Torn 3: Surviving the Human Snake Pit
"He Left Me To Die, But I Didn't"
By Ella JohnsonTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2017 Ella Johnson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-8262-1Contents
Chapter 1 "Who's That on the Phone?", 1,
Chapter 2 The Ride Home, 3,
Chapter 3 New Man in Town, 7,
Chapter 4 Something Else, 11,
Chapter 5 Taking the Day Off, 14,
Chapter 6 Is This the Right Church?, 19,
Chapter 7 "It's Not Like That!", 22,
Chapter 8 Getting Personal, 26,
Chapter 9 The Ink Isn't Dry Yet, 31,
Chapter 10 Charity Begins at Home, 34,
Chapter 11 2 Weeks Notice, 39,
Chapter 12 Show Me the Money!, 42,
Chapter 13 Time to Move On, 45,
Chapter 14 First Sign of Trouble, 49,
Chapter 15 Surprise No More!, 55,
Chapter 16 The Birthday Boy, 61,
Chapter 17 "Why Did You Charge Me?", 64,
Chapter 18 You've Got Secrets, 67,
Chapter 19 California Girls, 71,
Chapter 20 "Find us a House!", 76,
Chapter 21 "He left me to die", 78,
Chapter 22 Never Made It Home, 86,
Chapter 23 About Last Night, 88,
Chapter 24 Surprise at the Door, 90,
Chapter 25 A New Assistant, 95,
Chapter 26 It's Time to Get Out!, 98,
Chapter 27 This Is the House, 104,
Chapter 28 Taken For a Ride, 107,
Chapter 29 Off Limits, 112,
Chapter 30 Moving Day, 117,
Chapter 31 Sell More Packages, 121,
Chapter 32 No Noise, Please, 125,
Chapter 33 You Promised Me, 130,
Chapter 34 Road Trip, 133,
Chapter 35 What Happened to My Soup?, 136,
Chapter 36 Confessions From the Snake Pit, 143,
Chapter 37 "I Was a Fool", 149,
Chapter 38 Dinner Is On Me!, 155,
Chapter 39 "D, I'm Tired", 160,
Chapter 40 "You should pay your trainer", 168,
Chapter 41 The Dream That Prepares Me, 174,
Chapter 42 Is it possible for a snake to have love?, 177,
Chapter 43 It's Not Just Another Day at the Office, 181,
Chapter 44 Secret Revealed, 187,
Chapter 45 Safe Environments – Not Snake Environments, 194,
Chapter 46 No Value in Loyalty, 199,
Chapter 47 I Want My Money!, 208,
Chapter 48 The Final Church Service, 212,
Chapter 49 Day in Court, 217,
Chapter 50 Fault With The Figures, 221,
Chapter 51 Manna From Heaven, 224,
Chapter 52 Just a Name Change, 229,
Chapter 53 Bad News from Bama, 234,
Chapter 54 Move Your Car!, 237,
Chapter 55 Give Me My Stuff, 242,
Chapter 56 Game On!, 244,
Chapter 57 Anecdote to the Snake's Venom, 249,
Chapter 58 God's Help in Time of Trouble, 255,
Chapter 59 The Sneaky Snake Surfaces, 261,
Chapter 60 "Can you stand the rain?", 264,
Chapter 61 Scare Tactics, 268,
Chapter 62 The Confrontation, 271,
Chapter 63 Time for a Takeover, 279,
Chapter 64 Just Like Eve, 288,
Chapter 65 Chilling in Florida, 291,
Chapter 66 It's You Again!, 294,
Chapter 67 "Don't You Remember?", 302,
Chapter 68 "Go Back With Me", 318,
Chapter 69 "She Won't Leave", 324,
Chapter 70 "This Means War!", 329,
Chapter 71 "This is not what I expected", 337,
Chapter 72 "Close your accounts now!", 347,
Chapter 73 "Chug it down!", 350,
Chapter 74 "Don't get caught slipping", 355,
Chapter 75 "Where's there's smoke, there's fire", 365,
Chapter 76 "He'll have to kill me first", 371,
Chapter 77 Trail of Deceit, 378,
Chapter 78 Her Day in Court, 390,
Chapter 79 "Have you heard from her?", 399,
Chapter 80 That Failed Attempt, 402,
Chapter 81 "This isn't the time to panic", 408,
Chapter 82 Poison, 414,
Chapter 83 God Is Able, 424,
Chapter 84 I Need a Favor, 431,
Chapter 85 Give Them Something, 439,
Chapter 86 "Everybody Knows Da'King", 455,
Chapter 87 The Trial Ends, 475,
Chapter 88 Hail to My King!, 492,
CHAPTER 1
"Who's That on the Phone?"
"Melissa, do you have everything?" Diana asks, walking through the house one last time.
"Yes! Yes, I do, big sister. You know you act more and more like momma everyday" I say.
"Yeah, well, we have to be like that with you because you know you'll lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body", she comments.
Diana and I walk though my bedroom one last time just to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. I can't help but remember a few months ago when Diana was here doing the same thing when I was scheduled for my trip to London with Patrick. Scouring the room, it looks like I did a good job of packing. During this time of year, the weather is very cold in London, so I've packed for the weather. I'll finally get a chance to wear some of the boots that I don't get to wear here in sunny Florida. I can tell that the kids are excited for me. They have always just wanted me to be happy. Surprisingly, they help take my luggage out to the car.
"Mommy, please don't forget to bring us something back", Justice says, with Amber close by chiming in. "That's right, Momma!"
"Girls, now you know I won't forget! When have I ever gone out of town and didn't bring you something back?" I ask them.
"Ok, girls, give yo' momma a hug because we need to get on the interstate. It's usually crowded during this time of the day and we don't need anything to hold up this trip", she says, playfully hitting me in the side, as if she knows I have another agenda for this trip.
Amber, Sharelle, and Justice watch me and Diana drive down the driveway. They're standing in the front window waving goodbye until we're completely out of sight. Within 15 minutes, we're on I-95 heading for the Miami International Airport. Traffic is cooperating well with us and based on the traffic report, we shouldn't run into any delays.
"And you're sure you want to do this, Melissa? This is a big step, girl", Diana tells me after moments of silence in the car.
"Yes, sis, I'm sure. I've had more than enough time to think about this. He makes me happy and I make him happy and we're good together. He's who I want, Diana. Honestly, I can't wait to get off the plane and run into his arms", I tell her.
"Well, we're here. And on schedule, I might add."
Diana and I park the car in the '1hour parking' section. People are rushing back and forth getting luggage out of their cars. Children have this look of expectancy and excitement on their faces. The airport staff is busy checking people in. I realize that I need to put my phone on "silent" and as soon as I do, I get a text message that changes everything. The wind is knocked out of me. I can't help but gasp after reading this message. Diana notices me right away.
"Melissa, what is it?" she asks. "You look as if you've seen a ghost", she comments.
"I can't speak right now. I just can't....", I say, but she interrupts me.
"What is it? Who is that on the phone?" she asks, looking worried and scared.
"Diana, why? When will I ever be happy, sis?" I ask her.
"MeMe, you're scaring me. Who is it and what did they tell you?" she asks, reaching for the phone.
Diana grabs the phone away from me and immediately covers her mouth with her hand.
CHAPTER 2
The Ride Home
"Melissa, I'm so sorry about all of this", Diana says, trying to comfort me.
The pain in my heart right now is indescribable. The right words can't come to my mind to begin to explain to my sister how I feel at this very moment. Although I know that her intentions are to be here for me, I don't want to hear any sounds, I...
