Discovering Denise

Discovering Denise 1: Wake Up Call

"Useless," he said taking a step towards me. "Dumb," he continued, his pace quickening. "Forgotten!" he tone of voice raised with each syllable. "Unloved!" he screamed until his face turned purple from spitting the word at me. His light jog turned into a mad dash across the house trying to catch me. I turned quickly, praying that he could not catch me, but my shoes were stuck to the floor. No amount of force could move me from where I stood. I prepared for the impact of the man charging towards me, but he froze.

The loud shatter of a beer bottle had awoke me from my nightmare of my dead step-father. Breaking glass was not a new sound in this house, but it always seemed to scare my sisters. Quietly, the twins crept into my room, and in the dark I couldn't tell them apart until I heard their voices.

"Mia," Adalynn's gentle voice spoke first, "can we stay in here?"

"Of course," I whispered back to her. It was my answer every time.

I owned a bed meant for one girl, not three, but the two of them were always welcomed. Adalynn crawled to the foot of the bed, and Byrce crawled into my arms. Both of them slept curled in a ball; however, Bryce's snoring was more distinct than Adalynn's. I listened to the rheumatic breathing of the girls before I slowly fell back into a warm slumber.

Sunlight seeped through my blinds around 9:00 a.m. Bryce had wiggled her way to the foot of the bed next to Adalynn. They were embracing each other whilst in a deep sleep. Ever since they were little they have been inseparable. I studied both their features carefully. The rays of sunshine bounced of their blonde hair as if they were young goddesses. Adalynn's mouth was slightly opened which meant she was in a hibernation-like sleep. Freckles danced across both their cheeks and onto the bridge of their noses. Both of them snoozed peacefully as I got up.

I rid myself of my pajamas as I entered my closet. I reached for blue and black NIke elites and a blue Nike T-shirt. I slipped black shorts on before running out with my basketball bag.

Looking through the filthy house and my unconscious mother, I realized I treated myself and my sisters so much better than this. I worked at a local clothing store that paid extremely well, and my friends basically took my sisters and me in as family. We often stayed at my best friend's house, but Alexis's family had not been home because of a last vacation.

If my sisters weren't with me at Alexis's, I made sure they were somewhere safe. I would never leave them alone in the home of an alcoholic!

For years i had been searching for another part of my family to take them away from her, but my mother would always do things to ruin anything I could find. After she gave the school a copy of my birth certificate in 9th grade, she locked all my documents away so I could not find them.

Still it didn't' stop me. I would try my entire senior year to find family to take in Adalynn and Bryce because after this year i planned on moving away from the disgusting place I called home.

These were often thoughts of mine before I played basketball. I couldn't explain why, but it always happened. Once I reached the local basketball courts, I took out my phone to play music.

Before I started my 'Pumped' playlist a text from Adalynn popped on my screen. "Me & Bry left home. @ Kelly's. C u later."

I'm so glad they knew to leave if I wasn't home. Quickly, I replied so I could practice. Music rang from my phone. My favorite warm-up song played, "All I Do Is Win."

I hit the court alone, but hard. If I was going to college it would have to be a scholarship. Yeah, I was smart, but my sight was set on basketball only.