Category: Women Publisher: PublishAmerica
ISBN-10: 1592866778
Type: Fiction
Pages: 198
Copyright: Jan 1 2003
At twenty four, Sisene Segler is a single mother. She realizes true love may not be found during her lifetime. Sisene begins the struggle of transforming her life on her own terms. After graduating from nursing school she joins the Army where she meets Enrique Carerras, Mr. Right. The only problem is that Mr. Right is still a teenager.
A month after reporting to her first duty station at Fort Hood Texas, Sisene leaves on a humanitarian mission to Somalia with a “Rapid Deployment” unit. Soon she is promoted to Sergeant and quickly realizes that even without any formal training, she will have to master the leadership skills necessary for survival.
When she returns to Fort Hood, Enrique has since celebrated his twentieth birthday. Sisene tries to terminate their relationship, however, the deadly virus she returns from Somalia with may end their love and their future together before she does.
CHAPTER ONE
It was time to move on. The pressure to escape was building. It was becoming more difficult to hide my feelings with each passing day. I looked down at my week-old infant sleeping peacefully beside me. He smiled sweetly as he slept. His breathing was getting faster and more shallow as his expression changed to a frown. I brushed his cheek softly then sang a lulling cradlesong to comfort him while he napped.
The day I went into labor I had been arguing with his father, Greenie, about his surprise trip to Mexico that he had decided to tell me about the day before the blessed event. I was completely absorbed with packing my bags when Greenie startled me by coming up behind me and then snatched the bags from my hands. I bolted to the front door but he managed to stop me and block me from leaving.
"Sisene, why would you want to run away with my baby and leave me? What have I done?" he asked. Greenie really felt that I was supposed to accept just about anything he did. I was becoming a bit agitated and was ready to give him an earful. Suddenly I began to feel an intense pressure on my pelvic bone.
"Excuse me Greenie, but I'm starting to feel sick and I really have to use the restroom." I mumbled as I waddled pass him.
Looking down, I spotted a fluid that felt like lotion oozing down my legs. That's when I panicked.
"I think you better take me to the hospital now!" I hollered out to Greenie from behind the bathroom door.
As I got into the car, the slow oozing turned into a flood. Instead of being sympathetic, Greenie only complained about the mess that I was making in his car. His grumbling continued all the way to the hospital. I was too occupied with fighting the contractions that were becoming increasingly frequent. So, I did my best to ignore Greenie. Weakened by the labor pains, I grew exhausted and was unable to argue with him any longer.
Inside the hospital Emergency Department the orderlies quickly got me into a wheelchair. That would also be flooded within minutes. There was a trail all the way up to the labor and delivery center in the hospital. I could hear the operator overhead paging housekeeping. I knew it was for the mess I had made. I was beyond emSimmonsassed at that point.
"It's okay," the nurse pushing the wheelchair assured me. "We have had to clean Taxi's, ambulances, police cars and other unusual areas around this hospital." I really admired the nurse that was assigned to me. I felt like everything was going to be all right. Greenie had followed me up to the labor room but after an hour he decided he would head back home to clean his car.
"Call me when you have the baby." I remember him telling me. Gee I thought. What would life be like if I was with someone who really cared about me or had an ounce of compassion. Someone who would want to stay with me to make sure everything went well. Someone who could make me feel loved.
The only person who was concerned about me that night was my nurse, Liz. Even though the hospital paid her to act concerned, I was very much influenced by her performance. After that night, I was confident that I wanted to join the nursing profession. Deep down I had a burning desire to fill that familiar void in the lives of others and give them the support they lacked.
I had firsthand knowledge of what it was like to live without so many little things that could satisfy someone emotionally. I had found my calling and I had an outstanding role model. It was Liz who was there with me for twelve hours as I screamed and writhed in agonizing pain through the night. At six thirty that morning I finally delivered an eight pound baby boy.
I called Greenie after I was transferred to my room on the maternity ward. I told him he had a healthy son, Akil who was practically his twin. In his usual reserved and unenthusiastic manner, he told me he would come by a little later that day to visit me. Within forty-eight hours I was released from the hospital. So I was at home with the new baby by Sunday.
Early Monday morning, Greenie took his luggage to the front door, handed me a couple hundred dollars and left with his friend Delroy to the airport. "I will see you in a week." He told me.
So there I was standing at the front door with a two-day old infant and two hundred dollars in my hand, powerless and alone. I was sure this was my punishment for my sins from another life.
How did I manage to get myself into a relationship with so many shortcomings? I wondered. "Why ask questions now?" I muttered as I continued to fight with myself. The questions should have been asked in the early stages of this doomed relationship.
My life was now unromantic and I was miserable. Did Greenie really expect me to walk to the supermarket to pick up groceries, clean the house and recuperate without any support from him? The room had somehow grown darker. My mind was spinning as I sank into a sombrous mood.
"You can't give up now I repeated to myself over and over. There is something to live for. You have what it takes to get ahead and make it."I had to say those words over and over to get through the day.
A couple days after Greenie had left, his closest confidant's mistress, June, stopped by to see the new baby. She was astounded when she found me alone and in pain. I hadn't been able to get to the drug store to fill my prescriptions. I hadn't eaten a decent meal in two days and I was struggling to take care of the baby. "You know you don't deserve to be treated this way." June told me. "What man on earth would not know that a woman needs some assistance after having a baby? Why didn't you call me?" June asked.
After that, June delivered dinner to my house every evening, ran errands for me, and called me on the phone every time she got the chance. I treasured her friendship. I hadn't realized how much it meant to a have a good friend. My own family didn't even care as much as she did. They were miles away in New York and hadn't even bothered to call to find out if I had given birth yet. Still, I was happy that I lived in Florida far away from them. Yes, that was the one thing I was happy about.
I began to make plans to start my life over again. June would definitely be allowed in my new life. Greenie had promised me we would be married by the time I had this baby but thanks to his new friends and the education they were providing him in dealing drugs, I knew we would not be together much longer. It was a rule with this new pack to never inform their wives or their girlfriends where they were going and they felt their ladies should be thankful they showed up whenever they did. They didn't feel it was necessary to take their ladies anywhere and going with them on vacation was simply forbidden. They were rolling in dough now, selling the international herb. The woman's place was to be in their homes serving them and overlooking their inadequacies.
I guess they thought they had seen Stupid written across my head. Only a totally insecure, brainless, unsightly woman would have been happy living that life. And so, Greenie really believed I was happy. I was growing stronger physically, spiritually and emotionally with each passing day. I was making new rules for myself and I was going to live by them.
