Her story

And she left.

Melonys personality changed. Drastically. After her dad added her to the list of the abused, she became quieter. She changed instantly. Going from loud, cocky, and obnoxious to quiet, scared and jumpy.

Missy spent her days, sitting in the same spot in the couch, with a new bottle everyday. 

Richard quit his factory job, and was rehired as his old company. He continued beating Missy for becoming worthless, and Melony for wronging him, not being the perfect daughter. He didn't touch Xeyem or Katt.

One night, Katt and X were reading. She had improved far faster the he would have even thought possible. They were laughing and enjoying themselves when they heard a light tapping on the door. Katts eyes widened in fear but Xeyem shooed her into the closet, in case the tapping was her father. He opened the door slowly to reveal a small crying Melony. He looked down the hall and let her in. 

She sat on the bed and cried, her fathers beating being harsher than normal. Katt creeped out of the closet and sat next to Melony. They had never talked and this was the closes they had been. Melony told them how he she had gotten home from school. She got a B on a test. She told them how he had grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the bathroom. How he had filled the bath with freezing water and dunked her head in it, holding her under.

How he threw the paper in the water as the colors bleed around her. How she came up for a few seconds of breath then he pushed her under again. Xeyem sat there clenching his jaw and his fists. Katt sat there, rocking Melony back and forth and whispering comforting words. 

Melony went on and told them how he forced her to strip and get in the water, as he poured buckets of ice over her and told her not to move. How when she screamed from the pain he ripped her out and beat her. Giving her another bruise over her eye. 

At that point Katt had to plead with Xeyem to not confront him, it would only make things worse. She begged and begged. He finally listened and they all sat, huddled on his bed. X and Katt read their favorite stories to Melony, sharing their world with her. They laughed, they smiled, they bonded.

Weeks pasted and things continued going great fro the three. Katt now 6 and Xeyem finally talking them into enrolling her. When they tested her, they immediately advanced her to second grade. They celebrated this. Melony and Katt now shared the room and the bed together. 

Although, the beatings on Melony got worse, her coming with gashes and larger bruises. She told Katt that he had started touching her. In places he shouldn't  have. She begged her not to tell Xeyem, knowing he would not hesitate to kill Richard. They both swore to keep it a secret.

Every night the kids had a routine. Get home from school, Katt and Melony would go to their room and do homework until Richard took Melony for her beating, always finding something wrong. Xeyem going to work, coming home and going upstairs. The three collecting in X's room and laughing and crying together. They were a family. 

One night, as normal as any other. Missy came upstairs, after a rough beating from Richard. She was going to head to bed early. She stopped as she heard the laughter. The pure joy. The happiness. She listen as they told each other stories. Then she listened when they began to cry about what they went through. Missy couldn't take it anymore. 

She went to her room, she packed a few things, she called a taxi, she got her stash of money, and she left.