Her husband was always a most successful man. Perhaps that's what she liked about him - he was funny and kind, sure, but he also put that gleam in his boss' eye that said you are gonna be with us for a very long time, boy and Charlene liked that in a man. She liked knowing that she could count on a man for when the going got tough.
Charlene was always the kinda independent woman who could look out for herself, she had it from early on, that gene of I don't give a fuck and her momma recognized it in her daughter. However, she only taught her daughter to look for a man who'd one day take care of her, so that she no longer had to and that kinda shot the light outta Charlene.
The day she met Jerry, her first thought was boy, momma's gonna be so proud. And she was right, for Charlene's momma was just bursting with joy the day of her daughter's wedding. A lawyer and one of the best, at that. never got into trouble either, the kinda boy who just sat down and didn't get above his station. That meant he'd be around for a long time and that was just fine by her.
Wasn't too fine by Charlene, however. After about a month of being married to her oh-so-successful husband, she found herself getting bored. It wasn't that Jerry wasn't doing his best, he really was, he just wasn't what she was looking for, but it was too late now. She knew that once you sign those papers, he's yours for life - it had been part of the attraction for her. Knowing that her momma would finally be happy with her daughter, knowing she's set for the rest of her days. But now that she was, Charlene couldn't help but wish for something else. She dreamed of running away and joining the circus, specifically the lion tamer, for indeed, the circus had come to their town.
He was strong, with muscly arms and didn't seem all that successful, which was what drew her in. Or maybe it was the way he waved around that whip. Like he owned it. Charlene found there was something she liked even more than success in a man.
But it was too late - she was married to Jerry and they were together for life - no lion tamer could ever change that. So, she decided to forget about the taming man and to focus on her family. She made sure she fell pregnant since she looked forward to having kids.
Children she would shape up into being everything she looked for in a man. But successful, so that the lucky ladies who fell in with her sons never felt the bitter disappointment that she felt now with Jerry.
They had 3 sons, Mark, Andy and Jason and she loved them all dearly and coddled them as much as she could. Yet, when the time came and she felt them to be ready, she did like the birds and threw them out of the nest. They've gotta learn to fly, she told herself and without her (and yet, under her careful supervision) the boys learned to be themselves, to hold their own and look any man in the eye.
Charlene pushed them to wild lived that she wished she would've led, into adventure and unashamed fun, while also pushing them hard to study, in the hope they'd turn out wild, but also successful. And when she looked at her boys, three fine young men, now all grown up she felt a great swell of pride.
See, momma, this is what you should've shown me.
And she hadn't the faintest idea that the only thing those boys knew to stay well away from was marriage. 'Cause they didn't want to end up like their parents, trapped in their spiteful marriage. And God forbid they ever had kids - wouldn't want some woman to come in and spew poison in their babies' brains like their momma had done to them.
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Photo taken by me.