cover of episode EP 22 - Angelique Pt. 1

EP 22 - Angelique Pt. 1

2024/12/12
logo of podcast Betrayal: Weekly

Betrayal: Weekly

AI Deep Dive AI Insights AI Chapters Transcript
#motherhood experience#emotional resilience during isolation#friendship stages and transitions#relationship dramas#literature and publishing People
A
Andrea Gunning
A
Angelique Robledo
Topics
@Angelique Robledo : 我17岁怀孕,经历了冰毒成瘾的痛苦,以及朋友的疏离。在最孤独无助的时候,我遇到了@Cassandra ,她似乎是我的同类,给了我安慰和支持。然而,一系列奇怪的事件让我开始怀疑她,最终导致我的衣橱着火,我怀疑她纵火。这段经历让我意识到,即使是看似最亲密的朋友,也可能隐藏着危险和欺骗。我怀孕后戒毒,并决心独自抚养孩子,这改变了我的人生轨迹。 @Andrea Gunning : 本期节目讲述了Angelique 17岁怀孕的故事,以及她在怀孕期间经历的孤独和背叛。她与一个名叫Cassandra的女孩成为朋友,但Cassandra的奇怪行为和最终发生的火灾,让Angelique怀疑Cassandra的真实身份和动机。这个故事揭示了青少年怀孕的困境,以及人际关系中隐藏的危险。 @Josh : Angelique怀孕后,我尽力支持她,虽然因为工作原因陪伴时间不多,但我一直都在她身边。 Cassandra: (没有直接的陈述,通过Angelique的叙述可以推断出她的行为和动机,但缺乏她本人的观点。) @Edwin : (没有直接的陈述,仅通过Cassandra的电话提及。)

Deep Dive

Key Insights

Why did Angelique decide to have the baby despite her difficult circumstances?

Angelique saw her pregnancy as a second chance and a lifeline to change her life. She believed the baby could help her stay sober and give her a new purpose.

How did Angelique's life change after she became pregnant?

Angelique experienced sobriety for the first time in weeks, which she attributed to her pregnancy saving her life. She also faced isolation as her old friends avoided her, and she missed out on typical senior year experiences.

What was the turning point for Angelique in her addiction?

The moment she sat in front of the toilet with a wrench, trying to retrieve her stash, was her rock bottom. It made her realize how far the drug had taken over her life.

How did Angelique and Josh's relationship evolve after she became pregnant?

Josh agreed to be involved in the baby's life and supported Angelique. They went to doctor's appointments together, and he worked overtime to save money for the baby.

What was the significance of Angelique meeting Cassandra?

Cassandra, who was also pregnant, became Angelique's pregnancy buddy. They bonded over shared experiences, and Cassandra's friendship provided Angelique with the connection she desperately needed.

Why did Angelique feel uneasy about Cassandra?

Angelique had a growing sense of unease about Cassandra, especially when Cassandra shared similar stories to Angelique's life and became overly attached. Angelique's instincts told her something was off.

What happened during Cassandra's visit that made Angelique feel threatened?

Cassandra insisted on giving Angelique a gift in the dark, which made Angelique feel scared and paranoid. She had vivid thoughts of being in danger and felt Cassandra's behavior was suspicious.

How did the fire start at Angelique's house?

Angelique believes Cassandra started the fire by tampering with a candle in her room. The authorities collected the candle for evidence, but the exact cause of the fire remains unclear.

What were the consequences of the fire for Angelique and Cassandra?

The fire destroyed Angelique's belongings, including her mother's wedding dress. Both Angelique and Cassandra experienced contractions due to inhaling smoke, with Cassandra being taken to the hospital as she was only six months pregnant.

What was Angelique's initial reaction to Cassandra's gifts?

Angelique noticed the gifts had a strange smell, like cologne, but she chose to be polite and thankful, despite her discomfort. She later felt the gifts were part of something more sinister.

