By: Ashley

To start off, not everyone has a perfect life. There are difficulties and problems in everyone’s life. My story starts when I was six. The police would wake me up very early in the morning, asking if I had seen my parents fighting. I would see my mom cry almost every night. When my parents got mad at each other, my dad would lock my sisters, brother, and me in a small room. We would only be able to get out when he went to work.

When I was nine, my dad started cheating on my mom. She left him and moved to Fontana, where I stayed with her for a week. The day she left, she told my dad that I wasn’t his kid. My aunt took me in after that. I still can’t forgive my parents. My mom left us and my dad abused us.

When I was eleven, my dad hit my two sisters, almost drowned them, and fought my brother. By thirteen, I started running away with my sister. I started smoking weed and drinking to forget the pain. I got jumped into a gang when I was fifteen. My dad punched my sister and I punched him back.

I feel like I am the only one who can protect them from him. Even with everything going on, I am finally trying to do good so I can be with my sisters. That’s the short version of my story.