A story from the pages of my life - The Ryan Saga Part I

When I was about eighteen years old, I had graduated from high school, I was working for the government and in my spare time I'd hangout a lot at the Annapolis Docks at night and on the weekends. It was something fun to do because a lot of kids our age hung out down there, we were too young to get into nightclubs and I wasn't crazy about the people I went to high school with, so I met a whole new crew down there.

One night we all jumped into the cars and headed to a party in Crofton. That's where I met Ryan. He was fun and exciting - he wore a big gold chain around his neck, he was white but he pretended he was black - he was a yo boy - he wore baggy jeans, kept his hair cut really short and listened to like Snoop dog, Biggy, 2 Live Crew and all the late eighties early nineties rap.

Anyway, I was instantly in love - or maybe it was infatuation - now when I look back it was pure insanity. He had a girlfriend, but her parents hated him and she wasn't allowed to see him - she was still in high school. He didn't have a car, so I let him drive mine all the time. He didn't have a job - that should have been a red flag and after a few weeks of hanging out - he told me that he broke up with his girlfriend Stephanie and I believe him because he was with me all the time.

He had a whole crew of friends - he knew everyone and I got to know everyone and there was always something to do. Back then hotel parties were popular because we all lived with our parents. So, we would take turns renting rooms at crappy hotels and throw big ass parties. I don't even remember how we got the alcohol - but we always had it.

Up until this time I had never touched a drug in my life - but it was with this group of people that I was introduced to acid - wow - talk about a long high. That stuff lasted forever.

Anyway, one day I'm talking to my friend Oscar on the phone - he went to a different high school then I did and he knew about my new boyfriend Ryan. We talked about our weekends and he recalled that his friend Stephanie also has a boyfriend named Ryan and she went to Annapolis High School. We put two and two together and realized that it was the same Ryan!!!! He was going to see Stephanie during the day when I was at work and then he was hanging out with me after work. It worked out great for him because she couldn't see him that often anyway because of her parents! I got her phone number from him and called her! That sneaky bastard even took my car to go see her!

Her and I talked for a while comparing dates and times and places - basically every single day that I wasn't with him - he was with her. This had been going on for 6 months!

So, I hopped in the car, picked her up, and we drove to the basketball courts to confront him. She laid the front seat back and hid, and then when he opened the passenger door, she popped up and we both started pounding him with questions and insults and we made him choose in front of both of us.

He chose me. He told her he was in love with me and that he was done with her. Score one for the home team.

But, he wasn't done with her - it was a lie - he still kept calling her - he still went behind my back to see her - being the insecure stalker I was , I even found them at a hotel together - I promptly drove down there and smacked the shit out of him and broke up with him for the fifteenth time.

Our relationship grew to a whole new dysfunctional level. One time we got in a big fight at my friend James' house, he picked me up, threw me on the ground and started kicking me. Hard. He threw my keys at me and gave me a black eye. We fought in my parent's house - they had brand new white carpet, he punched me in the nose and broke it. Both of my eyes instantly turned black and my nose bled for about 2 hours. I didn't tell anyone the truth. I lied to cover up for him and said that he accidentally elbowed me when we were wrestling.

To be continued...