So, you’re wondering why I didn’t tell. I’m sure you’re thinking, You were home and safe. You should have reported it. And you’re right. I should have.
You were home and safe. You should have reported it. But I couldn’t.
First, there were the lies I’d told. Ronny hadn’t been rough in a whole month but if he found out… I couldn’t do that to Mom. Counseling had made her so hopeful.
Then came the paranoia, this constant feeling of being watched. They had sentinels observing my every move and if I went public, they’d know and come after me and my family. Over the next few hours, flashes of looming figures appeared in my peripheral vision and twice, I saw a gun-wielding shadow in the hall. Heart pounding, I turned, sure that the nightmare was about to start all over again.
TheyHuh? But they
