20 - Cat's In The Cradle

~Juliet’s Point of View~

“Wanna talk about it,” Jude asked, as we pulled away from the grocery store. He held my hand and stroked the back of it.

I made a face but went ahead and gave him the low down, more than the condensed version I’d already told him. I explained about that last day, how I felt empowered. I felt like I was taking back control of my life. While I had spent all those years convinced I was in an equal partnership, it was clear I wasn’t.

I was completely a housewife to Marcus the whole time we were together. He never washed clothes, dishes, or cleaned up. I had grown up so used to seeing my mom do all those things, maybe for a while I just assumed it was the woman’s duty. Or some shit. But he used me, all the time. He used me to look cool to his friends, he used me so he wouldn’t be alone. So he wouldn’t have to do all that shit for himself.

Looking back now I realized we always went where he wanted for trips, even for dinner. I just went along with it all and ne