Chapters
Angelique's life takes an unexpected turn when she becomes pregnant at 17. This chapter explores her struggles with addiction, isolation, and the challenges of teen pregnancy. Despite facing numerous obstacles, she finds unexpected support and strength.
  • Angelique's teen pregnancy
  • Struggles with Meth addiction
  • Isolation and loneliness
  • Support from Josh

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

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And I put my mom's phone number in my phone and I put the phone to my chest and I keep my finger on the call button. And I can't stop these thoughts. I don't know how else to explain it. It was just like somebody was whispering in my ear, telling me something bad was about to happen. I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

Angelique Robledo was thrust into the headlines when she was only 17. Everybody was outside my door. I had every single news station. I had people calling me. I had Anderson Cooper calling me. I don't even know how they got my number. As a teenager, Angelique experienced a horribly traumatic betrayal. And that's the story you're going to hear over the next two episodes.

It's taken her 10 years of hindsight, processing, and her own investigation to be able to tell the full story, not just for the headlines or the tabloids, but for herself. Today, Angelique is finally ready to tell her story her way. My motivation is not just to get my story out. It's also to be a voice for the mothers that are not here that didn't get to survive this crime.

Angelique grew up in a large Mexican-American family. And so when we have get-togethers, it's not just a get-together. It was always a party. There was always, like, a pinata. Our cousins, our aunts, our uncles, the whole shebang would come together. Their house was always a gathering place for friends and family. Angelique's mom was an interior designer, and she loved being a hostess.

It was a loving home. Angelique was the only girl in a family full of brothers. She was the sensitive one.

Compared to her brothers, she was more of a people pleaser. She wanted to fit in and be liked. When Angelique was in middle school, her family moved from California to Arizona. It felt like a big upgrade.

We went from living in a mobile home park to what seemed like to me like a mansion because, you know, back then the prices were a lot different. We moved from California to Arizona and had a five bedroom home with a pool. And it was just amazing. It was like a new start and a new beginning. But it was a difficult adjustment. She left all of her friends behind and started middle school in a new state. I was the new girl.

So she developed a tough girl persona.

So I, at that point, had changed from the sweet girl who never got into fights, who never even had an F ever, to this hardcore, you know, I won't say bad person, but when I look back at my childhood, I really do think of like, wow, I did change into this person that I could not even recognize anymore. And part of that new persona meant experimenting with drugs. I did start using marijuana and drinking with my friends.

And then I was going through a really, really hard time during my 11th grade year, something just within my family. And it changed everything about me and made me feel numb. She asked us not to share details about what was happening. But suffice it to say, it was a difficult time. So I was going through some stuff at home, but also dealing with being a high schooler and trying to be cool. The summer before her senior year, she was invited to a party.

It was at that party that a friend suggested that they try a new drug.

It took away the pain and the sorrow and everything that I felt inside of me. And I was immediately hooked. It only takes one time. And that's all it took for me. She was in a bad place and living a life of extremes. I was just a young 17-year-old girl who didn't really understand the consequences of using hard drugs that way. Nobody wants to go down this path. Trying meth wasn't the only thing that happened at the party.

There was a guy named Josh there. They'd known each other for years as acquaintances. She thought he was cute. And that night... One thing led to another, and all of a sudden I wake up in the morning, and I'm like, oh, okay, so this happened. She and Josh hooked up. It was casual, a one-time thing. After that party, Angelique's life began revolving around her new addiction.

As the weeks went on, Angelique began feeling sick and started to suspect she could be pregnant. So one day, about six weeks after she hooked up with Josh, she bought a pregnancy test. Well...

Turns out it was positive. She was only 17, and she panicked. I locked myself in the bathroom.

I brought my pipe in there. I brought my bag, my stuff, and I had smoked and smoked and smoked. I was in shock, and I thought maybe this would numb my pain. But she couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. I came out, and I threw the pregnancy test at my mom, and I said, I'm pregnant.

