Life had settled into a routine even though the chaos. I had learned to keep my mouth shut and just ignore the circumstances. Even though it wasn’t uncommon for Jesse to disappear for a couple days at a time, there was an extended period when I didn’t see him. After several days, I asked Janice if she knew where Jesse was. She responded, “Oh, he’s gone to Virginia”. She couldn’t give me any information as to when, or if, he would be back.
Virginia is where I had wanted to go the two times I had tried to leave. I wanted to go home more than anything. There I was stuck in Tennessee, with Jesse’s crazy family and a baby, not knowing when or if my fraudulent husband was going to come back.
I remembered the phone numbers of a couple of Jesse’s party buddies in Virginia, but as mentioned in a earlier post, cell phone had not been invented yet. So catching one of those guys at home was a miracle. I made several attempts with the numbers I had, and finally got an answer on the other end.
Jesse just so happened to be at that person’s house when I called. The friend handed the phone to Jesse. You could tell they were drinking and smoking. Girls were giggling in the background. Jesse finally put the receiver to his ear. When are you coming back to Tennessee, I asked. He laughed sarcastically and said, “I’m not coming back”. Asking what I was suppose to do was a waste of breath. He responded with, “I don’t care what you do” and hung up the phone.
I thought that was it, the end, which actually didn’t bother me at all. So, I had a decision to make. Stay there, which I would have avoided at all costs, or try to make it back home. I explained to Janice that Jesse had no plans to return to Tennessee and that I really needed to go back to my family and try to make amends.
Mom had remarried, but I still had an aunt that would talk to me and help me get myself on the right path. Janice seemed to be genuine and have the best interest of Cameron in mind. She recommended leaving the baby with her and once I got settled and in a situation where I could care for Cameron, I could come back and get him.
It sounded like a logical alternative. It was winter and bitterly cold outside. I had no resources for renting an apartment, or getting a motel room. I would be forced to stay in the van and that would be way too cold for Cameron. It would have been very hard in my particular situation.
Janice had a legal document she pulled out for me to sign. She explained that in order for her to be able to take the baby to the doctor if he got sick, I would need to sign this document giving her permission to take care of him.
First and foremost, I should have realized why did she have this document already legally made. Never crossed my mind. It made perfect sense that she would need my permission to have Cameron medically treated if needed. Second mistake, never looked at the document. I was in such a hurry to get out of there, she handed me the document already turned to the signature page. I just signed it. Didn’t read a word. They were giving me the money for gas I needed to make it back to Virginia.
I played right into their hands. It was a perfect scheme to get legal custody of Cameron. Jesse disappeared for a reason. They knew I wanted to go home anyway. Perfect plan, worked like a charm. And I drove away never knowing any difference. With full intentions of coming back and getting my baby. Little did I know what was coming.
Leave a Reply