Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Tawana and Jerome began dating in the summer of 1975.  They had begun their relationship while Jerome was incarcerated.  Tawana would sneak and go on visits with Jerome’s mother and all the while her mother knew nothing.  Jerome had been incarcerated for robbery and was sentenced to two years in prison.  Tawana on the other hand had just graduated from high school, was waiting to begin her new job and was pretty much looking forward to life.  Although Tawana and Jerome were like night and day, Tawana was smitten by Jerome.  Part of Tawana knew that this relationship wasn’t a good one from the start, but she was determined to make it work.  Tawana sometimes thrived on Jerome’s bad boy image, and although they were exact opposites, their relationship bloomed into something that Tawana had not expected.  Since Jerome was incarcerated, Tawana really had no way of knowing what type of person he really was.  They wrote each other and sent pictures, but Tawana never really got a sense of what kind of person Jerome was.  Besides the fact that he was very handsome, she didn’t know other things about him that surely would put a different light on their relationship.  The things that she didn’t know about Jerome were the things that were certainly destined to ruin their relationship.  She didn’t know that he had a problem keeping his hands to himself or that he had a very short temper.  She didn’t know that he wanted her all to himself, he was very jealous natured.  In hindsight, Tawana probably should’ve walked away from the relationship.  The only thing is Jerome was smart.  He never once let Tawana see that side of him while he was incarcerated.  For one, if he had ever put his hands on her during a visit, his visits would’ve been stopped.  Another reason why he hid his true self from Tawana was that he needed her support.  He needed somebody to take care of him until he got on his feet.  Tawana didn’t know this.  She was smart, very smart.  But she did not have the street smarts of a hustler.  Jerome knew the streets – and he knew them well.  Tawana was in for the ride of her life.  She was about to go somewhere she’d never imagined – not even in her wildest dreams.