Her stepbrother was watching the whole scene, and he knew Angelique had just used drugs in the bathroom.

He was one of my best friends. He was somebody that I would talk to all the time. And the first thing that he did was he found my stash and he flushed everything down the toilet. The rest of that day was a blur. Once everyone in the house had gone to bed, Angelique had one thing on her mind. I sat at the toilet staring at it with a wrench trying to figure out how I could remove the toilet to get my stash so that I could smoke again. That's what my main priority was was to sit there and figure that out.

At this point, she'd been addicted to meth for six weeks, and it had taken over her life. It was the moment that I sat on the ground staring at that toilet with a wrench that really made me stomach how far gone this drug had made me. I had felt pathetic. Like, I have no idea what I'm doing with this wrench.

Sitting in front of the toilet with a wrench was her rock bottom. She never wanted to go back to that place. The next morning, she knew she had to talk to Josh.

She told him she was pregnant and he agreed to meet in person. And I came down the street in a hoodie with glasses. It's hot in Arizona. I pulled my hoodie down, took off my glasses and stared at him and said, do you see me? And he said, yeah, you look really messed up. And I said, exactly. If I don't have this baby, this is going to be my life. I don't know if I have it in me to stop doing this because I like it too much.

But this baby can change everything in my life. This baby can help me. She decided that this pregnancy was her second chance, her lifeline. She told Josh that she was going to have the baby, whether he wanted to be involved or not. After all, they had only hooked up once. They hardly knew each other. I didn't want somebody to be with me because I was having their baby. I wanted somebody to be with me because they loved me, not because they felt obligated.

But Josh wanted to be there for her and for the baby. One of their first dates was a doctor's appointment. There, looking at the ultrasound monitor. When I saw the screen, I had immediately fell in love with this tiny little bulb inside of me. And honestly, that was like reassurance for me and more motivation to stay away from the people that were doing drugs or to stay clean.

This whole experience led her to sobriety, and she's been clean ever since. I officially believe that being pregnant is what saved my life. But it wasn't easy. She had to take one day at a time. Trying to work, trying to stay sober, trying to do all these different things.

Her old friends started avoiding her. Her friends had moved on without her. She says she felt forgotten.

You think about high school and you think senior year is going to be the year. It's going to be the year that I graduate. All these different things that we think senior prank, just prom, everything. I was watching all of my friends go through that and I wasn't. On top of that, she didn't have any friends who understood what it was like being pregnant.

And I felt so isolated and lonely because nobody understood why I had heartburn. Nobody understood why I couldn't walk two miles without catching my breath. Nobody could understand, you know, me complaining about how big my belly was. Like they didn't understand any of that because none of them were going through what I was going through. Her biggest supporter was Josh.

But to prepare for the baby, Josh started working overtime, trying to save money. He was working like 90-hour weeks. Like, it was insane. It was literally from morning to night. I never saw him. But he would come to my house with no sleep just to give me a kiss or just to give me a hug. Seeing Josh was often the highlight of her day. That was until she was introduced to a new friend.

I had a friend, her name was Hannah, and Hannah called me and was like, "I met this girl, her name is Cassandra. She is pregnant just like you are. She's our age. It's crazy. Her birthday is in October just like yours. I feel like you guys would have a lot in common. Plus, she's new to town, so she doesn't have too many friends. You know what it's like to be pregnant and kind of feel like that isolation." I kind of just painted this whole picture of like a perfect friend.

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Angelique was 17 when she found out she was going to have a baby. She had lost a lot of friends, and by the time she was entering her third trimester, she was feeling isolated and alone. But then a friend offered to connect her to someone new, another teenager named Cassandra, who was four months pregnant. And I was like, yeah, yeah, like that sounds awesome. Like I need a new friend. I need somebody that is going to be able to relate to what I am going through right now.

