I met “Jackie” Cortez during my first quarter as a SCAD student. He was in my 2D Design course and also lived a room away from my dorm. He and several others grew to be close friends and as time went by, we fell for one another. It took him a while to convince me to date him because I was happy with how well I was doing on my own. I had my group of friends and I had my mindset completely goal-oriented and was hesitant to allow any distractions to break what I had going for myself. Once we mutually agreed to give it a shot, the red flags appeared. I won’t even go through the details because that isn’t even what tore us apart. We made it through that summer via long distance and I returned to Savannah while he tried to figure things out in his hometown, Douglasville, GA. (his dad refused to fund his education without him putting forth the effort to work at the same time which is reasonable). The distance was a struggle…
He was not exactly respectful of my boundaries and was severely depressed but I did everything I could to be a support system for him while I was a full-time student in the Interior Design program. The relationship began to be so full of pressure that I decided to pick up my pretty awesome life in Savannah to transfer to the Atlanta campus to live with him in his families basement in Douglasville, GA. It was a huge culture shock for me and it was a huge adjustment for me to have to commute while sharing a car with him. I would have to wake up at all wee hours of the morning to drive him to work sites then commute to school, then I got a job at Yogli Mogli, a local frozen yogurt shop five minutes from the house with the help of Jennakate Hall (homewrecker he knew from high school that was in a committed relationship with his very best guy friend). After living there for 9 months, I was ready to move closer to campus to ease some of the stress for both of us. His job sites were located around the city of Atlanta and some right in the city so it was perfect… All three of us became friends. Jack, Jenna, and I. She went through 2 boyfriends while I knew her. One being her sisters’ husbands’ brother. Yes, that is correct. Things started getting weird once she ended things with him. She began saying things like, “Ya know, I could f*** whomever I want… I can get into places because of my looks… I’m lucky that I have a normal p****… Let’s play truth or dare… Threesome suggestions… Jack, you have wonderful black, curly hair, etc.” Before long, Jack and Jenna were texting quite frequently and when we hung out she would want to get us drunk and Jack was straight edge before we started hanging out with her. He would “punish” me for smoking or drinking when I would visit him from Savannah or North Carolina. We took our final vacation together to Savannah where Jack and I “fell in love.” It was a disaster. While did homework in the hotel room, they snuggled in bed and giggled under the sheets… I wound up wanting to leave early because it was all too strange and once we got back, he decided to move back to Douglasville around the same time she moved back from Gainesville where she lived with the sister/husband/brother guy. I knew that was it… I continued living my life as a student an employee of Z Gallerie where I sold furniture. He asked me to visit him in my free time one Friday and when I arrived, he was in the shower and his treasured camera was sitting on the coffee table. Since I’ve used to camera several times for projects and shooting shows with him, I decided to take a look at anything new or old that was on the camera. The photos were all of her. They were all of Jennakate stealing everything I went through hell to keep. That is my story. It’s been a while since it happened but it still haunts me. I’m in a happy relationship now and am thankful that I have been released from all of the bullshit that came along with him. I never really got any closure though. So, I think this should help. Here are a few of the photos from the camera. I’m so glad I was able to smuggle that SD card. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to use them. BTW she is wearing my ring in the photo and turns out the sear sucker pink pants were ones that her ex-boyfriend bought her. Also, the animal prints are Jack’s terrible attempt at art.