Marriage and Lies

He called his family back in the United States and told them about this new girl he met. How he spontaneously married her on a US base, they were devastated. Why her? She was Hispanic and didn't speak any English. She didn't follow the typical standards for a wife of the family he came from. But... they were married and his mother and father ordered they come to the United States immediately where life for their child would be best. However the day before they were to go my father was told he needed to stay one more week on the base and told his mother he would be sending his wife by herself. Not only did she not speak English but she was traveling many miles from the family she has always known to one she knows nothing about.

She boarded the plane and set off for her new journey to the United States, Columbus, Ohio to be specific. She met my grandmother who greeted her with love and kindness despite separate opinions she may have.


Days later her husband came back and they both set off their new lives together. Turns out he got kicked out of the military for drugs and reckless behavior. Of course no one told my mom because she didn't speak English. She had no idea of his drug abuse. In Panama he proved himself to be a respectable, young, good looking man. He got three jobs to help support the family and pay for their new apartment while my mother stayed home pregnant with me.

No one knows if he didn't like the sight of my pregnant mother or felt overwhelmed with working because that is when his lies began.

He was gone for two, three days at a time and she had no idea where he went. He often times went to the apartment next door with a bunch of guys who smoked and were covered in tattoos. On one occasion he invited them all over to his apartment and they all sat around the couch and talked while watching the television ordering my mother for beer and food. By the time she catered to all their needs my father asked her to join them. At which point a man offered her a joint.

Now if that don't piss you off a man offering a pregnant woman weed, then I don't know what.

My father was so high off his ass he didn't realize what happened. But I must give him credit for pulling through and yelling at the guy. But it took my mom's rather large voice to kick them out.

This type of thing happened many times during her pregnancy. But the cheating didn't begin till after.

Where it all began

He met her when he was a mere 19 and she 20 in Panama City, Panama. He was in the US Military and boyy were they in love. But that didn't last too long. You see the love they held was merely lust for one another. She was working in a bar making tips like no other, he came in met her, tipped her $100 and came everyday for the next month begging her for a date or at least give him the time of day. She secretly liked the attention and gave in one day. They did all kinds of things together from sneaking into his barracks and I don't think I need to tell you what went on in their.

Panama was going through an Invasion, by the United States and guards were taking control all over the streets and anyone caught after curfew were given a warning on the first offense and on the second time they were out after curfew their heads were shaved. So of course this too went for the American soldiers but worse stories have been told, but basically they were forbidden to see each other let alone be out after 10:00.

But they pressed on. You know that young puppy love sort of thing? He loved her and where she came from. Even though she grew up in a one room shack and was the 15th child of 16 total. Her mother even hated her because she wanted her next child to be a boy and instead got a girl. Things at that time were different than today.

But life for them was paradise. They partied. They went to the beach and eventually he popped the question. Of course she said yes. He adored her, did whatever she wanted. He even wanted to take her back to the United States and have a family. And Panamanian women going to the USA was unheard of, especially the poor country girls.

She fell pregnant with me the next year which would change the course of their life because my dad turned into a very different person than the one my mom fell in love with..

Isaiah