So she made plans to get lunch with her. It was like an instant click. So if you're a girl, you know exactly what I mean. You either click with a girl or you don't. And I had felt this like full connection with her. Right away, they just got each other. She was very smiley and just seemed so down to earth. I would say something like, oh my gosh, this happened. And she'd be like, I know what you're talking about. And I was like, oh my gosh, you understand me.

Finally, Angelique had her pregnancy buddy, someone who wouldn't judge her. It was the connection she'd been craving. They both needed to set up their baby registry, so they decided to do it together at a baby store. We were excited and we absolutely like, oh, you should get this. Oh, you should get that. I already have this. It was actually like a really cool moment to have with a friend because I didn't have a friend that was going to go do that with me.

They started talking every day, commiserating. We stayed in contact through Facebook and text message constantly. The same exact thing that we always talked about. You know, how are you feeling? What are you craving? What's been going on? They became fast friends. And they had mutual friends. So they would sometimes hang out as one big group. When they all got together, Cassandra was always on her phone.

She always would be like, "Oh, my husband's calling me." She was constantly on the phone. That was one thing they didn't have in common. Angelique was still taking it slow with the father of her baby, but Cassandra was already married to the father of hers. We were all kind of thrown off at the fact that she was like 17, 18 years old and she had a husband. His name was Edwin. Cassandra only talked to Edwin in Spanish.

Even though Angelique grew up around it every day, she never learned the language. So when Cassandra was on these calls, no one knew what she was talking about. So that was something that like we all did go, huh? It was weird, but people just chalked it up to Cassandra being young, pregnant, and being attached to her husband. A few weeks before Angelique's due date, her family and friends threw her a baby shower.

The only person who couldn't be there was Cassandra. She'd been feeling sick that day, but promised to check in when she felt better.

She was just like, hey, like, how are you doing? I'm so sorry that I missed your baby shower. And I was like, hey, no, don't worry. I know what it's like to be pregnant. Like, don't worry or feel bad at all. And she was like, I still have gifts for you. And I really, really want to come over and just see you and hang out. So they made plans for Cassandra to come over a few days later.

The bag was full of gifts for Angelique. But instead of opening them, they got distracted just catching up.

Angelique's mom fixed them lunch.

For an example, my mom would be like, "Oh, well, Angelique ran away when she was this age and she jumped a wall." But all of a sudden, she had the exact same story. And then I was like, "Oh, you know, that could happen." But then more stories would happen and she would just be like, "Oh, that happened to me too, almost exactly the same." And I don't know, for some reason, I was getting bothered by it and I don't know why. It's really not that big of a deal.

I pulled my mom aside and I asked her like, "Hey, do you think Cassandra's weird?" And she was like, "What do you mean?" I was like, "I don't know. Just I keep getting this weird feeling about her. Like I have this weird feeling."

And my mom was like, no, like, I don't feel that way. She's like, I can tell you that it does seem like she needs a lot of attention. And it seems like she wants like your approval to be your friend. Cut her some slack, you know, as a mom would tell a teenager, like you're kind of being judgmental. So Angelique tried to give Cassandra some grace, even when it came to the endless calls she made to her husband, Edwin. Once she realized my mom understood Spanish, she was like,

She kind of changed her demeanor and she started taking her calls in private. I was just like, okay, these are just things that are kind of just going on. They have explanations. As the afternoon went on, Angelique got tired. It was exhausting hosting. So I started like yawning and kind of just being like a little like, oh, I'm so tired. She had told me that she didn't have her keys to her house and she had to wait for her sister to get back home. And so at that point, I was like, okay, fine.

Angelique, suck it up. Like, she's stuck here for a little bit, and that's okay. You're just going to have to stop and suck it up, like, hang out and just continue the rest of your day with her. By this point, it was getting close to dinnertime. Angelique's mom had to take her little brothers to football practice. She offered to bring Angelique and Cassandra along. And Cassandra was very adamant, like, no, I don't feel good. Is it okay if we stay here? So they stayed back. ♪

Suddenly, Cassandra seemed on edge, almost paranoid. But then, she remembered something.

