Just One Story

Just One Story

My sissy is Jenny,
and my name is Nate.
She's going on twelve,
and I just turned eight.

We live in a house,
with all of this abuse.
My mom is just crazy,
and Dad likes to booze.

Mom's hardly ever home,
but when she is here,
she says mean things
and makes us shed tears.

Dad's not quite like her;
his abuse is his fist.
When he drinks all day,
it is us who resist.

Between Mom's sharp tongue,
and his drunken rage,
my sissy and I need to
escape from this cage.

But how can we leave them
and create an aversion?
How can we escape
this sickening perversion?

Jenny decided one day
to take some action.
She told me her plans
to see my reaction.

I thought it was good,
we'd finally be free.
I closed my eyes shut
as she counted to three.

"Come and get me, you jerk!"
she screamed down the hall,
getting his attention,
trying her best to stall.

I did as we planned,
running straight to the park.
I waited for her there
until it was dark.

When the sun came up,
I went to a pay phone.
9-1-1 was the only
number I had known.

I dialed the numbers,
fear swelling inside.
When asked what was wrong,
I broke down and cried.

"They hurt us, please help,"
I confessed to the voice.
"They left us with nothing--
no other choice."

"We'll be there soon,"
the kind voice replied.
And I believed her;
my fear began to subside.

Twenty years later,
I'm now twenty-eight.
I wish I could say,
that everything's great.

But on that night,
only one of us fled.
My sister, you see,
ended up being dead.

Dad punched her so hard,
and it wasn't a first--
He was drunk again
and gave her his worst.

They found her like that,
tears staining her face.
In her right hand she had
a small can of mace.

Her diversion was clear;
she had meant what she said.
She gave her life for mine-
her life instead.

The sad part about it,
aside her untimely end,
was no one did anything
to make any amend.

The neighbors they knew
my sister had bruises.
They knew all about how
they used to abuse us.

And all it would've taken
was a simple phone call.
To the proper authorities;
anonymous, that's all.

But this is just one
story that was molded.
One way it happened
and how it unfolded.


So if you're a neighbor, or maybe a stranger,
I plead with you, please--call 9-1-1 if a child is in danger.