2 Years Ago
East: When did it stop?
Delivered
West: In my teens. I got too big for him, I think. Out of high school, I distanced myself as much as I could. I worked my ass off and put myself through college, I didn’t want to owe him anything. As soon as I graduated, I landed a job.
West: Being financially independent from him was the most important thing. He uses his money to control the people around him. I didn’t want any part of it.
Delivered
4/26 11:55 p.m.
East: What an asshole.
Delivered
4/26 11:56 a.m.
West: So now that we’ve established my dad is a physically abusive piece of shit and I’m flayed open for you to examine, why don’t you tell me about your family?
Delivered
4/26 11:57 p.m.
East: Tit for tat, as they say?
Delivered
4/26 11:57 a.m.
West: Exactly.
Delivered
4/26 11:58 p.m.
East: What do you want to know?
Delivered
West: Everything.
4/26 11:59 a.m.
West: Are you close with your parents? You don’t mention them.
Delivered
4/27 12:00 a.m.
East: There’s not much to mention. I haven’t seen or heard from them since my eighteenth birthday.
Delivered
4/27 12:01 a.m.
East: It’s a long story.
Delivered
4/27 12:01 a.m.
West: I’ve got time.
Delivered
4/27 12:03 a.m.
East: Ugh, fine.
Delivered
4/27 12:06 a.m.
East: They’re Bible-thumpers, and I don’t mean that in an exaggerated way. They follow the teachings of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen like it’s the law. Why I thought coming out to them was a good idea, I don’t know. Fourteen year old me was a fucking idiot.
Delivered
4/27 12:09 a.m.
West: I assume it didn’t go well?
Delivered
4/27 12:12 a.m.
East: They told me I’d be going to hell, I’d never be accepted into society. Blah, blah, blah. Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26. There was a lot of quoting the bible. They asked me to repent, and when I didn’t, they almost forced me to go to one of those “camps.” I threw a fit, threatened to run away.
Delivered
4/27 12:14 a.m.
West: You? Throw a fit? Seems so out of character **straight line mouth emoji**
Delivered
4/27 12:17 a.m.
East: Ha. ha. Anyway… eventually they gave up and pretended I didn’t exist while still living in their house. I was pretty much raised by early 2000’s sitcoms, spending summers with my grandparents in KY learning how to make bourbon and moonshine.
Delivered
4/27 12:17 a.m.
West: Moonshine? Like… bootleggers?
Delivered
4/27 12:18 a.m.
East: Yeah haha. It’s a similar process, moonshine is just a high-proof, unaged whiskey. Grampy used to cook up a cherry one that would knock him and his friends on their ass real quick.
Delivered
4/27 12:20 a.m.
West: How old were you?
Delivered
4/27 12:22 a.m.
East: Oh, I wasn’t drinking with them. I tried it once, coughed up a lung, and didn’t touch it again until I moved in with them after high school.
Delivered
4/27 12:23 a.m.
West: Did your parents kick you out?
Delivered
4/27 12:26 a.m.
East: It might have been better if they had. They just left. I came back from school one day and all their shit was gone. Just like that. They skipped out on the rent on our house. I got lucky, and my old neighbors let me stay with them for a month until school got out and I graduated.
Delivered
4/27 12:27 a.m.
East: Then I got myself to KY and stayed with my grandparents.
Delivered
4/27 12:29 a.m.
West: How did your grandparents feel about… you know?
Delivered
4/27 12:32 a.m.
East: They didn’t care, I don’t think. I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it. My grampy caught me fooling around with one of his miller helpers. He didn’t say anything, just walked away and then never mentioned it. But he didn’t treat me any different, so I guess that counts for something.
Delivered
4/27 12:35 a.m.
East: But can we move on? All this trauma dumping is making me sad.
Delivered
4/27 12:36 a.m.
East: Send me a dick pic, make me feel better **angel emoji**
Delivered