Home is Where you will Always Belong

Part 1

***WARNING***

The chapter contains descriptions of abuse. 

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Her life was nothing but dismal. 

The way she saw it, her life was shit and the people in her current life were shit. She adored her parents, but she couldn't run to them for help in this situation as they had no idea what was going on or how long things were going on the way they were. She was scared for her life, which was why she packed a bag and stashed it in her jeep and waited for her husband to go to bed before she left. 

The only thing in her life worth living for were her two beautiful sons, Evander and Darcy. The situation at home was so bad at the moment that Social Services thought the best thing to do would be to take them away and put them in a foster home. She got to see them weekly, but she was told that until she got herself out of the situation, she wouldn't be able to get them back. 

She would like to put all the blame on her ex-husband, Juice, because if he hadn't of left her, she wouldn't be in this situation. But at the end of the day, it was her that jumped into bed with the first man that showed her any interest after the love of her life walked out on her.

She sat in her jeep on the side of the road, just on the other side of the Alberta border. Not sure that where she was going was a good idea, but she had nowhere else to go. It was 5:00 am and she was tired and emotionally drained, but she knew she had to keep going. 

She had remembered to contact Social Services and told them that she would be out of town for a couple weeks, but she also told them not to mention this to her husband, Justin. They agreed to keep this information confidential and were happy that she was trying to figure out a new life for herself and her children. She had told the social worker that she was on her way to Charming, California, to ask an old friend for help and she didn't know how long it would take.

That brought her to now. She had to get as far away as possible before he noticed she was gone and she knew that it was only a matter of time before he started looking for her.

She was 32 years old and she had been married to Justin for 5 years. He was perfect, or at least in her eyes and when she first met him, he was. Then they got married and everything changed. He went from being her prince charming, sweeping her off her feet and rescuing her from heartbreak, to becoming her worst nightmare. 

It started off with small things like telling her she was fat or not pretty enough or telling her something didn't look good on her. Telling her she wasn't raising the kids right or not disciplining them enough, because she wasn't hitting them or constantly screaming at them, she was doing it wrong.  

About 3 years into the marriage was when it got really bad. Dinner had to be ready at exactly 5:30 when he got home from work and if it wasn't he would smack her around a little bit and yell at her, and he would do this in front of the kids. From there, the dishes had to be done every night and he wouldn't lift a finger to help her. If she wanted to rest for a little bit, he would then bring out the punches. It just went on from there. He would beat her until she was laying on the ground and then he would proceed to kick her in the stomach and back to make his point. He occasionally would push her down the stairs for emphasis and he had put her in the hospital several times. She would always deny it when the nurses and the doctors asked if her husband had beat her, but she silently pleaded with them to help her. They would keep her there as long as they could, to keep her safe, but eventually they would have to send her home.

Two weeks ago she ended up in the hospital again, this time with a concussion and a broken leg (the left one, so she was still able to drive) and she had finally had enough. She had filed a report with the police yesterday afternoon that her husband had been physically beating her for 3 years and told them that she was leaving him that night and leaving the country for a couple weeks. They advised that they would approach him about it, but they couldn't do anything until they were actually called to the scene as it was happening.

She wasn't about to let it happen again, so it looked like nothing would be done about the situation. She was running back to her old life and her old friends that would hopefully be willing to help her out. But she couldn't be too sure of their reaction to her return.

Her uncle was part of an elite motor cycle club in Charming and when her family had lived there, she was at the club more than she was at home. She was pretty much raised with the club members and their children. She had loved it at the club and missed her best friends, Opie and Jax the most. She hadn't talked to them or anyone else since she left for Calgary 6 years ago. 

Once she met Justin and they "fell in love", he wouldn't let her keep in contact with any of "those people". It had been 3 years since Justin had allowed her parents to come from California to visit for Christmas. It was right after Darcy was born so he figured that my parents should meet the little guy, but since then, he would not allow them to come visit or allow her to talk to them. She would sneak a phone call in here and there, but when they got the phone bill she would hear about it and get punished for it. Her mother often worried about her, but she would always try to convince her that everything was ok and that it just never worked out that they could come out and see them.

She looked down at her phone when she heard it buzz. "Here we go," she mumbled to herself. Justin had woken up at 5:15 a.m. and realized that she wasn't there. She rolled down the window when she saw a semi-truck coming down the highway and she grabbed her phone and hurled it out just in time for it to be smashed into bits by the monster tires of the truck. She didn't need to deal with him harassing her.

She checked her mirror and pulled out onto the highway and continued to drive. She had at least another 12 hours ahead of her, but she knew that she could make it to the clubhouse just after dinner time. She was nervous about going back to her old roots. She wasn't sure how she would be received, but she had to take the chance.

She was 18 when Juice rolled up to the clubhouse for the first time and she was there visiting her Uncle Bobby. He had just biked it from Queens and despite the long trip, he was all smiles when he got there to begin his term as a prospect. He was 23 years old, 5 years older than she was and they hit it off instantly. Her, Juice, Jax and Opie hung out a lot and they all got along great and it wasn't long after he got there, that her and Juice began dating. 

They had gotten married when she turned 20 and it was amazing and absolutely blissful, but it ended faster than she could blink and it was like a slap in the face. She was not expecting him to end it. Nobody expected it actually. He said that as in love with her as he was, he really couldn't get used to the fact that he was tied down. After 3 years of happy marriage, he had served her with divorce papers. She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he was still in love with her, but he didn't want to be married to her. She unwillingly signed the papers and that was the end of her and Juice. Her family and her friends were devastated for her and confused and angry with the decision he had made. He was still part of the club, but things got kind of tense between Juice, Opie and Jax for awhile. After that, she stopped coming to the clubhouse and that's when her life slowly started to fall apart.

She was officially divorced in 2006 and it took her a long time to move on. But in 2008, she met Justin and the sparks flew instantly. She knew, in her heart, that this was it for her. Justin was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She knew this after only two months of knowing him and he knew it too. Four months into the relationship, he asked her to marry him and she had accepted his proposal without hesitation and despite everyone else's reservations about it. They were married in October of 2009 and in January of 2010, their first son, Evander was born. Darcy followed shortly after in March of 2011. The honeymoon and the happiness ended shortly after Evander was born and the hellish life began.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and then put her hand back on the wheel, using both hands and trying to stay focused as the fatigue started to creep in. She didn't understand how her life had gotten to this point and she was unsure of how to fix it. There was one thing she knew she was absolutely sure of, and that was that she would never let Justin lay a hand on her ever again and she would get her kids back and move them home, if they were welcome.