1 |FAST

EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST:

It was so fast the way I fell head over heels in love with Tom,

It was so fast the way I ignored the little details about him--- the red flags,

It was so fast the time he asked me to move in and I gladly did,

It was so fast the first time his fists made their first prints on my cheeks,

And that day he broke me down mentally with his progressively abusive words,

It was too darn fast.

It was too fast the day I saw those two bars on that peeing stick,

And the third time it was equally fast.

It was so fast the day I found out the sex of the bun I carried,

And when I understood Tom only wanted a son for a child, it was really, too fast.

It was too fast the day we argued on the stairs,

And when his fist missed my cheeks and I lost my balance, it was so fast the way I cascaded down the stairs.

That day I packed my bags knowing she (my little bun) was better off with just me, and far away from her father, it was also too fast.

THREE MORE MONTHS down the line and things are still darn fast:

It was so fast the way Jordan came back into my life,

And when I remembered that time in Varsity I told him off because I had no romantic interest in him, I know how fast our friendship went down.

TWO MONTHS AGO, it was so fast we bumped into each other in the mall,

And it was frankly so fast I told him everything with Tom,

But it was equally too fast a week later when we met in my small Do-it-yourself shop,

And when he offered for a chance to give my child his name, it was too darn fast.

THAT DAY, A MONTH LATER, When golden ballons flew roof high in my face, I knew things had moved so fast but it was the kind of fast that was good, for I have witnessed before Jordan at his best, at his worst and at his ugliest, but he was never one to raise a hand against a woman and progressively abuse her emotionally.