Abuse,Love,Trust.

Therapy

Footsteps.

 Vienna walks faster. More footsteps,heavy breathing.

Vienna starts to run.

Oh my gosh..it was just a dream. Phew.I walk to my mirror, see the scars. Look away,just look away. I go downstairs to my mother,shes cooking my favorite:Pancakes.

"Mornin' sweetie, sleep well?"

"Nope",I reply.

"Oh,well I hope you enjoy your pancakes. We have a big day."she says.

"Huh?"

"Remember, we have Family Therapy. Aren't you excited?"

   "Oh yeah sure, happier than ever."I reply. I eat my pancakes, then run to the bathroom. After i wash my face and remove the leftover makeup, I see more. More of what I dread seeing everyday ever since I was 5. Stop thinking about it. I focused on my outfit, don't want that therapist looking at me weird. I chose my outfit, got dressed, and ran downstairs. Dad. He was here, drunk. Great! So much for family therapy.

"Xavior! Go throw water on your face and get ready! We have Family Therapy."I roll my eyes.

"Shut up, Claire. I'll do what I want. But for my little princess Vienna, ill go wash up."He walks upstairs.

"Honey, your not wearing any makeup",Mom says to me.

"I know, if were going about what happened, why should I have to hide? She stays quiet, and we wait for Dad. Five minutes pass.Six. Seven. Eight.

"Daaaadddddd!!!!"

"Coming, coming!",He exclaims. As soon as hes downstairs, we get in the car and drive to Family Therapy.

     The room disgusts me. Orange colored floor, like Cheese-Its. Purple walls, and green chairs. Great combination.

"Welcome,please sit." A womens voice says this. We all sit. The women comes out from another room, I can tell by her name tag that her name is Lynn. She shakes our hands.

"Hi,my names Lynn Taylor. Welcome to Family Therapy! I will be guiding you to be a complete family." Hello,my mother responds.

"Why don't we start with Vienna? From what I've heard, shes the one whos been hurt."Lynn says.

I say, "Yeah..well when I was 5 i was sexually and physically abused by someone, I don't know who. It continued until last month. When I finally told, in school actually. To my best friend,Alyssa, she insisted we told. So i listened because I trust her, shes been my best friend since 6th grade."

"Oh,well thats terrible. But now I would like to know about family. Whats going on with you and your parents, especially during the time of the abuse."

I reply,"Well, they didn't even know! I had bruises everywhere and marks, and they would just say oh she probably fell. For more than 10 whole years! They didnt even relize it. Until finally about two months ago, my mom sat me down. We talked about why i always had these bruises. I lied, said I always fell in Volleyball and got hit by the ball. She believed me. Great mother right?"

My parents had a disgusted face. Well, thats what you get, i thought to myself.

"Oh,well we'll have to work this out. And Vienna, if you would like me and you could have a private session every week talking about the abuse, but we will still continue the Family Therapy." Lynn says.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Well think about it, heres my card" She hands me her card with her name and phone number.Then she hands us each an index card and tells us to write about us. The school(s) we went/go to, age, hobbies,full name, etc.

My Index card says: Name: Vienna Claire Diez. School: Middletown Honors School   .Age: Currently 17, going to be 18 on June 10th. Hobbies : Singing/dancing. Writing in my journal.  Best friend: Alyssa Meagan Cortes.Nationality: Italian and Puerto Rican.

I look over at my moms card. It says :   Name: Claire Mia Diez.  Highschoool: Stevenson. Age: 40. Hobbies: Helping Vienna with schoolwork, cooking/baking. Job: Stay at home mom. Nationality: Italian.

Next, I look at my dads card. It says : Name: Xavior Daniel Diez. Highschool: Stevenson. Age:41. Hobbies: Reading. Job: Stock marketing. Nationality: Puerto Rican.

Lynn collects our cards and looks at her watch. " Well, times up for today. See you next week! Remember try to be more of a happy family. Oh and Vienna, call if you change your mind." We all say goodbye and leave.