• Remembering,…
    For getting’s Not an Option
    By: Keela (Key-la)

    Preface- My Dad and I. Closer than close. Tighter than any knot could ever be. One out of the only two people I knew who really loved me, him and my Mom. But so much has changed, now. That one night when he came home later than he had ever, and just in those fifteen minutes he’d been home. The fifteen that had changed my world upside down. The night he tried to kill my Mom and me.
    I didn’t understand. Why had change come? Why is it that the one’s you love are also the one’s who crush you, too? Why is it that life is full of amazing things’, but also has an equal amount of horrible things’? I don’t get it, why?
    The terrible moment with my Dad was still very fresh. Which also means very painful and a difficult thing to carry on my shoulders’.
    Katie Nightwood is my name. And admitting this just in my head is not nearly as hurtful as saying it aloud, but I have to say, I hate my Dad. He’s the biggest problem I have in my life. He’s the reason me and my Mom have to move. Remembering the time my Mom had to tell me we’re moving was awful and to the extreme. Even though I always hated it here in California, I had so many friends’ I did not want to leave. My Mom always said, ‘it’s for the best.’ (Like I hadn’t heard that in cheesy movies’).
    Him (A.K.A. my Dad) and my Mom where planning on getting a divorce. She (A.K.A. my Mom) wanted to handle that situation in a calm way,… my Dad had other ideas’. And boy was I the luckiest teen on planet earth when I walked in our living room to see my Dad choking my Mom, yelling,
    “You’ll never forgive yourself if you chose this! Is this really what you would want, for you, for me, would you do that to Katie?”
    My Mom barely managed but she choked out,
    “Please” -gasp- “It’s better this way.” I felt so helpless just standing there, doing nothing. My legs’ wouldn’t move. They were struck with complete horror! My legs’ didn’t hold much longer, though, they’d given up on me, because, I felt my knees hit the floor and the side of my face right up against it.
    I had felt like I stayed on the floor for too long (even though less than ten seconds had passed), so I sat up slowly leaning up against the wall. My chest felt like it might combust from the firing pain whirling in all directions’.
    Taking in three cool breaths’ before I crawled toward the home phone hooked up in the wall. My hands’ where shaking uncontrollably as I dialed nine-one-one. They picked up on the first ring. My voice trembled with terror as I explained what the problem was and then told them my address. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but, my Dad must have heard me when I sniffled. He looked up at me.
    The policeman repeated the address to see if he had it correct, but I wasn’t listening. The police officer was worried when I didn’t respond, I could hear it in his voice. He yelled for the other officers’ to get ready, they were on a serious mission.
    My Dad knew what I was doing. He wasn’t an idiot I took him for most of the time. No, of course not. He’s known me since birth. He’s the one who taught me what to do in case of an emergency similar to this (ironic isn’t it). I so wished that this was just a bad dream.
    That’s when it happened. My Dad let go of my Mom, letting her fall.
    He headed straight for me! I was to scared, and surprised I could concentrate more clearly than I thought.
    Picture a live rat, in a field of nothing. But a snake appears’ out of no where and is making it’s way over to you. And before you could think about an escape, it gobbles you up with your squeal of death. In this case, I was the rat, and my Dad was the snake going for it’s kill.
    My brain wasn’t working well enough to know how to move out of the way. My Mom’s precious head hit the floor so hard, it sounded like it would put her out for days’.
    My Dad was getting closer to me! I let out a big scream as soon as he was nothing than a foot away from me. He tackled me onto the floor completely pulling the corded phone out the wall. And he then picked me up slamming me against the wall. Punching, kicking, and smacking every part of my body.
    The pain of my Father doing this to me hurt. This was far more worse than breaking a leg, or maybe even doing a flip off the diving board, planning to land in the water, but, your head falls right on the diving board.
    Moments’ later, I thank the Lord for making my body go numb from my neck to my toes’.
    My face was on the floor again, few minutes’ pass and there was slight pressure on the back of my head. I turned it to the side, noticing the pressure was my Dads foot!
    My Mom moved then, which caught my attention. I could swear on my life that I saw her smiling. She noticed the confused and helpless look on my face and wiped clear of emotion.
    I closed my eyes. But the pressure only got worse. My hands twitched as I heard sirens’. The last thing I remember hearing was my Dad say, “I hate you, I hate you Katie.” His voice calm but there was so much hatred, it was terrifying.
    And that’s how the nightmare began.