Tornado

Escape

My childhood was, I guess, "normal". There were a few fights between mommy and daddy here and there. One in particular I remember distinctly.
My sister and I were set aside in mommy's room. There was yelling and screaming, a couple of loud crashes. Henley and I crying in mommy's bed. Daddy burst in and threw a dish plate, shattering against a wall in the far right corner. Mommy and Daddy liked to throw and break things when they fought. Henley and I fell asleep holding one another, tear streaks down our faces.
I was a troublesome child. I was always disobedient. I would stress mommy out which would stress daddy out. Needless to say, I got a lot of whippings. I got great grades though so I guess it was alright.
I was always the brightest student, shining out over all the others. That changed when I moved.
My mother didn't appreciate that fifth graders were mixed in with all the other junior high students where I lived so she gave us an extra year in elementary school.
After that I was always in trouble. My grades fell below average and mom, living alone since dad had to stay for his job, basically had to deal with my young, confused self all on her own.
These years were when I started noticing she wasn't as sane as I always thought she was. For years I always thought I was the problem. What I didn't know was that mom had to take pills for depression, bipolar disorder, and a whole array of other mental disorders. Sometimes she would slip up and forget her meds and rage out on Henley and I (mostly me). But along with all her mental disorders she had to deal with a bunch of demons as well.
She liked being in control of everything, but trying to control a stubborn, rebellious adolescent was a bit more than she could handle. It got worse throughout my last two years of junior high. Halfway through my eighth grade year she took me out of public school and homeschooled me. I couldn't stand it. I developed something, I'm not sure of what exactly, but I know it isn't normal. When I get extremely lonely, because I wasn't allowed to visit with friends outside of school, I create "imaginary friends" based off people I know in real life and carry out conversations with them. Sort of like a survival mechanism, because when I'm completely alone with no one to talk to, I'll be trapped with my mind.
See my mind loves torturing me. Telling me everything that's wrong with me, how no one could ever care for me, and how I might as well off myself.
A few months after being taken out of school, I attempted suicide. I slashed my wrists with a kitchen knife and took a bottle of prescription pills in my hand and asked mom if I should do it. She thought I wouldn't. She thought I didn't have it in me to take my own life. She didn't know how miserable I was. She didn't know what was really going on with me. "Go ahead, take them." She said.
So I did.
I was rushed to the hospital and later taken to a mental institution in Tallahassee. They asked me some questions, I told them what I thought they wanted to hear. Guess it worked because I was out nearly twelve hours later. Mom came and got me. It took her approximately two days to go back to treating me like a dog.
That's when dad had enough. He took Henley and I away for what I thought was only the summer. He was my rescuer. He took me away from the hell I had endured my whole life. I had been saved.