Solitude

Part Fourteen

"Mom," Adlyn cried. "Mom, I'm so sorry! He wouldn't let me go... I tried to go once... He almost killed me for it... Mommy..."

"Shhhh," Alia said as they hugged. "It's okay."

"We just found out, Alia, that her father has been abusing her for 4 years..."

"I already told her," Timiteo said.

The tears streamed down Adlyn's face. She hadn't seen her mom in so long...

Eve watched silently as Adlyn cried. Her heart ached and she wanted to hold Adlyn and never let go, absorb the pain, make child abuse stop. What had anyone done to deserve it? What do people have to go through to deliver it?

She was so lucky. She had never been abused; her parents didn't drink.

It was God's blessing.

Thank you, God, she thought. Thank you.