I am a 32 year old father and husband named Dante Cruz.
I know I don't give my family everything they want, but I give them everything I have. Every day, I drag myself through work, taking the blame, cleaning up after others, just to bring something home. Something better than yesterday.
My wife and I were just dumb teenagers when she got pregnant. I begged her not to have the kid. I was scared. Broke. Angry. I planned to cut and run, to disappear like every other guy in my neighborhood did when things got hard.
Then my dad knocked some sense into me.
Taught me that being a man had nothing to do with muscles or money. It was about showing up, for the people who needed you.
So I stayed. Even though she hated me, I promised her I'd keep her and our kid happy. And eventually, she let me back in.
I found work as fast as I could. Her parents kicked her out, but mine took her in, even when they barely had space or food for themselves. I promised I'd earn enough to carry all three of us.
When I finally landed a job, I ran home to tell my dad, grinning like a kid myself. But when I opened the door, my mom was in tears.
That was the day I learned my father died.
From that moment on, I carried everything. My kid. My wife. My mother. Their future sat on my back.
I worked hard. And after a while, I finally got a promotion and managed to finally take care of my family without worry.
We lived comfortably for a long time. We were by no means wealthy, but I didnt have to buy knockoff brands of food that tasted horribly anymore.
But just as I was starting to feel relief, we got a call. It was for my mom but she was asleep at the time so I asked if I could give her a message.
It was a doctor calling about my mothers illness.
Illness? She never told me she was sick. She never acted sick. No. I just wasn't paying enough attention to her, I was paying more attention to my job, to the bills.
I confronted her about it when she woke up.
She'd been hiding an illness for a long time. When I finally found out, it was too late. She told me she didn't want to worry me, said I already had too much on my shoulders.
I tried to do anything I could to help her stay alive, I didn't want to lose my mom.
But eventually, it was her time. I stayed by her side the entire time, talking to her, holding her hand until, she didn't respond anymore. I couldn't believe it, I kept talking to her as if she could hear me.
Thinking back, that was probably the turning point in my life. After she passed, my effort at work, at home, and in life in general just plummeted.
Eventually, I got fired. I dreaded going home, expecting to get yelled at by my wife, I wouldn't blame her at all after all I broke my promise to her.
But when I did tel her she did the exact opposite.
My wife told me not to worry.
She handed me our son and headed out.
She didn't make me go out and find another job, she went out herself.
A few hours later, she came back and told me she had gotten a job.
I was so disappointed in myself I had promised to make her happy but she has to take care of me now.
As soon as she came home from her job the next day, I went out searching everywhere for work.
It didn't matter what I had to do or how badly they treated me, I just couldn't stand the thought of my wife working while I wallowed in self-pity.
Eventually, I found a job, one I'd never have accepted if I wasn't desperate.
I got yelled at and insulted during the interview, but I didn't care.
All I wanted was to stop my wife from having to take care of me when I'd promised her the opposite.
I went home right after getting the job and told my wife the news.
I asked her to quit hers, not because I wanted to prove anything, but because I wanted to take some of the weight off her shoulders. I just wanted to keep my promise to care of all of us, instead making her take the burden of the promise that I made to her.
"I knew you wouldn't break your promise so easily"
She got a job not because she thought I broke my promise to her, no she just seen it as me taking a little break. I don't know how I got this lucky to have a woman like her as my wife.
She quit her job, and I was right back at it, working hard to provide, not just to scrape by but to be able to actually make my promise come true.
Although I was treated horribly, I stuck with it and managed to provide well enough for us.
And eventually, we had another kid.
I wasn't sure how to feel but I was happy.
Another mouth to feed made things tougher, but if I cut my portions down, it was enough for everyone else to enjoy every meal.
Eventually, my kids grew up and started going to school. Now, they're 16 and 10 years old.
The other day, my oldest son asked me about getting a job.
I was proud to see him wanting to earn his own money.
This weekend, we're going to look around town together to find one.
My youngest has started playing basketball, and apparently, he's pretty good.
He's going to try out for a team next week, so I've got to help him practice.
I don't know much about the sport, but I'm going to do some research, see if I can find something to help him out.
When I got home today, my wife was telling me about her day.
She said some rich, smug guy tried asking her out while she was shopping.
Wouldn't take no for an answer but was causing a huge scene so the store manager finally kicked him out.
I thought nothing of it and after making sure my wife was okay I just laughed it off, after all it's bound to happen with how beautiful she is.
That night, I stayed up later than usual, looking into job openings and researching basketball drills.
I just wanted to do whatever I could to help my kids, even in the smallest ways.
That's when I heard the front doorknob getting jiggled around.
I had just tucked my youngest into bed.
My wife was already lying in bed already, asleep.
My oldest was out at a friend's place tonight.
I walked over to unlock the door, thinking it was my son coming back for something he forgot.
But just then, the door flung open, slamming straight into me and knocking me back.
Stunned, I looked up at the doorway as four men walked into my home, calm, like they were invited in.
Realizing what was happening, I took a stance blocking the hallway leading to my wife and kids' rooms.
After fighting off four of them, I started to tire. They finally took me down.
Two went ahead while the other two stayed to keep me occupied.
Then I heard my kid scream. That rage hit me like a lightning bolt.
I pushed myself up, charged one, and knocked him down.
The other came at me, but I took him down too.
I then also heard my wife screaming, followed by multiple thuds on the ground.
While he was down, I grabbed a vase from the shelf and smashed it, creating a shard to use as a weapon.
I stabbed him right in the throat, one down.
I attempted to rush through to my wife and kid. But the other man blocked the hallway.
I was about to lunge at him until I heard my wife and kid screaming as the 2 men emerged from the hallway dragging my wife and kid while they were held at gunpoint.
Not wanting to risk them pulling the trigger I backed off.
They tied up my wife and kid, warning me if I didn't cooperate, they'd shoot.
I nodded and let them tie me up as well.
So I played along, biding my time, waiting for a chance to get them away from those men.
But the chance never came.
They tied my hands and feet so tight, even if there was an opening, I couldn't move.
They put all 3 of us on the couch, after they tied us up.
Why are you doing this? I don't have much but I'll give you all the money I have if you just leave.
My wife nodded, "yea there's no reason to rob us, so why?"
"Because you decided to stay loyal to this pussy instead of taking the boss's generous offer."
That's when it hit me, this was all set up by the man my wife rejected.
Me and wife both turned and looked at each other knowingly.
At least we know who's behind this now.
"Buzz….Buzz"
What's that?
One of the men reached in his pocket and pulled out a phone.
"Guys it's the boss"
"What does he want"
"Ask him when he's getting here"
"Shhh hold on"
"Wait, what? Are you sure? We just went through all this trouble"
"What'd he say?"
"You sure we shouldn't just take her back with us?"
"No, no I'm just sayi—, yes sir your the boss"
He put his phone away.
"What'd he say?"
"He found another girl that he says looks better"
I sighed in relief thinking they would leave.
"But…"
But?
No please just leave.
I thought this to myself.
They walked over to us.
"So change of plans we don't have to bother you guys any more."
All 3 of us were very relieved to hear this.
"But… we don't want any witnesses of this"
We won't tell anyone I promise.
"See I would like to believe you but words only carry so much"
Just then the other 2 raised their guns and shot at my son and wife.
With nothing left to lose, I hopped up and lunged at them, managing to bite one of their arms.
The other 2 men raised his gun and shot at me.
One of them hit my shoulder.
The other right in my stomach.
I knew this was it but with all the strength I could muster I tried to make it to my wife and child.
I couldn't even make it close enough to see them for the last time before the world began to fade.
It Hurts.