Stripping Callum (Last Hangman MC Book 6)(4)
It was my first time and nothing to rave about. I didn’t have any point of comparison, but it seemed lackluster compared to what my high school friends were telling me and what you hear in movies and on TV.
He left the next day, and I was cool with it. I knew he wasn’t staying and that it would be the only time I ever saw him. What I was not cool with was two weeks later, I was late for my period, and I freaked out instantly. I was always on time. At first, I thought it was simply because I had sex for the first time and my body was disturbed. Two weeks later and it still didn’t come, so I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. I thought it could have just been a fluke and took three more. They were all positive.
I kept it to myself. I didn’t have anyone to talk to anyway. I packed up my stuff and left as quickly as I came here and jumped on the first bus to Denver, Colorado. I had no particular reason to go there. It was the next bus leaving.
I found another small hotel that was rather cheap when I got to Denver and started working at another diner. It felt like things kept repeating themselves. I met a guy, we f*cked, and I never saw him again because I left. He came into the diner the day after we had sex and asked if I wanted to go out with him that night. I said yes but never showed up. I packed up and left. I didn’t want anyone to get to know me or to let what happened to me slip into the conversation. I was sad to leave Denver after six weeks. I loved it there. It felt like home.
I traveled down to Dallas, Texas and spent another six weeks there. I stayed away from any guy at that time. I learned my lesson with the first two, and I was starting to really show now. I left when the people employing me were concerned about my wellbeing.
I moved onto Shreveport, Louisiana for another six weeks. I worked at another diner, but it was a hell of a lot busier. The further I got into my pregnancy, the harder it was for me to be on my feet all the time. It was really stressful, and I just had to leave. I wasn’t as lucky in Shreveport as the owners of the hotel I was staying at weren’t as kind as to give me a discount for the room. I didn’t make much extra money to travel further away, and I was saving the five thousand dollars I had for when the baby would be here. I wanted to be able to have money for a while to take care of him and be able to afford a studio apartment or something small. I didn’t want to subject my baby to living out of hotel rooms, and I knew I would be out of work for a while, so I had no other choice but to save that money.
I just rolled into my new location this morning.
New Orleans.
It’s such a big and busy city, it’s overwhelming. I’ve been to big cities, but this one is different. There’s an aura to it. It feels like I could enjoy myself here, and I see myself staying here for more than six weeks. I hope so anyway. The baby is due to arrive in three months, and I don’t know how much longer I can handle all the traveling and working on my feet.
As I’m sitting in the café, signing the application after filling it out, I wonder what my life will be like. Up until now, it was okay. I could take care of myself. I had my three meals a day, plenty of drinks, a roof over my head, and I wasn’t as unhappy as I thought I would be when I first left. With the baby coming so soon, I don’t know how I’m going to cope and deal with everything on my own.
I’ve never used my real name wherever I’ve been. I couldn’t. If they looked into things, they would be able to see that I’m an underage runaway. That’s if my aunt reported me missing. I wonder how she’s doing. I have my cell phone with me, but I never built up the courage to dial her number and check on her, nor has she. Does she still care about me or is she happy that she got rid of me? Was I a nuisance in her once quiet and happy life?
I put the pen down and take a long sip of my hot chocolate rubbing my baby bump with my other hand. I feel the baby kick again.
“We’ll be okay, bump, I promise.” I blow out a breath hoping that I’m right and that we’ll be okay.
Annabella James died the day I left. Annabella Williams was born that day. Nobody knows a thing about Annabella Williams, and it’s better that way. I just have to figure out a way to get papers in my new name.
September 12, 2016
Life doesn’t always go as you plan it.
Has my family dream happened? No.
Do I regret it not happening? No, not at all.
The only thing I do wish is that my parents were there to see me go through life.
They were ripped away from me when I was six.
It shaped me into the woman I became.
My life has been in shambles since they died, but I make the most of what I have, which right now isn’t a lot. I’m twenty-two-years-old, I work in a café with my best friend and roommate, Gail, and I have a little boy named Elijah. These two are my life. If it weren’t for Gail, her mom, and her brother, I probably would be homeless and wouldn’t be in New Orleans anymore.
I’ve traveled a lot in my twenty-two years of life, and it hasn’t always brought me happiness. I regret some of the things I’ve done. The only thing I don’t regret is Elijah. Even though he wasn’t planned, I love him dearly and couldn’t imagine my life without him. He’s my little bundle of joy, and he’s all I need.
Callum
August 2, 2016
My life has been a series of one f*cked up situation after the other. It all started the day the woman that popped me out found out she was pregnant with me. She never wanted kids. Ever. My father was perfectly fine with that as he didn’t want kids either. They were a match made in heaven, but I came along and f*cked up their perfect life or debauchery.