PART 1

I never thought my husband would abandon me at a bus stop like I meant nothing to him.

That Tuesday began with Derek slamming drawers in our bedroom, furious over our credit card bill. He accused me of wasting money because I had bought groceries and an eighty-dollar gift for my sick mother. I tried to explain, but he did not care. To him, everything I did was wrong.

Then he told me to get dressed. He said we were going to visit my mother.

But after twenty minutes, I realized we were driving the wrong way. Derek pulled up beside a lonely bus stop in a rough part of town.

“Get out,” he said.