Family Secrets

Prologue

Twenty-two years earlier

"Mama, help me," Jasmine thought as she lay frozen in the bed as tears fell profusely. She wrapped her little hands around her fragile body. Jasmine looked up at her uncle in the dark as he staggered out of her room. "I hate this house," she thought as she sprang from her bed to the bathroom. She scrubbed her skin harshly in the shower trying to get the scent of her uncle off her. Jasmine sat in the corner in the dark for the longest thinking about running away. An hour later, she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her mother knocking at the door. 

"Jasmine, dinner is ready. Come downstairs and get something to eat," she stated. Jasmine wiped her eyes trying to be brave. How could she tell her mother her brother was molesting her since she was eight years old? Jasmine was now ten and she hated the sight of him. She remembered when she first moved into her grandmother's house after her father died. The house was overcrowded with her mother and aunt's children. In addition, her twenty-three-year-old uncle also lived in the home and hardly worked. Jasmine, her little brother, and her mother only moved in because they were struggling financially. The first time he robbed her of her innocence she was home alone with the other children. Her five-year-old brother Brian, and cousins Olivia, Sarah, Ashton, and Ashley. He cornered her in the room and turned up the music locking the door. 

"What are you doing?" Jasmine asked bewildered as to what was going on. He slapped her and threatened her not to tell anyone or he would kill her or her little brother. Her uncle flashed a gun in her face traumatizing and shocking her. Jasmine was afraid and did not know what to do. Her uncle Peter raped her that day scaring her for life. Before the incident, Jasmine had caught him looking at her strangely on many occasions but did not think he was so twisted and sick to hurt her. When they moved into the house he watched her as a hawk and nobody noticed. "Wow, she is beautiful," Peter said when he laid eyes on Jasmine. "Yes, my baby is gorgeous," Sandra said proudly. Jasmine hated how her uncle's dark eyes zeroed in on her making her feel uncomfortable. It was the beginning of his perverted attraction toward her leading to sexual abuse. 

Jasmine headed downstairs reluctantly as she slid into one of the chairs at the dining room table. Everyone ate as if they were some happy family. Jasmine played with the food on her plate and looked up to see her uncle Peter smiling at her. "What's wrong, Jasmine?"Sandra asked concerned looking at her daughter. Everything is wrong. My uncle, your brother is abusing me, Jasmine wanted to scream. "Can I be excused?" Jasmine asked. Her mother looked at her daughter overly concerned. Lately, she had become so withdrawn and she was worried about her. "Before, you go baby we want to wish you happy birthday," her mother announced. Her grandmother brought out a cake. Jasmine forced a smile and said, "Thank you, Grandmother." As everyone sang happy birthday Jasmine thought about her birthday. What was so happy about her birthday? She would be happy if her uncle would stop abusing her.