My name is Leslie Michelle Griffith.
I was born Leslie Michelle Berry on August 1st 1991 in Montgomery Alabama.
Mom and Dad were great parents at first, aring for me and seeing that I had everything I needed. Food, clothes, and story books.
Life was good for me. I had friends that I got along with and it was normal. That is until my 6th birthday.
When I turned 6 things begain to change. I had just started 3rd grade and was eager to learn as much as I can. Learning was easy for me and loved every minute of it to the point that it became an escape from everyday life for me.
I started to notice things that at that age I should not be noticeing. My father begain to pay more attention to me then he should.
By the time I turned 9 my father had been raping me often and I had pulled back into a shell.
Between being raped by dad and my brothers I decided to run away. I tried several times and was stopped every time.
One day still age 9 I made it out. I ran and ran as fast and as far as I could until I fell from exaustion. I made it to a truckstop and hid in the woods behind the truck parking area. I stole food as much as I could but was still starvi g and was weak.
It seemed like weeks that I was there even though it was only 8 days. On the 8th day I was found sleeping in the woods by a driver that was looking over his trailer and he sat down beside me covering me with his jacket.
The man was nice and got me food and took me shopping for clothes inside the truck stop. He said he would be there for a few days to reset his hours for his job and told me he would get me a place to sleep other than the woods and he did.
He fed me everyday he was there and then he told me that he had to go back to work. I started to cry at that time. He then said something that made me smile. He told me that he had been talking to the police and they wanted to talk to me.
The police man asked me why I ran away and said that I could tell them anything. So I told them the truth. Dad and my brothers would rape me and mom would just sit there and watch.
The officer said that I didnt have to go back there and wanted me to go to a new home and that was when the man stepped in and said he would take care of me like he had been during the time he was there. The cops said I had to go to court and talk to a judge.
I went to the courthouse and see the judge and then he wanted to talk to the man. He went in and talked to them. He was in there for a long time. The lady that was in the courtroom sat with me the whole time and even got me some candy and a burger.
Finally the man came out and asked me to come in the room and said the judge wanted to talk to me again.
I was scared as hell but I went in and sat down at the table and the judge begain to speak. He asked me if the man took good care of me, I said yes he got me food and bought me clothes and let me sleep in his truck that had a bed in it and he made me safe.
He asked me if I thought he could take care of me longer and I sad yes because he was very nice even though he had a loud voice and he was always talking on the cb radio.
He then asked me if I wanted to go with him and let him take care of me and I said yes. I started to cry and the judge asked me why. I told him that I wanted to go with him and I was happy and never wanted to go back to my parents. The judge asked me to get my things and told me that I can go with him.
That was the day that changed my life.
Let me back up and say that I know some of you are wandering what that mans namme was. Well that mans name was Larry Griffith. And hr raised me from then on.
As time went on we grew very close and I started to call him dad. He told me he was not my dad and since my dad was bad to me that I could call me anything but that so I started to call him my brother. He said that was ok. He had a wife at that time that didnt like me at all and was not afraid to tell everyone that.
Oneday she started yelling at me for nothing as she did often and Larry got home just in time to hear what happened and told her to stop or else. Later the same week he found out that she had been cheating on him for a long time and he came home to find me all alone and the house was empty except my things that she put in trash bags. She left and moved in with the other guy and left him with nothing. Even cleaned out thier bank and stole all his money.
