Working With My Enemy: A Justin Bieber Story

Chapter 46: Everyone deserves a second chance.

Justin’s POV

“It’s been so long,” she said, sadness laced in her voice.

“Eleven years,” I cut in quickly and she just nodded. I’m trying my best not to lose it or be bitter towards her but it’s harder than I thought it would be.

“Yes. Well I assume you want to get right to a full explanation,” she said.

“Yeah,” I simply said. I’m not interested in the fake politeness of asking how everything is. That stuff can wait.

“I suppose I’ll start from the beginning,” she said then took a deep breath. “You know the reason I left was because of your father. When I made my decision to leave, I had to find a job because if I took money he would have found out sooner. I thought at first I would take you with me but I wouldn’t have been able to support you. I kept trying to think of a way that I would be able to see you again without having to see him again. So I finally came up with the idea of getting a job at the JFK airport in New York and if you decided to leave, I would find you there. That’s why I told you to go there if you ever wanted to leave,” she said and things started to click into place.

“But you weren’t there when I came. I ended up being lost in New York City,” I said, getting angry.

“I know. By the time you ran away it had already been a few years and I thought maybe your father got his act together,” she said.

“Five years. I left when I was twelve,” I said, trying to control my anger.

“Right,” she said, nodding then continued. “The job I had at the airport wasn’t paying enough for me to live in New York so I did some searching and I found a job as a secretary at an office there three years later. That went well for a while but then I started to wonder about the both of you. I figured if you didn’t leave then he might be back to the way he was before the drinking. So three years later, I packed my things and went back to Stratford. When I got to our house, your father was there and he was completely sober and like a normal human being again. He told me you ran away and he tried everything in his power to find you,” she said. I rolled my eyes at that part but let her continue.

“I didn’t tell him I told you to leave but I tried calling all the homeless child services and police stations all over New York but none of them had anyone by your name. I even called hospitals and everything just to make sure you were even alive. I was able to breathe after there were no reports about you getting into trouble or getting hurt or anything so I figured you must have found someone to live with. So after that I chose to give your dad another chance. I thought I made the right decision for a couple of years until he became a repeat of what he was before I left him,” she said.

“Why would you go back to him?!” I asked, raising my voice.

“Everyone deserves a second chance. I thought after you left he saw what he did was wrong and changed for the better which he did for a while. But he turned out to be the same. He physically abused me again. That was it. Two years ago I packed everything up again and I found another job as a secretary but in Chicago. I wanted a completely fresh start and here I am,” she finished. We sat in silence for a moment until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Mom, did you know that he started hitting me after you left? Every day, I would do something wrong and he would hit me whether he was drunk or not!” I said, trying not to shout since people in the hallway might hear.

“I know-“

“No. You didn’t know. Didn’t you even think that he would hurt me? No you didn’t! If you did then you would have brought me with you no matter how much money you had!” I shouted with tears of frustration and anger falling from my eyes.