The next morning i walked to school as always, but today seemed odd. I walked to my first period class and they were all there. The teachers, Child services, Police officers. Everyone. I kind of just sat in my seat and pretended they weren't there but they called my name. "Savannah please come with us." I did so to avoid any possible trouble. They led me to the office and we made a left into a room I had never been in before. I was so terrified about what was about to happen. "Now Savannah, Tell me about what has been going on at home." said Officer Ramirez "Im sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." I said.
"A teacher noticed the cuts on your wrist. She is concerned with what could be going on at home. She also noticed you always have dirty clothes on and smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke.".
"Well so what if I have cuts. Its from my cat. He's evil you know."
"Savannah, please, we only want to help you."
"Alright. If you want to help. What all do you wanna know?"
"Anything. Start from the beginning."
"My mother needs help. She is always drunk. Some days she will be passed out drunk and when she wakes up she beats us, or me, depending on who is home. The other day though we got into a fight over something and I ran up the stairs and slammed my door. All i heard was someone running up the stairs, like a herd of elephants. It was so loud and heavy the whole house shook. I quickly locked my door and sat on my bed hoping it would protect me but it failed. She busted through my door and broke it down. I remember her jumping on top of me and wrapping her hands around my throat. I tried to push her off of me and I couldn't."
At this point I was crying. The people in the room look horrified. I started to regret telling them anything when i noticed the officer writing stuff down.
"I remember screaming for her to stop "Mommy please!! Please stop!! I'm sorry mommy please!!", I have never called her mommy in my life. I was so scared. Then she stopped what she was doing and said that next time she wasn't gonna stop. When my sister got home from work later on I tried to tell her what happened but she didn't believe me. Mom always puts us down but I never thought she would do this."
"Is that all Savannah? Is that all that's bothering you?" Officer Ramirez asked.
"No, sir, but you might find this irrelevant. There was an incident a few years ago. Before my mom quit her job she would drop me off at my Aunts house. She has 3 boys. The middle boy, Samuel, always used to play with my best friend Ann and I. One day, he wanted to play hide and seek with us. He led us up to the attic but Ann had to go because her mom showed up. What he did to me in there......it will always stay there. I remember trying to tell my mom but she just told me I was lying."
The whole room had grown silent and cold. Everyone stared at me like I was some oddity.
"Well? Go on. Say something!" I said as I started shaking.
I heard Officer Ramirez gulp. "I'm so sorry. How do you feel?"
"I feel like I don't matter. I feel like I'm taking up too much space."
"That's all we needed to hear."
Officer Ramirez stood up and asked me to come with him. I did so. He put me in the back of his police car and said we are going to the hospital. He said they were gonna help me. I had never regretted anything more.