Cassandra wanted to surprise Angelique with the gifts.

She wanted to give me these gifts in a very unique way. She took a chair from my kitchen and she put it in the middle of my kitchen and told me to sit in it and turn around and close my eyes. I thought that was so odd, but I did it. She's like, I'm going to come up behind you. I'm going to drop the presents in your lap. She started dropping presents in her lap one by one.

The first present was a receiving blanket. The second present was a onesie, little booties, a bib, a bigger blanket, some random newborn diapers.

But Angelique noticed something off about the gifts. They had this smell. It smelled like a man had rubbed cologne all over it, or he just rubbed himself on it or something. It just smelled like a man. But I am not a rude person. My mother did not teach me to be a rude person, and I will be thankful for whatever I get, whether I like it or whether I don't. So I nodded, and I said, thank you so much. The whole situation started to give her that weird feeling again.

My instincts were telling me something that I didn't know how to explain or what it even was. But there was gifts in my lap.

Then, Cassandra brought out an even bigger present, an expensive baby carrier. Cassandra explained that she'd gotten two of them at her own baby shower and wanted to give one to Angelique. Plus, she said Angelique was special.

She had felt some type of special bond between us. She was like, I just feel like you're a true friend. And I just feel like I want to thank you for accepting me. And I know I can be overbearing sometimes. And it was like reassurance that I wanted because of all the feelings I was having. And that conversation with my mom. So it made me feel like, oh, she really is somebody that just wants a friend. She just wants to be accepted. Cassandra was on the verge of tears. Angelique almost felt sorry for her.

So I accepted the gift and she was like, oh my gosh, I forgot. I have one last present for you. And I was like, well, what is it? She was like, well, I have to show you in the dark. Like this has to be done in the dark. Can we go to your room? And I was like, yeah, sure.

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Alright, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird-shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Bartesian. Bartesian? It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for

So how about a Closmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita? I'm thirsty. Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and... Wow. It's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartesian. Get $50 off any cocktail maker at bartesian.com slash cocktail. That's B-A-R-T-E-S-I-A-N dot com slash cocktail. Cassandra had been spoiling Angelique with gift after gift for the baby, but she had one last present for her. It was a gift that involved a light or a projection. You'd have to see it in the dark for the full effect.

So they went to Angelique's room, where Cassandra told her to sit on the bed and close her eyes one more time. At this point, the sun has fully set because it's pitch dark in my room. I couldn't see too well, but I could see her shadow. Like, I could see her. And I started to get really scared. All of a sudden, it was like these weird thoughts started coming into my head. And they were very, like, vivid thoughts. It was just like somebody was whispering in my ear, telling me I was about to be dead.

She couldn't tell if this was just anxiety or if it was something more serious. So as I'm battling with myself, all she's doing is digging through this bag to give me the gift.

Then at that moment, I said something. I said, Cassandra, what's taking so long? And she was like, I found it. I found it. Okay. And she got up on my bed, got behind me on my bed, which made me extremely nervous. And she said, okay, are you ready? And I was like, yeah, show me. She was like, okay. And I'm like, well, what are you doing? She's like, I'm just going to put the light over your head and then you'll be able to see it's going to shine on your closet. Like I had a big closet door and I was like, okay, okay. And I'm sitting right there and she puts her hand on my shoulder and

She leans me forward and she starts to count. And she says, one, two. And right when she says three, something inside of my head said, stand up. So I jumped up as fast as I could and I ran and turned the light on. But when she flipped the light switch, whatever she had in her hand, she was putting back into the bag. And she's just like staring at me and I'm like, what is going on? And exactly when I say that, her phone rings again.

And she answers it, and it's Edwin. And she takes the bag and she leaves the room. And she just starts speaking to this person in Spanish. She starts yelling at this person. Angelique's heart was pounding. I kept on wanting to make it make sense because none of it made any sense. So she tried to calm herself down by lighting a candle, a nervous habit of hers. When Cassandra came back into her room... I was like, well, is everything okay? Yeah.

