It's just Life

The Tragedy

In sixth grade was when my whole life changed. I was talking with my counselor like I did every week, and she asked me some questions that she would ask everyone when they were done with their session. She said "Destiny, is there anyone in your house that smokes?", I said "No.", she then said "Is there anyone in your house that drinks alcohol?", again I said "No.", and the last question is what got me. She said "Okay, last question. Is there anyone in your house doing drugs.", and I kinda hesitated, so she knew something was up. "Destiny, you know you can tell me anything. That's why I am here.", said the counselor. I then said "Well, I'm not really sure that they are bad drugs. Like I guess that they are prescribed. But I'm not sure.".
My counselor then met with my principal and they kept me in a meeting room until school ended for the day.

I came home to find my adoptive sister named Karen, (she had been living with us for a year or so) with blood on her hands. She had punched the windshield of her car, and was put into jail. She wasn't there for long, maybe a night or two. Darlene and I were then taken out of the house because it was a "bad environment", and were put with her sister Brenda. Jackie went to go live with his son.

Darlene, eventually moved out of Brenda's house and moved in with her granddaughter Misty. I was still there with Brenda. After, Darlene moved was when the "shit" started hitting the fan between Brenda and I. Her son, daughter in law, and two grandsons lived with us in a two bedroom trailer. It was awful. Most nights I slept on the floor. One year on Christmas I had gotten smacked in the face and my hair pulled by Brenda. I'm not sure why, but it happened. I swear to this day that Brenda never really liked me. Some days she would put her grandsons in time out in the corner of the room, and she would do the same to me and I was twelve years old and her grandsons were two and three. I'd stand in the corner for hours at a time, with no food or anything to drink, I couldn't lean or look away from the corner or I'd have to stay longer. That's when I learned how to sleep standing up, I mean it's all I could do. Brenda then used a large stool as the place to go when you were put in time out, what a transition. I sat there one day for about five hours, and I felt like I was starving. I had a pink tank top on, I had that shirt for a year or so. They say hunger will literally eat you alive, well it didn't do that, but I did start tarring the bottom of my shirt off and started putting it into my mouth and swallowed it. About thirty minutes had passed, and I had eaten my shirt all the way up to my belly button. Brenda came in from out side asking me why half of my shirt was missing, and I told her, and she thought I was lying, but why would I lie about something like that. She would smack me, pull my hair, spit on me, and on two occasions she even peed on me. One time she even blamed me for killing her fifteen year old bird. At night I would lie awake and pray for some type of miracle, that God could somehow work his magic and get me out of the situation.

In eighth grade, was when I was torn apart forever.
Darlene had been put into the hospital because she had a disease called Mersa and she had pneumonia. As you already know, she was already in bad health before this had happened. I was sitting in time out in Brenda's bedroom, when she got the call. That the amazing lady that had been so kind to me and took me under her wing as a child, was dying. Brenda rushed into her room where I was sitting and grabbed my face in her hand and said "If my sister dies, I'm going to make your life a living hell.", like it wasn't already. Unfortunately, she passed away that night.

At Darlene's funeral I couldn't stop crying, I was practically hyperventilating. Brenda yelled at me and said that if I didn't stop crying that she would take me out of the funeral home and take me home. So I straightened myself up. In her casket the family and I had put a few angel statues, a baby doll, a cross or two, and a picture of me. In the corner of the room there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers, oddly enough they were from my biological mother, my family had immediately thrown them away.