Tesia McLean now sat all alone in her room, in the upstairs part of her parent’s house. Well, she wasn’t sitting exactly, though she was supposed to be. She was actually lying upon her floor, looking for something – she couldn’t sit, as her ass had brutally been beaten by her father, with whatever he’d been able to get his hands on. And tears streamed down her now bruised face, that her mother had taken her anger out on, once her father had finished with her.

She wiped her nose on her shirt sleeve, as she dug around under her bed, trying to find the one thing she loved most, and needed more than anything right then – well, almost anything. She finally found what she had been looking for, and pulled it out of its hiding spot. She knew if her parents caught her with it, she’d never see it again for all eternity. That – and the fact – that she’d never be able to sit again either.

She stared at what she now held in her hands – hands that were sore, from being smacked repeatedly with a wooden ruler. She wiped the tears from her eyes, so that she could see her prized possession better, and gave a teeny smile, as she got a better look at it. She just hoped her parents wouldn’t suddenly decide to unlock her door and walk in on her right then, as if they did, she’d be in such deep shit, that she’d be stuck home for days upon days, from receiving a more brutal beating than the one she had just received.

“You just gotta come an’ get me J!” She whispered desperately to the picture she had dug out from its secret hiding spot. The picture was of her and her brother, though she’d no idea when it had been taken. All she knew was that she was amazed that her mother and father hadn’t found it yet and had it destroyed. “Daddy’s – Daddy’s gotten worse…”

She stuck her hand under her bed again, and this time pulled out a piece of paper and a green pencil crayon – a pencil crayon she had thought had been thrown out with all her other art stuff. She glanced at the picture, she’d set on the floor before her, again. she knew what she had to do – so she began to write.

Dear Alex,

It’s Tesia. I need you to come an’ get me. Now. Know I said last time, that everything was okay – but it’s not. Daddy’s – Daddy’s gotten – meaner. Mommy always been mean, so she ain’t changed none. But Daddy’s – he’s not Daddy no more. He – He always yellin’ at me an’ hittin’ me an’ makin’ me cry an’ makin’ me scared. I don’t wanna be scared none J. I – I don’t like it – makes Daddy mad – Mommy too. I wanna – Wanna go an’ live with you – in Cali. I – I need you – you to – to keep me – safe. From Boogie Man an’ – an’ Daddy – Mommy too! I – I can’t do it no more J. I can’t! I – I hate it here! Want you – but Mommy an’ Daddy get mad if I mentioned you. Daddy still mad you won’t give him none of your money – why won’t you give him money, J? Might save me from gettin’ hurt. Please? Don’t wanna get beat an’ scared no more. I don’t!

If – If you let me come J, I’ll – I’ll be good – I swear! I – I won’t get in your way none. I’ll be – be very quiet. I – I promise. Just – please? Pretty please? With a very icky cherry on top? I’ll – I’ll do - anything J. I will! Just – please?

Gonna go now – so I’m not buggin’ you no more. Don’t wanna make you mad too. You – you all I got – left. Don’t got nobody here. Teachers don’t listen, got no friends – they all think I lie cause I tell ‘em you’re my brother – I don’t lie – they just won’t believe. I want ‘em too. If they did – Daddy wouldn’t hafta hit me no more – an’ Mommy – Mommy wouldn’t be scarier ‘en Daddy – I think. Please J – don’t go thinkin’ I’m lyin’ – don’t be like everybody else. Please believe. I need you here. Now.

Love you lots! Hope you still love me lots.

Love, Tesia L. McLean xoxoxoxoxo

Tesia finished her letter, and folded it up real small, and stuck it in an envelope. She then stuck the envelope back into the secret hiding place her picture always stayed in. she may have written the letter, but that didn’t mean she could just go and mail it. She’d cause herself even more problems if she went and tried to do that. She didn’t have money for a stamp – as she wasn’t allowed to have any money whatsoever – she was too little to handle it, so she’d been told. Also, the mailman knew her parents, and had been instructed to bring them anything she tried to mail – she knew she’d be in shit for it, so she decided not to bother even trying. She’d give it to her brother the next time he came for a quick visit - if he came for another visit. He’d left quickly last time, as their father had pissed him off – she had thought it’d been her fault, but A.J. had assured her it wasn’t her – it was their father’s fault he had to go sooner than they both would’ve liked.

She got up then, and picked her picture up, as she crawled up onto her bed to lie down. She was exhausted from the long day she had had. She also knew she might as well just go to sleep, seeing as no one would come for her until morning. She’d been beaten, grounded for a month, then locked in her room and told there’d be no supper for her that night. Little did they know, that she had swiped a candy bar from the store the day before, and hidden it in her secret hiding place. She wanted to have food, in case she got locked up and had to go without any again. And it was a good thing she had too, as she hadn’t eaten a thing since breakfast that morning – which had been very little – her mother had made her some sort of disgusting slop to eat.

“Eat later,” she thought to herself. “Tummy don’t feel good.” And it didn’t either. She’d been feeling sick off and on for a while now, but her parents refused to believe her – they were convinced she was just faking it, and beat upon her anytime she brought it up. She sighed, and looked at her picture sadly. All was quiet in the room for a few moments, but then a lone cry was heard.

“Please believe me!” She pleaded, as she stared at a picture that lay in their hands. “You just gotta believe!”

The one holding the picture, wiped away more tears that still insisted upon falling – but who could blame the tears? They’d every right to fall – and they knew that better, than the person whose face they fell down.

A sniffle was heard in the silent room then, as she lay upon their bed, crying harder than before, as the picture was clutched to her chest. She cried as she hoped to God that her brother would believe her, should she ever tell him what was really going on in her home. She had told him very little – just stating she hated getting spanked for stupid things all the time. Her brother had just chuckled, and told her no child liked to get spanked for something they had done wrong, but it was how they learned. Little did he know exactly what she had truly meant when telling him that.