by what Tyler said and that he could even fix his lips to say such harsh words to her. She was speechless! At that point, the conversation ended. Keisha’s determination to find a job was stronger than ever after that. She put in more applications and even looked into getting a second degree to make her more appealing in the job market. She didn’t know what to do, but she knew she had to do something.

  After deployments, Tyler and Keisha usually take the kids back to their hometown to visit family, but this time, Tyler decided to go alone. Keisha didn’t really think anything of it. She was actually relieved. It was always so stressful for her to go home with Tyler. She felt like an outcast when she was around his family. It was as if she was tolerated because she was Tyler’s wife. Keisha hated being mistreated by her in-laws. She wanted to be accepted by them but couldn’t keep fighting for their love when her own husband didn’t make her feel loved and supported. She didn’t like the way Tyler’s mom always dismissed her. More and more, Keisha wanted to just walk away from the marriage. When Tyler got ready to leave, he decided to take their son with him. K
eisha didn’t want to let him go but she was grateful that Tyler wanted to take him anywhere.

  Tyler didn’t stay gone very long this visit. When he returned, there seemed to be a different mood shift. Keisha couldn’t really pinpoint what the shift was. Tyler had a crazy experience while he was deployed. When he came back, he was different. His outlook was different. His desires were different. His expectations were different. Tyler spoke to Keisha more and engaged with her more than he had in the past year.

  “Keisha, I’m about to run to the mall with the homies. Imma take the boy with me.” Tyler told Keisha.

  She was shocked, but she got their son dressed and ready to go. Tyler left with their son and a couple of his friends. Keisha continued doing her usual routine with the girls at home. She was in the back room getting the girls dressed after their bath when their son walked in and called Keisha. She didn’t know why he was calling her, but she thought something was wrong, so she gestured for him to come closer to check him out. He walked towards her and so did a cute, new puppy. It was the same puppy Keisha asked Tyler for a few days prior while they were in the pet store. She was so happy to see the puppy she screamed with excitement.

  “Oh my gosh! You got the puppy!” she shouted as Tyler turned the corner and entered the room.

  Tyler stood there and smiled at Keisha and before he knew it, she was on her feet, hugging him. They seemed to be in a really good place, like they were moving closer to one another. They talked about their relationship and decided to commit to one another once again. They agreed to talk to each other and not at one another. They also elected to be a one income family since Tyler was still in the military. Things were working out so well. The rough part of the marriage was behind them, and they were excited to move forward. Keisha and Tyler hosted a couple’s game night and invited their friends. Keisha loved hosting so she went all out in preparations.