I used to have three sisters, but not anymore. My parents loved alcohol more than they loved us, and papa sold my two older sisters so that he could get more money to buy cheap liquor for him and mama. My older sisters were harassed sexually by the mean people papa sold them to, and then one of my sisters committed suicide because I guess maybe she felt like that was the only way to escape what was happening to her. Now I only have two sisters.
My younger sister and I were still at home and we just tried to stay out of papa’s way. But sometimes he would come after me. Both him and grandpapa, actually. And they sexually harassed me. I pleaded with mama to see if she would help me, but she did nothing to stop them. My only escape from being at home was being at work, where my parents made me go. But that wasn’t really an escape at all, because the son of the man in charge at work would rape me there. He raped me three times. I complained to the man in charge, but he only beat me and told me to keep quiet.
Eventually I guess papa must have run out of money again, because he was trying to sell me and my little sister. That’s when we were rescued, and I was brought here to New Horizons House. I’m finally getting a chance to learn, since I didn’t get to go to very much school. Someday, I want to become a teacher so I can help other people learn, too. I’m so happy I got to come to New Horizons House. I only wish that, somehow, they would have found my older sister and brought her to New Horizons House before her abusers drove her to take her own life. Maybe then she’d still be with us today. I know she would have loved it here as much as I do.
