Baby Steps

The following has nothing to do with my relationship. My relationship is perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. No, this has to do with my friend's relationship. Names have been changed.

Melanie, my friend of about 3.5 years, is 22 years old and has been in a turbulent, on-and-off relationship with Richard, 25, for 7 years. Both have cheated on each other and have obvious trust issues. Both have manipulative tendencies. Richard continues to cheat on her but she's not allowed to have male friends. I've seen him throw stuff at her, and he's been abusive in other ways as well. I cannot speak to whether she has been abusive to him as well because I simply don't know.

I have no idea why they are still together. I mean, at this time, they are apart again, but give it two weeks, they will be back together because Melanie has a poor memory and likes his dick. It's like clockwork: they will be together for a couple weeks, she'll make some posts on Facebook about how she will fight for her family (him, her, and her dog) and fuck everyone who disrespects their relationship, you just don't know what they've been through, blah blah blah... A couple days later (usually around when rent is coming up), they had a fight, sometimes the cops are called, he's gone, now she needs money because he was going to help her out this month but now he's gone. That's okay, fuck him (fuck all men actually), she'll just be single, she doesn't need him, and don't worry, she won't let him back into her life after what he did. But then it will be radio silence for a while, and she'll pop back up with something that Richard did was so nice and they are together and no one can tear them apart. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Well, this morning, I found out that he asked her for money. She is notorious for just giving him her money (this girl fucking works her ass off trying to make ends meet), and this time she said no. I'm so fucking proud of her for that. She's trying to save for a car and she told him no. Will he ask later and will she say yes? I have no idea, but this is the first time I've heard her say no to him. So anyway, he's all mad at her and she's all mad at him, and I'm dreading when it cycles back around to her meaningless posts about respect, but for right now, I'm really happy for her. She needs to build that bit of strength up and kick his ass to the curb for good.

But baby steps. :)