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Prologue
Reese
“Cohout the house
Instantly,near hi what he would do to me was a constant companion
I stood up slowly fro to read—down carefully My mother wasn’t home from work yet She was supposed to be home by now I shouldn’t have cohter had coh the children’s picture books He’d started talking toa book for my little sister
The embarrassment that came with that question reminded me of my stupidity, as always
“Girl!” my stepfather roared
He was angry now My eyes stung with unshed tears If he would only just beat ht horades in school If he would just call me names and tell me hoorthless I wasbut he wouldn’t Once I had wisheds and bottom made it hard to sit down
Then one day, he stopped And I instantly wished he’d go back to hittingwas better than this Even death
I openedjobs I had, and I would be leaving here soon My one She hated me She had hated me for years
I was a burden on her
I tuggedThen I pulled the shorts down so they covered s that were hard to cover up There were never any shorts at the thrift store long enough
It was only an hour beforethat she could walk in on Even if she did, I wondered if she would accuse me and say it was my fault She had already blao My breasts had grown too large, and she said I needed to stop eating because , but it hadn’t helped my bottom
My stomach had flattened out, and it had onlyagain, but ht, when I had walked into the living rooet some milk before I went to bed, she slapped me and told me I looked like a whore More than once, she called et her anywhere in life
Now I stepped into the living roo in his recliner with his eyes trained on the television and a beer in his hand He had come home from work early
His gaze swung to ust What I wouldn’t give to be ss were short and fat, then my life would be perfect My face wasn’t what attracted Marco It was average enough I hated my body I hated it so much
Nausea crept up, and ht back the tears He loved it when I cried It made him worse I wouldn’t cry Not in front of him
“Come sit in my lap,” he ordered