Soul Cleanse 2: My Take On April Fools'

I meant to write this sooner, like about a week ago....

But between National Door Hanging week, corporate inspection coming up next week, and one of our drivers deciding nine hours before his opening shift yesterday to just quit --no explanation, no talking to the management crew, no nothing....things have been pretty tough around here.

I guess it is fitting to write this on the day of, so I won't complain too much.

Even at next week's schedule...and I won't reveal how many hours since the disappearance of said driver...let's just say it's a lot more than the average person would work, despite all the overtime and ish....

Moving on.

Soul Cleanse #2: No matter how many years have gone by, April Fool's Day will forever be the day that I hate the most.

I know you're thinking..."Rainbow, why? Just a few harmless pranks and jokes here and there...what's the big deal?"

(takes everyone's hand...leads them back into time)

February 1997 (yep you read the year right): I get little warnings that the guy I was engaged to wasn't being 100% faithful. I didn't accuse the folks telling me of lying but I wanted to see the proof for myself. And even though it frustrated them, I didn't want to confront him without having the proof, rather than heresay.

He was an abusive, selfish, spoiled bastard. Most folks would have jumped at the get out gate, and at that stage of the game, I was just surviving. But proof mattered because he could always come up with the shit that they were hatin' and everyone wanted what we had, etc...but if everyone really knew....

Moving on.

April 1, 1997 (a little after midnight): He and I are sitting in his car (gray Maxima, tinted windows, Slow Roller printed on the front window) and he proceeds to tell me that he's cheating on me. And just when I am about to do the whole spiel about how long it's been going on, who the chic is, etc., he starts laughing.

I'm wondering, "What's so funny?"

He says, "April Fools! Gosh the look on your face! I almost had you there, didn't I?"

And he was laughing along and looked like he was playing, so I figured that maybe he was playing. Maybe he had heard that folks had gone back to me and was saying he was messing around.

I kept looking in his eyes for any indication that maybe it wasn't a joke. But I detected none, so after we talked, I went back to bed and didn't think too much of it.

April 1, 1997 (around lunchtime): It's our usual ritual. He picks me up from my class and we have lunch together. He was very possessive, so he always had to have lunch with me. Many times, he had gone ballistic if he saw me with my male friends, classmates, or any females that I hung out with.

But I waited around and didn't see his car. A couple of my friends came out of the building, and we decided that we can just go back to the dorms.

In order to get to our dorms, we have to walk past the females' athletic dorm.

One of my friends was like, "Isn't that his car parked on the side of Mabel Thomas?"

(Mabel Thomas being the name of the athletic dorm)

Yes, the car looked like it had the same color, same shape, but the thing that really put up a red flag was the dark tint...and the print across the front windshield .

Seemed like right then, everything stopped.

Then I saw some slight movement in the car.

So I walked up to it and knocked on the driver's side window.

It was stupidity on his part, but he rolled down the window. He's there damn near naked with a topless chic riding his dick.

I was too damn stunned to say anything or even react.

But my friends went into action....I was phased out.

But I heard that he pushed the chic off of him the moment my friends started throwing rocks and bricks at his shit....he hit the gas, dick hanging out and all.

And then I thought about 12 hours earlier...the "so called April Fool's joke".

And I replayed all the shit I had been through with him---from the rapes, the beatings, covering up for him so he wouldn't get sent to jail, helping him out financially, cooking hot meals for him and walking ten minutes to bring them to him, caring for him when he was sick, sacrificing good folks that had been there for me because they made him feel uncomfortable....

The time when he played Russian Roulette with his gun because his friend said I was sleeping with other people...although the only reason his friend said that was because he wanted to sleep with me but I said no...

Everyone saying his car is sounding so good because I bought all of the stereo equipment to make it so....he's looking fly cause I paid for that shit out of my refund money I could have been using to mainly do me.

And I let out the most soul shattering scream--for his unbelievable cruelness and feeling so stupid for trying to love him despite the ways he displayed that he didn't love me..hell, he didn't even respect my ass, it seems....

So April Fool's has never looked the same way to me again.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the event.

It marks the first time I tried to take God's work into my own hands but was unsuccessful. If I was, then you know the story....

Well, I'm about to go and keep myself occupied...not sure with what though. But to my April Fool's pranksters, try not to do anything that is going to hurt anyone, and for goodness' sakes, a joke isn't fun if there is truth to it...especially a cruel truth.

Peace.