Chapter One

I sat in the back of my mom’s busted gray Buick waiting for my mom’s boyfriend to come out. I remember how he kept telling her he hated kids. She would leave my older sister and my older brother at home, and she would take me with her since I was only four. I would sit in the backseat floor with absolutely no space.

This day was no different than the others. When Damon slipped into the car, I was already sitting on the floor. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Hey D, how you doin’ baby,” Momma cooed in his ear. She kissed all over his neck and face.

“Baby, I’m a little stressed right now. You know my boys trippin’ on some dumb ish right now and I wanted to know if you could do yo’ man a favor.”

“But last time you said I didn’t have to do it no mo’.”

“Come on baby, please,” he begged.

“Hell no, I’m not doin’ you no mo favors. Pull over so me and T can get out!” Momma yelled. He pulled into a parking lot and got out with my momma. They were yelling at each other, but I couldn’t make out the words. When Momma reached in the back seat to pull me out, Damon pulled her out the car and slammed the door in my face. He smacked her around and threw her in the back seat with me.

“You ain’t goin’ nowhere,” he kept mumbling. When we pulled up to Damon’s house, he grabbed momma and forced her in the house. “Come in the house, Tiffany.” I ran behind Damon hopin’ he’d let us go home.

“You don’t appreciate what I do for you.  I love you, I care for you, and I’d give you the world.”

“You don’t give me ish,” Momma mumbled. Damon flipped. He started punching her over and over. Then he started stomping on her face.

“Don’t hurt my Mommy!  Pleeeeaassee,” I cried out but it was too late. Her body was already laying in a pool of her own blood. He washed the blood off his hands like he was washing away spilled paint. I felt so helpless as I watched him put her in one of his over sized t-shirts and a hat. He started carrying her to the car as if she was drunk.

“Be good, I’ll be back in a minute.” He closed the door and locked it. I ran and sat in a dark closet, arms wrapped around my knees and rocking myself as I cried.

I fell asleep at some point, but when I woke up, Damon had laid me down on the couch. He was sitting there eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen as if nothing had happened. Just as he would if my mama was in the next room. When he saw I was awake, he poured some milk into a bowl and handed me a spoon.

“Where’s Mommy?” I barely whispered.

“I took care of her. Nobody will be seein’ her ‘round no more.”

“Where are Ryan and Anita? Can I go home with them?”

“No, I’m yo’ daddy now.” I stopped asking questions.  I sat quietly over my bowl of cereal.

“We’re movin’. I got a job in Virginia, so we gotta go.” He looked over the table at me, “I picked you up some clothes at Walmart on my way home. They probably don’t fit, so we’ll take care of that later.” He handed me the bag of clothes. I watched him pack three suitcases with clothes and two boxes with shoes. “Hurry up and get dressed, we gotta hit the road.” I slid down the chair and went to the bathroom to attempt dressing myself.

“I’m finished.” Damon was sitting on the couch.

“You can’t even dress yourself. At least you put your underwear on right.” He took the straps of the sundress off and started to turn it around. “Don’t you know the white tag goes in the back?” He turned the dress around and grabbed my hand. “It’s time to go.”

He put me in my car seat, but it wasn’t in my mom’s Buick. “Where’s Mommy’s car?”

“This is my car, get used to it.” We made a couple of stops before we headed out of town. As he drove past my house, I could see my brother and sister getting in Granma’s car with their suitcases.  I started crying about being hungry when Damon hit me.

“Stop whinin’ so much.” He hit my legs a couple of more times before pulling into a parking lot. “I have a couple of rules. 1. Listen to what I say and you’ll stay out of trouble. You ain’t Tiffany no mo’ yo’ new name is Tiana. 2. No baby ish, you a big girl startin’ today. 3. Forget everyone you’ve known. You’re a new person. 4. We’ll get to 4 when we cross that bridge.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded. I ended up sleeping the rest of the way to our new home. When we pulled up, I stared at the new house.  At that time I felt like it was huge compared to our tiny apartment, but now I know it was small. I climbed the stairs to the front step and waited for Damon to open the door for me.

He walked in and looked down at me, “I named you Tiana ‘cause you gonna be my Princess for the rest of my life.”

Author's Note

Sorry this section sounds so teenybopper.

Reviews

[xbluexrainx]

Hm, it seems interesting. But I wonder what he's gonna do to poor Tiana (Tiffany). Well, I suppose I'll keep reading when you update.
But, however, you should write numbers out (instead of 1, one, 2 should be two, etc.)
Anyways, care to read my story?