A Broken Childhood

There was a yellow school that began turning on my road that was a little cracked and appeared to look bleak. I noticed this whenever I rode the bus right into what was my home. This particular place had walls the color of the sun and the ceilings the color of stop signs. Well I couldn’t wait to get to tell my mother something very important. As the bus came to a stop, I began skipping down the black narrow aisles. The next thing I know was that I sitting on white tiled kitchen counters while consuming a barrel of cheese balls. After I brushed cheese dust off my blue jeans and my pink butterfly shirt, I found my mother in her usual grey sweats and brown t-shirt as she was lying in her bed.

“Hey mom, guess what my teacher told me?” I said with glee.

“What happened honey bunches of oats?” she asked me as she raised her eyebrow.

”My school is having a midnight sleepover and it's on Friday, it's where we watch movies, eat snacks, and hang out at school till midnight,” I explained. “Can I go please with a cherry on top?”

“Yes you can,” she answered.

“Thanks mom, I love you!” I exclaimed as I jumped on the bed and gave her a hug.

It was finally Friday and I had my hair in pigtails and was wearing a long blue shirt with elephants on it and black leggings along with my slightly torn black and white vans. I was all packed and ready to have fun at the sleepover. I also wanted to go wander around the school, I've always thought the school was interesting, especially at night. As I lost my train of thought and brought my head back down from the clouds, I saw my mom who had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore her blue scrubs for her nursing job at the hospital. I gave her my utmost attention as I saw her mouth open wide with words.

“Sahaira, remember your stepdad will pick you up at 11:50 PM,” she said as she gently patted the top of my head.

“I won't forget mom and thanks for saying yes,” I replied as I tilted my head towards the sky and smiled right at her.

It was 12:35 and kids and faculty started to leave. Though it didn’t give me pause, I knew my dad would come and the principal was still here. I sat on the stage that the movie was being played and began twirling until I got dizzy pretending to be a dancer, which was what I wanted to be when I grew up. This was kind of fun, but I was tired and began to sit down. It was 1:46 AM and I was the last kid left. It sort of scared me and before I knew it, tears started streaming down my face.

“Do you want me to drive you home?” I heard my principal and I got frightened because I forgot he was here.

“No thank you,” I replied. “I know my dad will come will come, he wouldn’t leave or forget about me,” I said as I smiled through my tears and the puffiness that surrounded my vision.

At 2:46 AM, my dad picked me up. He told me it's time to go and he was sorry he forgot. I stayed silent as I climbed into the passenger seat of the car. I finally got home at 3:19 AM, I left my things in the car and went into my room in complete silence. My sister was asleep, so she didn’t hear what was about to happen. As I climbed under my blue and white dolphin blankets, I heard my dad and mom fighting. They both argued and what I remember the most are the words, “I can't believe you scared her like that.” Those words made me feel like I was only one who wasn't cared for in my family. My mother then came into my room and sat next to my bed.

“Did you hear all that?” she asked and I could detect the worry in her voice as I nodded yes.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, mom I’m okay,” I told her.

She knew I was lying but didn’t say anything as usual.