The Beginning

 When we grow into adults the older we get the harder it is to remember our childhood. I was born in Richmond Virginia in January of 1982. For those of you who do not know or have never heard of or been to Virginia, Richmond is the dangerous part of town, somewhat like New Orleans Louisiana.
  I was born to a single mom. My mom always told me who my dad was all my life. Since my dad was married I didn't even get to meet him until I was sixteen years old. So I will start where I do remember.
  The earliest age that I can remember I was about five years old. I lived with my mother, her boyfriend, Ron, and at that point my two sisters, one being a year younger than me and the other was handicapped. My mom and Ron, who was my two sister's dad was separating, from what my mom told he friends he was not sleeping in the bed with her and the were just not getting along. The real reason why the separated was that my mom kept finding him in my bed.
 After the split my mom sent me & my sister Angel to Ron's house in the weekends and in the summer. I absolutely hated to go to Ron's house. When Ron went to work he left us with this family who lived on a farm. The wife worked at the airport, and us kids stayed with the husband, and the couple had two boys. All of us kids had to be outside for the entire day. When it was almost time for Ron to pick me and my sister up, this man, I don't recall his name, but he would call us inside. Once we got in the house he would be naked sitting in his chair and he would make me and my sister sit in his lap and he would touch on us and tell us that we better not say anything and even if we did nobody would believe us. 
 As the summer went on I started noticing that Ron would only make me sleep in his room every other night instead of every night. At that point I knew what was happening to me and I made my mind up that I was not going to let this happen to my sister, I had to protect her. 
  After the first night that Ron made my sister sleep in his room I called my Grandma Wells crying and I begged her to come get us. I knew that I could always depend on my Grandma. She got there in no time and I told her that I need to talk to her & I told her that I did not want to go home to my mom's, I wanted to stay with her.
 The next day my Grandma asked me why I called her to come get me and I told her what had been happening with the babysitter and I told her what Ron had been doing to me. Ron had been touching on me and molesting me ever since I could remember. After I told my Grandma in detail what happened she then took me home to tell my mom. Nothing was done about it but I was happy because at least we would never have to go back there again, or so I thought.
As the end of school year was ending, when I got home from school that day I hear my mom on the phone telling somebody that she was sending me and my sister to Ron's house for the summer. I told my Grandma that she wouldn't believe me, as I started panicking and crying I thought about the conversation that I had with my grandma. My grandma told me that I have to be strong, I have to be fearless, and if my mom didn't believe me, I need to tell everybody that will listen what happened to me while I was at Ron's house. 
I was so excited to go to school that next morning. I was on a mission! I got straight off of the school bus and went to the office and straight to the principle as tears streamed down my face I could barley talk as I told her what happened to me the summer before. I don't know who the reached contacted or who she told ,but when I got home that day police cars were in my driveway. As I walked up the steps I heard an officer call my name and ask me "Would you like to go for a ride in my police car and play with the sirens", with a big smile on my face, I got in the car and for a ride we went.
 At this point I had just turned 7 years old. I don't know all of the detail of what was going on at the time, all I knew was that we no longer had to stay with Ron that summer and I was seeing councilors and going to court trials. I was terrified to speak out in court because not only did that man put fear in my heart but he was looking at me the whole time like I did something wrong.
 After the court hearing was over I got to go into the judges chambers. The judge took me by the hand and said " I am so sorry for what you had to go threw and I know that you were scared to tell your story. I just want to let you know that you are a strong young lady and I am so proud of you for being so brave. I promise you that bad man will never hurt you ever again because I put him in jail and he is now behind bars. I just want to Thank you for being so brave and speaking out because weather you know it or not you saved other little girls and because of you those girls are now protected". I asked the judge can I go and see him in jail ofcourse he told me that he couldn't let me go back there because jail is for bad people and I am not allowed back there because I was a good girl.
 As a seven year old girl for once in my life I was proud of myself. 
 As time went on the past was behind me. Later that same year my mom met a man named Burl. I don't know what it was about him, but for the first time in my life I felt safe, I felt like I finally had a dad. When Burl came in from work before he could even get in the door I jumped in his arms and said "Dad can you take us to McDonald's" as he went towards the back to the shower he cracked a smile and said "How can I say No to a precious face like that"?