Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Junky's Wife in Charlotte, North Carolina

Why I don't leave

When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.

-- from The Picture of Dorian Gray

Sponsored
Sponsored

Rereading it, I knew I'd highlighted this section because it made me think of my husband during our affair days. I've always been so ardent about him, and even at the beginning, I recognized this power that he had to consume me, even when our relationship was a dalliance.But I'm not sure that we ever were just dallying. From the first moment we touched, it was clear that what we were doing was different.

That night was strange. My then-boyfriend and G. had found a wallet at the bar where they worked, and they had gone on a shopping spree with the found credit card. My boyfriend was going out of town to visit his father, but there was a party at their house that night (my boyfriend and G. were roommates). I planned to go, though my boyfriend was out of town. I wore new boots that my boyfriend had bought me with the credit card, and I was high on ecstasy.

The X was intense, so I spent most of the night in my boyfriend's room. G. stayed there with me, rubbing my feet with his hands, then softly with a knife. The X was throbbing. It felt good to be touched, talked to. It was warm and interesting and safe.

Later, when everyone was gone, we sat on the couch together, and he kissed me. It was like some wild beast had been unleashed -- I made him leave with me and go back to my house.

I am alarmed to remember that he didn't do drugs back then, that I was the crazy one. I admired his sobriety. It made him different from the other guys I knew, and from myself. I was a mess, and he seemed so together, so poised.

Once it started, he was all I thought about. Our connection was intense, instantaneous. We'd talk to each other while we were making love in this way I can never quite explain, like we could talk while our mouths were full of each other.

I fell deeply in love. It was physical, and it was more. I respected him. He was religious, and he would talk about it openly in front of his friends -- hipster pseudo-intellectuals who mocked the idea of religion and party boys who thought it was weird for anyone to care about anything. He could draw and paint, and he was interested in my writing. He was sensitive and admired my intellect. His eyes were intensely blue behind the darkest, longest eyelashes. I believe he's the handsomest man I've ever seen. If I were designing a man, I'd design him.

Nothing compares to the way his skin feels against mine, the way my lips feel against his eyelids, the way our bodies fit together. And there is nothing like the smell of him, like the smell of his armpit or his neck or his arms; his smell is raw and clear and sharp. My favorite aroma. If the way he smelled was a flower, I'd pick them into extinction.

This is why I don't leave. I love this man madly. In all the years since that first night, I have been devoted. When we weren't together, I'd mourn for the feeling that only he could give me, a feeling of being consumed, of connection, of recognition and profound love. It has shaped the person that I am, and I've been kneeling at the altar of this love for the better part of a decade. I'm as hooked on him as he's ever been on heroin.

I've hurt people. I've destroyed things. I've put my own needs last. I've changed my plans for my future. I've given up stuff that I shouldn't have, but it's what I want. I want him, even like this. As long as he is trying to be better, working on getting back to that good, solid man that I've seen him be, using his mistakes as lessons to grow, I'm going to stay.

http://www.thejunkyswife.com

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo

Why I don't leave

When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.

-- from The Picture of Dorian Gray

Sponsored
Sponsored

Rereading it, I knew I'd highlighted this section because it made me think of my husband during our affair days. I've always been so ardent about him, and even at the beginning, I recognized this power that he had to consume me, even when our relationship was a dalliance.But I'm not sure that we ever were just dallying. From the first moment we touched, it was clear that what we were doing was different.

That night was strange. My then-boyfriend and G. had found a wallet at the bar where they worked, and they had gone on a shopping spree with the found credit card. My boyfriend was going out of town to visit his father, but there was a party at their house that night (my boyfriend and G. were roommates). I planned to go, though my boyfriend was out of town. I wore new boots that my boyfriend had bought me with the credit card, and I was high on ecstasy.

The X was intense, so I spent most of the night in my boyfriend's room. G. stayed there with me, rubbing my feet with his hands, then softly with a knife. The X was throbbing. It felt good to be touched, talked to. It was warm and interesting and safe.

Later, when everyone was gone, we sat on the couch together, and he kissed me. It was like some wild beast had been unleashed -- I made him leave with me and go back to my house.

I am alarmed to remember that he didn't do drugs back then, that I was the crazy one. I admired his sobriety. It made him different from the other guys I knew, and from myself. I was a mess, and he seemed so together, so poised.

Once it started, he was all I thought about. Our connection was intense, instantaneous. We'd talk to each other while we were making love in this way I can never quite explain, like we could talk while our mouths were full of each other.

I fell deeply in love. It was physical, and it was more. I respected him. He was religious, and he would talk about it openly in front of his friends -- hipster pseudo-intellectuals who mocked the idea of religion and party boys who thought it was weird for anyone to care about anything. He could draw and paint, and he was interested in my writing. He was sensitive and admired my intellect. His eyes were intensely blue behind the darkest, longest eyelashes. I believe he's the handsomest man I've ever seen. If I were designing a man, I'd design him.

Nothing compares to the way his skin feels against mine, the way my lips feel against his eyelids, the way our bodies fit together. And there is nothing like the smell of him, like the smell of his armpit or his neck or his arms; his smell is raw and clear and sharp. My favorite aroma. If the way he smelled was a flower, I'd pick them into extinction.

This is why I don't leave. I love this man madly. In all the years since that first night, I have been devoted. When we weren't together, I'd mourn for the feeling that only he could give me, a feeling of being consumed, of connection, of recognition and profound love. It has shaped the person that I am, and I've been kneeling at the altar of this love for the better part of a decade. I'm as hooked on him as he's ever been on heroin.

I've hurt people. I've destroyed things. I've put my own needs last. I've changed my plans for my future. I've given up stuff that I shouldn't have, but it's what I want. I want him, even like this. As long as he is trying to be better, working on getting back to that good, solid man that I've seen him be, using his mistakes as lessons to grow, I'm going to stay.

http://www.thejunkyswife.com

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader