Candy Wallace

TOXIC LOVE

TOXIC LOVE AND THE By: Candace P. Wallace “Good Morning sleepy head Baby Mama”, said a familiar but sometimes annoying voice as I answered my cellular phone off guard at 6:30 on a Friday morning. “Man, I have 15 minutes left before my alarm clock goes off for work, I responded to Landon, my kids father, whom I had developed a more cordial relationship with in the past 3 years since our split almost 8 years ago. Landon giggled and responded, “I wanted to see if you knew anybody that would pass my boy Henry’s car inspection”, I know you know a lot of mechanics out there in Virginia so I thought I’d call so you can jump on that early for me”. “First of all, I rebutted, how in the hell do you figure I know a lot of mechanics? Second, I am not your damn personal secretary and third, why are you calling me this early in the morning”? Landon giggled again like I was some sort of joke and stated, “Girl, every time you needed your car fixed, inspections etc. from the time we were together up until now you always had a good side mechanic”. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice which made me giggle as well, remembering how he always would accuse me of being with the mechanic, the maintenance man, the mailman, even the preacher man. If he wasn’t a man I was related to, take it from him, I was with him. Shaking my head over the phone, I replied, “You mean to tell me you don’t have a woman in that Little Black Book of yours, that knows a mechanic that can hook your boy Henry up”? He responded, “Nope not in Virginia”. Landon had moved to Phoenix, Arizona 4 years ago with his rebound Heather, who popped up and moved in with him immediately after I left him. Looking at the clock it was 6:44a.m. and I knew my alarm clock would be going off in a minute, so I told Landon I would see what I could do, just to get him off the phone. As I hung up the phone, I began to think of our crazy, toxic, young love that lasted almost 16 years and the lessons I would learn from it. We both thought we were so much in love.