And she was like, "Yeah, it was Edwin. He wants to take me out to dinner, but I have nothing to wear." And I was like, "Well, just go look at my closet. Go see if there's something in there that fits you." The whole situation was so bizarre. Angelique needed a moment to herself. So she left Cassandra in her room while she went to the kitchen. In my head, I'm thinking, "Something's happening inside of my room right now, and I don't know what's going on." Then Cassandra came out wearing one of Angelique's dresses.

And I'm like, "Oh, that's cute." And I get up and I start to walk closer to the room. And I start to smell this weird smell.

And I'm like, "What's that smell?" And she's like, "What are you talking about?" And I was like, "It almost smells like something's burning." And she was like, "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about." And she's like looking at herself in the mirror, just like checking herself out. And I'm just like, "No, I can absolutely smell like something is burning." - The smell was so intense that Angelique ran from room to room, checking to see if anything was on fire. - The last place I look is my closet. When I open my closet, everything is in flames.

She didn't have time to deal with Cassandra or think at all. She just needed to put the fire out immediately.

And I'm running to the kitchen, I'm grabbing pots and pans, I threw one at Cassandra and I'm telling her, "Fill these up and let's put this fire out." Angelique poured on as much water as she could before they had to evacuate. I was just coughing so much to the point like where I was on my knees. And I had finally gotten the strength to like get up and I grabbed her by her collar and I dragged her out of the house with me and I opened my garage door. And when I opened it, like smoke was rolling out of my house.

We had finally made it outside and we were just both like on the ground coughing so much. Right as they got out, Angelique's best friend, who she called in panic, was pulling up to the house. He lived not even a minute away from me. So him and his mom got in the car, they drove over, and they were the first people that were on the scene. He and his mom had called 911 and the fire department was on their way. I was so scared.

And I was also trying to breathe because I was having bad contractions from inhaling so much smoke. Cassandra was also having contractions. Angelique was a week away from her due date, but Cassandra was only six months pregnant.

Angelique's parents arrived home at the same time as emergency services. Firefighters rushed inside while paramedics started attending to Angelique and Cassandra.

But Cassandra wasn't feeling better. She thought she was in labor. So the paramedics decided to take her to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Angelique went inside with her parents to assess the damage. The firefighters had put the fire out, but not before. Everything inside my closet was gone. Every single piece of clothing that I had, my mother's wedding dress that I had hoped to wear on my wedding day one day was destroyed. Everyone wanted to know how the fire started. Angelique thought Cassandra had something to do with it, but she didn't think anyone would believe her.

She explained that she had lit a candle in her bedroom and then went to the kitchen, leaving Cassandra alone in her bedroom. I said, I guarantee you, if you find that candle, you'll find her fingerprints on it, which they should not be on it because I'm the only person that touched it.

The authorities retrieved the candle and collected it for evidence. Meanwhile, Angelique tried to explain to her parents that something else had happened that night. She told them about the whole scene before the fire, how Cassandra sat her down in the dark, that she'd been scared for her life. I'm like, Mom, it felt like I was going to die. It felt like somebody was going to stab me. It felt like I had something to my back.

Then EMS began collecting Cassandra's things, including that big bag she'd brought with her. They start grabbing the diaper bag and I say, hold on, hold on. And I'm like, excuse me, please wait. I said, can I please see that? And I'm doing this in front of everybody, in front of the cops. I take the diaper bag and I keep explaining to them, she said she had this present for me. Like the explanation is in this bag.

On the next episode of Betrayal...

If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com. That's Betrayal, P-O-D, at gmail.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners.

Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning. Written and produced by Monique Laborde. Also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Kristen Malkuri and Caitlin Golden.

Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Audio editing and mixing by Matt DelVecchio. Additional editing support from Tanner Robbins. Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by Mibe Music. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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