THE POWER OF PAIN
A Short Story by
Danyelle Scroggins
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Purpose Prevails Publishing on Smashwords
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Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS,
ORGANIZATIONS, AND EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS STORY
ARE EITHER PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHOR’S
IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIONSLY.
Copyright © 2010 by Danyelle Scroggins.
For more information address:
Purpose Prevails Publishing
2231B Center St. STE 144
Deer Park, TX 77536
http://www.purposeprevailspublishing.com
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Felecia
Felecia balled up in a corner of her living room on the floor, with her head in her hands. She had finally managed to do what everyone told her she was about to do. She allowed her jealousy and insecurities to run Dean, the only man she’d ever really loved, right out the door. It hadn’t been enough for her that he was home every night right after work or that he told her on numerous occasions that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She just felt like there wasn’t a man on earth who wouldn’t cheat on his wife, and her man was not exempt.
Now, she just couldn’t understand why he’d packed up and left. She’d gotten her clown on before and really the only thing done differently this particular time was throw his cloths on the lawn in front of the neighbors. Nevertheless, this time she could see something different in Dean’s eyes. It was determination wrapped in deep seeded hatred and she had put there.
No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that Dean was having an affair. Yes, he came home every night and yes, he was a good provider, but that didn’t overshadow the reality that he hadn’t touched her in months or that when he was home he was always sleep. Something was distracting him and if it wasn’t another woman, what, or who was it. Too shattered to get up and clean her face, she slowly drifted to sleep in the bondage of her hurt and despair.
Dean
Dean loved Felecia but he’d taken all he could take. What else could he have done to get this woman to see that he wasn’t cheating on her? He’d stood by while she ravaged his car on a weekly basis. He’d even pretended to be asleep while she went through his cellular phone every day when he came home. Not to mention, how she’d set up a Facebook account in his name to see if any women would become his friend, and pretended to be him chatting with his co-workers and old classmates.
He’d allowed her to do all these things and never said a mumbling word because he’d known if he ever questioned her; it would have lead to a battle royal. She’d already isolated him from his own mother and two sisters, and now with her last little tantrum, he was sure that even the neighbors would shy away from him. He was tired of defending himself and his love to a woman who had issues too deep for anyone to fix; except Jesus.
Unfortunately, Felecia hated going to church because she hated so called organized religion. It would take a miracle to change her but if she wasn’t willing to go to the place where miracles where being handed out, then how could she ever change?
Dean searched in his mind as he drove trying to figure out whether or not she was like this in the beginning, but he swore that he had no clue of how jealous she was while they were dating. Everything had seemed to be perfect. So perfect that he’d asked her to marry him only a year after the day they met.
Now, here he was two years later and looking for a place to lay his head and start all over again. He’d finally taken all he could take of Felecia and her jealousy. Not to mention, the part of his vows that stated, until death due us part, almost became a factor because if he had been the man he use to be, there’s no doubt he would have knocked her senseless. He made a promise to himself that if ever she pushed him to the point that he would pick up his hand to strike her, he’d leave and never look back. He was too ashamed to go to his mother’s or his sister’s house, but he needed to talk to someone.
Dean pulled over in the Brookshire’s parking lot and searched his cell phone for someone to talk too. After going through his list twice, he finally decided that one of the younger deacons would be his best out. He contemplated hanging up but Deacon Jones had already answered on the second ring.
“Hello.”
“Hey Deacon Jones, this is Dean Smith. Brother I just needed someone to talk to.” Dean said before tears began to fall from his eyes. He couldn’t tell you when the last time he cried but today, he just felt like he needed to cry.
“Dean, man call me Carlos, and where are you brother?”
“I’m in the Brookshire’s parking lot on the corner of Bert Kouns and Linwood Avenue.”
“I know exactly where you are. That’s actually our favorite Brookshire’s location, so just give me ten minutes and I’ll be there to grab you up.”
“Okay.” Dean replied before pushing the end button on his phone.
He’d never wanted another brother to think of him as a punk but he just didn’t have anywhere else to turn. Felecia had even run off all of his friends with her behavior and if she’d known that the church was a place for him to meet new people, she would have even come there to mess things up. He laid his seat back and decided to just use the nine minutes of waiting time to calm his nerves.
Felecia
Felecia finally awoke after an hour. She sat up and instantly her tears begin to fill her eyes. She got up to look at her cell phone hoping that just maybe Dean had called but he hadn’t and no one else either. Friends had been off limits to her because it was her best friend that was now the wife of her ex-husband. Felicia once trusted Vicky and Joe with her life and her life was exactly what they’d destroyed, when she’d caught them in her bed together.
It was the pain of their deception that caused her to be so insecure. She couldn’t for the life of her understand how her ex could cheat on her. She was the perfect wife. She went to church every Sunday, loved the Lord, cooked, cleaned, and even gave him her most intimate private moments, anytime he wanted or seemed to have needed her. Nevertheless, all of her efforts to be the perfect wife hadn’t stopped him from sleeping with her best friend.
Her mother warned her that if she didn’t get help, she would take this pain into her next marriage but Felecia ignored the advice. Smart people just didn’t go to a psychiatrist and she wasn’t about to start. She was a college graduate who had her master’s degree in communication and she had more money than she’d ever need in this lifetime. She wasn’t about to pay some geek to sit on his or her couch and listen to how she was screwed by a slut and a whoremongering bastard. Now she wondered whether her seeking help would have prevented what she was going through right now.
She’d be the first to admit, that she was even tired herself. Life had been such an emotional rollercoaster and although she’d wanted to get off, she just didn’t know how. Something always made her think the worst and act according to what she thought. She would call Dean twenty times a day and if he didn’t answer, she’d be mad as heck. No one could or would ever imagine the exhaustion she felt after going through his phone, looking at his online phone records, and searching his car on a daily basis. And at first it all seemed like a little price to pay to make sure she was never manipulated like she had been before.
She was sorry and she needed Dean to know this. She dialed his number once, and no answer. Then she called back and left a voice message. After he didn’t return neither, she called back again, and again, then again. Before she knew it, she’d called him twelve times and by the thirteenth time, she had to say something.