She did it again! Hurling all sorts of insults my way. My eye is still bruised from the other night. She wanted me to tell everyone that I hit myself in the eye accidentally by rough housing. It’s all a lie! It’s always a lie! My Aunt has always been viewed as this sweet woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly and gives freely from her heart! But it’s all a facade! The minute no one’s watching, she’ll find a reason to stir up chaos with me.

Ever since my mom passed away, I was under her care. Dad is in the military, and I rarely get to see him. At times I receive letters with gifts but whenever Aunt gets upset, depending on her mood, she’ll take my letters and gifts and tell me how my dad doesn’t love me and never wants to see me again! She knows this makes me sad and cry. I know it’s a lie. In fact, when I’m able to speak to my dad, he tells me how much he loves and misses me. I always ask when he’ll return, and he always says as soon as he can.

I wish I could tell him how horrible his sister is treating me. But she stands right next to me while I’m on the phone. Her stare is cold and dark. Scowling at me every time I speak to him. When she reaches the point of being tired of my voice, she snatches the phone out my hand and point to the direction of my room where I’m to remain until she’s ready for me to come out. The last thing I hear my dad say to me is he loves me and will see me again. That’s the only hope I have while he’s away.

Tears fall from my eyes uncontrollably and it hurts because my eye isn’t completely healed. I tremble in fear whenever I hear Aunt steps walking closer to my room. The flooring is squeaky and her heavy breathing makes me even more terrified because I don’t know if she’s going to yell at me or beat me. Either way I brace myself for the storm because whenever she doesn’t have a man to keep her entertained, she begins picking on me.

We went to the market today; she was having her usual cravings of sweet and savory snacks plus she had company coming over tonight. When we reached the door of the store, she leaned towards me and said, “If you ask for anything is in this store, you’re going to get it when we get back home!” All while pinching my upper arm leaving a small bruise. It was her way of reminding me that she was serious.

I lagged behind as she walked through the aisles grabbing things she really didn’t need and tonight was going to be special because she met a strange looking man that’s supposedly wealthy and he promised to spoil her with whatever her heart desires. Needless to say, whenever company was there, I was to remain in the room and never come out until she said so unless I wanted to be beaten.

As we continued on in the market, we came across Ms. Laura. Whenever those two came together, they would spend the entire day gossiping about the people in our town. Ms. Laura or Ms. Liar as I like to call her, was just as messy as Aunt. They would gossip about any and everything which also included me. Even while standing in their presence, my aunt would complain about how I’m such a burden to her and if wasn’t for my dad’s money, she wouldn’t even have me in her home.

Oh, how I wish that was true! I wanted nothing more than to be as far away from her as possible! “Well ok girl I’ll talk to you later. My man is coming over tonight!” “Ok girl I see you! Get that bag!” Ms. Lisa replied as they both laughed. Aunt glanced back at me and said, “Let’s go, now!” “Yes ma’am.” I said lowering my head as we continued on with her shopping.

When 6:30 arrived, I had to hurry and finish my dinner which either consisted of some microwave meal or noodles and then straight to the room. Not a sound was to be heard out of me. Aunt was preparing everything for that strange man to arrive. She had dinner, a real dinner prepared for him. Steak, mashed potatoes and asparagus with brownies for dessert. I can’t remember the last time I had a real meal prepared for me. I relied heavily on school meals and had some friends who would bring me some of their leftovers without question.

The doorbell rang, and she jumped for excitement. Grabbing me by the arm, she rushed me to my room and slung me to the bed. “Remember what I said! One sound from this room and you’ll have two black eyes!” After she finished barking at me she slapped me across the face and punched me in my arm. I fell across the bed with my face to the pillow in tears. I can’t believe that this is life!

As I laid there wondering how long it would be until my dad returns, my heart sank. What if he never returned? What if I’m stuck here? If I ran away, how far will I make it? How will I make it? What if I left and she found me? These questions replayed in my mind over and over. I was too afraid to tell anyone what was happening. I had to find a way out of this mess and somehow reach my dad before she does something crazy to me. Even crazier than what she usually does.

I can hear her laughter and that sweet voice she likes to display to everyone except for me. Wow, she really does have everyone fooled around here. The smiles, the donations, her volunteer work, all this is done with a dark heart. She is one of the worst people I’ve ever met! People would often tell me how I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful Aunt and how I can benefit from being around her. They had no idea the pain I was suffering.

As I laid in bed with many thoughts, I heard a knock on my door and that sweet voice I usually hear when Aunt is talking with other people. “You up baby? Someone wants to meet you.” I laid there with my eyes closed pretending to be asleep. I could hear her steps walking closer to me. My heart began to pound rapidly. “Baby, you up?” That’s when I felt that pinch on my arm again. I raised up from bed as she gave me a fake smile. “Someone wants to meet you.” I looked over as he stood in the doorway. His eyes were red, and he smelled funny. He was tall and frumpy looking. “Hey young lady, what’s your name?” I was afraid. I didn’t know rather I should speak or not. My Aunt was a stickler on when I should say anything. One wrong word and it was over.

“Sweetie, where are your manners? Answer the question.” She spoke nicely but frowned at me with her back facing him. “Cassie.” I replied. “You’re pretty Cassie. How old are you?” “Thirteen.” I said and prayed that was the end of this conversation. “Thirteen. Wow. I bet all the boys like you.” he stated with this weird grin. “Ok Cassie, time to go back to bed. Say goodnight.” “Goodnight.” I stated as I seen her eyes roll at me. “Goodnight Cassie.” the strange man said as Aunt walked away closing my door. At this point I was scared for my life. I know that look she gives whenever she’s ready to attack me.

Some time went by, and I could hear the floor squeaking and all I could do was embrace what was about to happen. The next thing I knew the door swung open and she launched out towards me with a thick belt. As she swung all I could feel was the pain of the belt buckle as it was hitting my legs. “So, you think you cute?! Huh?! Answer me!” she yelled as I screamed repeatedly “No ma’am I’m not, I’m sorry!” I cried and was hoping she would tire herself out soon. Once she stopped, she grabbed me by the throat, looked me in the eye and said, “If you flirt with my man again, you’ll get it worse than this!”

She slung me towards the bedpost and as I gasped for air, my eyes filled with tears, I watched her as she stood over my bed. Her stare was so evil as I feared of what she she’ll do next. “Look at me! You’ll never be prettier than me! You’re fat, ugly, and no one will ever love you!” She said as she stormed out the room slamming the door.

I crawled under my covers and cried most of the night. I can’t continue to go on like this. I was running out of options but knew I had to do something. There’s no way I can continue on like this. I had to find a way to get in touch with my dad before it was too late….

Thank you for reading 🙂

I was brain dumping y’all lol I literally made this up as I was typing. I might make this into a mini-series. Idk, we shall see….