I was stunned when he chastised me in front of her for leaving Seattle to pursue my career. Still, I was nervous to introduce him to my mom. He had moved in with me and things were serious between us. Kenny said that he fell in love with me for my voice, but he started making jealous remarks about my fans.ДЇorВ Thanksgiving, I invited him to Seattle to meet my family. In 2009, I played 97 gigs, my personal record. I blamed that for his bizarre behavior in Las Vegas. He had lost his IT job and, I learned, was about to lose his house. I kept reassuring myself: He would never hurt me.Д«y the end of October, he had moved to California looking for a fresh start. I finally left the room to get dinner on my own and calm down. He never pointed it at me, but I was scared. Then he grabbed hisВ gun-he always carried it on him-and started pacing the room again, berating me. вЂњHow could you be so selfish?вЂќ he screamed. When I asked if he wanted to get something to eat, he flipped out. I kept reassuring myself: He would never hurt me.Д«ack in our hotel room, he continued to rant. He said that he liked to debate and I shouldnвЂ™t engage in political discourse with him if I couldnвЂ™t вЂњhandle it.вЂќ We went out for dinner, but I left in tears before the food was even served because heвЂ™d started arguing with me. He got a penthouse room and made dinner plans, but then we saw on the news that a tsunamiВ had hit Pago Pago. I didnвЂ™t think about theВ gunВ during those early months-not until we went to Las Vegas for a tattoo convention slated to happen in early October. I told him that story, but he reassured me that he had been extensively trained, and that hisВ gunВ was for our protection.В вЂќThis will keep us safer,вЂќ he promised. My uncle killed himself with aВ gunВ when I was 9, so IвЂ™ve always been scared of them. It was on that trip, barreling down the highway in his diesel pickup, when he told me he had a concealed carry license.

We stayed in touch, and вЂњofficiallyвЂќ started dating in July when he invited me to Utah. He had worked in IT, but when we met, he was looking for new opportunities. He told me a bit about his life: half-Samoan, he was born in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, but was raised a Mormon in California and Hawaii before going to Brigham Young University. He lived in Utah and was just visiting, so I spent the next few days taking him to a local oyster festival and my favorite beaches. I was also attracted to his intelligence-we talked in a deep, philosophical way that first night. A mutual friend introduced us, and Kenny told me that he loved my voice.

I am a blues singer-heвЂ™d seen me at one of the many gigs I played that year in California, where I was living at the time.

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