Veterans of War, what was it like to come home?
The Broken Promise
The words felt like a punch to the gut because in that moment, all I could do was visualize myself one month ago. I was deep in Cobble fighting for my life, seeing my brothers around me lose their life, knowing I could be next.
In those moments, the only thing that kept me going was Abigail. I saw her face in the stars at night. I heard her voice telling me I can do this.
I pictured her standing at my funeral crying uncontrollably. I had to make it for her, and I did. And while that was going on, she was in bed with another man without protection.
I visualized that image, and as I did, I felt my blood boil. Rage, betrayal, and heartbreak crashed over me like a tidal wave.
I asked her who the father was, and when she whispered a name I didn’t recognize, I yelled at her. I didn’t even know what was going on around me; all I could see was red.
How could the same person who talked about spending our lives together be pregnant by another man? The thought of this infuriated me.
I yelled at the top of my lungs, my voice booming throughout the apartment. She tried to explain herself, but I didn’t want to hear it.
I left her in the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The wood of the door cracked down the middle like lightning had struck it.
Abigail screamed in horror. I stormed into the living room and flipped the coffee table.
The shatter of the glass on the hardwood floor was deafening. I punched a hole in the TV mounted above, and it fell to the floor.
My hands were red from the wounds. I realized what was happening, and I tried to calm myself down.
I couldn’t do this anymore. I didn’t want to hurt Abigail, and I knew that I never would, but I was in so much rage I had no idea what I was capable of. And so I left.
The next day I came back to the wreck of an apartment, and Abigail wasn’t there. The only thing that was there was a note from her on top of what was the coffee table.
She said she was leaving and she feared for her life the night before. I understood, but I knew that I would never put my hands on Abigail.
If this is what she wanted for us, I would respect her decision. I only wanted to see her happy after all we’ve been through together.
I never thought it would end like this. She was truly my everything and gave my life meaning.
Abigail was the only one there for me when my parents and brother passed away tragically in a car accident. I had lost all my family in one night, but Abigail was there.
She helped me pick up the broken pieces of my heart and sewed them back together. She was there for me when I would wake up from nightmares about my past, and I thought that we were only right for one another.
I’ve always adored Abigail ever since we were 18. We were fresh out of high school and were planning on going to the same college.
Everything was fine until her parents went through her phone and found out she was bisexual. They told her it was against their religion and that they couldn’t have a daughter in their house who had demons working in her.
They decided to kick her out, and she had nowhere to go. We were young and broke, and we couldn’t stay with my parents because the college we were going to was out of state.
So I sold everything I had to build up savings for us. We packed up her things, and I got a job to provide for us. That is how I ended up in the military.
Now all I had left of her was this note. Everything in our lives had been scattered away all because she decided that getting into bed with some man was worth so much more than everything we have ever built together.
She left behind everything we had for him. The realization made my heart ache.
I walked into the bathroom and turned the knob on the broken door. The knob and half of the door broke off into my hand as I tried to pull on it.
I sighed and looked in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, and bags hung underneath.
