Lifesaver

Chapter 6

As Joey walks around his truck to sit back in the driver's seat, fear is running through my head. Not because I do not want Joey to know, but because my dad has threatened me if he ever found out I told someone. When Joey finally sits and closes the door, he looks at me and grabs my hand while waiting for me to start talking. 

"When my mom found out she was pregnant with me, my dad left and pretty much abandoned the both of us because he said he never wanted to have kids. Even though my mom was hurt about him leaving her behind while she was pregnant, she didn't let it affect her and just said she would be better off without him. Ever since my dad left, my aunt and papa stepped up to help take care of my mom and then take care of me after I was born. As I grew up without a dad, I had always wondered where he was or why he never came around but at the same time, I was happy to just have my mom, aunt, and papa there with me. My mom put me into dance classes at the studio I'm at now when I was four. It was like love at first sight because even though I was so young, I made sure my life revolved around dance. I was always the first kid to sign up for extra rehearsals or intensives and guest classes. When I was eleven, my studio owner wanted me to audition for summer intensives at the Boston Ballet and Joffrey Ballet in New York City because my dream was to be a professional dancer and ballerina. My mom wasn't too on board with the idea of me auditioning for a professional ballet company because she didn't want me to be hurt or give up on dance if I didn't get accepted. My aunt talked my mom into letting me audition and I actually got accepted into the Boston Ballet summer intensive. I was thrilled when I read I had been accepted. I had always wanted to play Clara in the Christmas production of The Nutcracker and getting accepted into the summer intensive was the first step to getting there."

"After spending a couple summers in Boston at summer intensives, I was invited to play Clara in The Nutcracker for the following Christmas and it was like a dream come true, until my mom fell ill. About a month before opening night, my mom was rushed to the hospital with difficulty breathing and extremely high blood pressure. No one knew what was going on but that is when we found out she had leukemia. My mom ended up passing away a couple weeks after being in the hospital and after that, I quit the Boston Ballet and dance because I went through a stage of depression. After the passing of my mom, my aunt and papa had full guardianship over me since my dad left. However, my dad found out about the passing of my mom and came back for me. I was upset at first because I didn't want to leave my aunt and papa behind, but at the same time wanted to learn more about my dad and step mom. My dad wanted to put me back in dance because my aunt told him how much I loved it and how good I had become but I chose not to at that time. I had always danced to make my mom proud and even looking at my shoes would upset me. I knew I wouldn't have been able to perform well."

"Two years after I moved in with my dad and step mom is the first time my dad hit me. At first, I didn't know what to think. I thought maybe he had a bad day at work and was taking it out on me, until it became an everyday thing. My dad started out just slapping me and then as the days and months went on, he would slap me and punch me all over until he felt satisfied. After the abuse started, I wanted to go back to dance because I felt it could bring happiness to my life again. My dad kept me from seeing my aunt and papa unless it was Thanksgiving or Christmas. I felt trapped. My dad promised I could go back to dance as long as I didn't tell anyone about my situation. I swore up and down nobody would know, I just missed my friends. Sure enough, he enrolled me in my dance company and threatened me to make sure I didn't tell anyone about him."

The whole time I am telling Joey all of this, he just looks like he is about to cry. He finally looks at me and says, "I am so sorry you've had to live through this for so long without telling anyone. And I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries asking you what happened. I didn't think something like this was going on, I thought you were trying to hurt yourself." I look at Joey with tears in my eyes and say, "I would be lying if I said I hadn't tried hurting myself. Sometimes I would just be in so much pain when my dad was done with me, I would just go in the kitchen and think about just ending all of the hurt and pain. I guess I just never did it because of dance and my friends there, and now you." Joey grabs me and pulls me into a hug and says, "I'm always going to be here for you. Whenever you want to talk, whenever you need somewhere else to go, I don't care what time it is you can call me." I look up at Joey and thank him, wiping my eyes from where I had broken down crying.

I then notice how late it is. It is nine thirty and usually I am home from dance by now. I look at Joey and say "I guess I need to get home before my dad gets mad and beats me even more tonight." Joey just shakes his head and says, "I'm not going to take you home just for you to get the crap beat out of you. Knowing I took you home and put you back into that situation, I just can't. Could you call your dad or step mom and ask if you could stay the night with a friend from dance or something? My parents are out of town for my dad's business trip this week and my sister is in college, you can stay with me at my house and nobody will ever know." I tell Joey I can try and see what they say so I start by texting my step mom first. Sure enough my step mom says it is okay and that she will talk to my dad and control him about me not coming home tonight. 

Before Joey starts driving to his house, he hugs me again and just says, "Thank God" over and over while holding me. As much as I was thrilled about being able to get away from my dad that night, I was nervous about staying with Joey. I had never stayed over with a boy before. I hardly ever stayed over with my girl friends. Even though I was nervous and did not know what the rest of the night held, I was happy and knew for the first night in four years, I would be safe.