Toxic home

I woke up frustrated, the alarm kept going off, I couldn't even get 5 hours of good sleep,I had slept late the previous night as usual because apparently my stepmom derives joy in giving me an overwhelming workload, I reluctantly got up from my bed and headed into the bar to take a shower, I wanted to avoid the witch this morning so I could get to school on time

My life has been really rough ever since my mom passed away 5 years ago, my dad became a shadow of himself, drinking and bringing in multiple women into the house, and on days when he drank to stupor he would take it out on me shouting and hurling insults on me also blaming me for the death of my mom, I coped with the trauma abuse through writing, so far I had written about twenty books, I lived a fantasy life through writing, it had become an escape from my traumatic life.my dad brought home a lady home one day and since that day my life changed for even worse, she was a living nightmare and I didn't know how to escape her. I dressed up and went to the compound to ride out with my bicycle, I didn't really have friends in school only a couple of people I said hi to, I tried avoiding people as much as possible because didn't want anyone knowing about my personal life.

My eighteen birthday was coming up I wasn't really looking forward to it, I knew I would be legal to live on my own but I didn't have the funds for it and I was allowed to work because according to my stepmom, "there was just too much work to be done in the house" I had no idea how I was going to move away from that toxic environment, I knew if I stayed there longer, my health would be affected. I stayed a little longer in school because we were writing our final exams.

By the time I was going home, it was already late and I knew my stepmom would punish me from coming home a little late, she punished me for the smallest things, I had tried so hard to avoid doing anything that would offend her to avoid punishment but with her there was no avoiding punishment, while going home, I decided to take a shorter route which I don't usually take because I wanted to get home on time, I rode through the quiet alley as fast as I could, suddenly a cat walked in the middle of the road, I was so focused on avoiding the cat that I didn't notice the pile of garbage cans, and ended up crashing into them, oh shit, I was going to be late anyways.

" Are you ok" I head the most soothing voice I've heard in a while not like I had been taking note of voices but this voice was melodic. She extended her arm and motioned for me to take it so she could help me up. I reached for hand and got up, I was covered in the smell of dirt and I had a few bruises, she offered to help me clean cover it but I had to hurry home because the longer I stayed outside, the worse my punishment would be. I thanked her profusely, grabbed my bike, and began pedaling home.

I got home really late, and of course I knew there would be lots of punishment waiting for me, I had grown accustomed to those punishment, so I resigned myself to my fate.I walked into the living and saw the witch sitting on the table alongside my father, looked like they were waiting for me, "good evening" I greeted. There was no response from either of them, I was about to walk past them and go to my room when my stepmom started " you're late, what excuse do you have this time"

"No excuse can I have my punishment " I answered.

I realized that trying to explain was pointless because they never believe anything I said.My dad pounded the table and yelled, 'You can't speak to your mother like that!, I didn't show any concern or fear as I calmly said, "like I said there is no excuse So am I being punished or not"?, my stepmom looked at my dad and asked him to sit down which he did like a little puppet, I rolled my eyes clearly disgusted by the act in front of me

" you can go to your room, there is no punishment" she said calmly. I wondered what was she planning cause I knew there was no way she would let me off easily but I didn't want to show any sign of fear so I just left them and headed upstairs, I dropped my bag and headed into the shower,I sat in the bathtub enjoying the feeling of the water on my skin as I thought about the girl from earlier, her angelic voice, soft hands and her beautiful melanin skin, everything about her drew me in but I didn't even know her name or where she came from, I didn't even know if she went to my school because I barely looked at people's faces at school, I didn't know if I was going to see her again but I real hope I did, I was almost dozing off in the bathtub, when I had my door open, I quickly stood up, tied my towel and came out of the bathroom, I came into the room and saw my stepmom with a key, what was she doing?.

"you've decided to whore around with boys right? I won't let you bring shame to my family, you could also forget about school or leaving this house again, start getting accustomed to your new life in here stupid girl" before I could react she locked the door and left.