Hi everyone. I have been away for quite a while but I’m now back. I hope you’re all safe and well.

A subscriber asked me to address the issue of sexual abuse in the home. My efforts at researching the topic did not yield much data. However most of us know that the issue is prevalent because we either know someone or know of someone who has been abused in their home. Many of the victims are children, which is very disconcerting.

I have decided to use a story to highlight some of the issues related to sexual abuse in the home. Let me know what you think in the comments and look out for part 2, which will be coming soon.

Splintered -Part 1

By Anjello Vassell

Zora rang her mother’s number, she was frantic. “Pick up mom, please pick up.”

“Hi Zoe, today we are going to have curried chicken and…”

“Mom, I didn’t call about dinner,” Zora interrupted, ‘I need you, please come home.”

“What’s wrong Zora darling?” Tina asked surprised.

“I don’t want to talk over the phone mom, just come home now please.”

Tina was worried. Zora is normally a very calm, level headed child. She was very mature for her fifteen years. What could have freaked her out like this? Tina informed the finance director’s secretary that she would be out for the rest of the day and rushed home.

When she reached her front door, Tina knew the situation was even worse than she thought. Zora would usually be watching TV, playing music, talking on the phone or all three. There was an eerie silence. “Zora, Paul,” Tina called out. No response.

She went upstairs and knocked on Zora’s room door and called out her name. She turned the door handle, the door was locked. Strange. She heard movement and then the door opened.

Zora looked disheveled, which is so unlike her, she’s always neat and well put together. It was obvious she had been crying. Tina sat on the bed beside her and put her arms around her daughter. “Zoe, what’s wrong? Talk to me, baby.”

“Mom, it’s Uncle Dan, he tried to rape me,” she blurted out.

Tina let go of Zora and stood. “Surely there’s some misunderstanding, you’re Dan’s little niece, he wouldn’t try to hurt you, he loves you.”

“In case you haven’t noticed I’m not that little anymore and he seems to have developed a sick kind of love for me.”

“Zoe please calm down, let’s find your uncle and see if we can figure out what really happened.”

“Really mother? There is nothing to figure out, I told you he tried to rape me. I had to bite him real hard to get him off of me. Anyway, I can see you don’t believe me; so it makes no sense talking to you.”

Zora grabbed a duffel bag, shoved a few things in it, then she called her Aunt Sue.

Tina deduced from Zora’s end of the conversation that she intended to go by her aunt and she realized from the duffel bag she planned on staying a while.

“You cannot leave Zora, we need to resolve this issue when your uncle gets home. We need to find out what really happened.”

“No mother, there is nothing to resolve and I know exactly what happened. I am sure dear Uncle Dan will give you his twisted version of what happened, especially when he realizes that you don’t believe me. And yes, I can leave, just watch me.”

Zora was sobbing, Tina got up and reached for her but she moved back and held up both hands. It was the hands-off sign. Tina sighed heavily and sank back onto the bed.

Zora grabbed the duffel bag and stormed out, she was almost blinded by tears.

Zora’s aunt believed her, she knows her niece is not stupid, if she says Dan tried to rape her, he did. That her uncle would do that was shocking, that her mother did not believe her, even more so.

Sue tried to tell her sister that Zora was telling the truth but she would not listen. Dan of course denied the incident; he claimed he was just hugging Zora and was quite surprised when she bit him.

“Let Zora come home, she’s my daughter,” Tina told Sue.

“I wish you would behave like you know she’s your daughter” Sue retorted. “She’s welcome to stay for as long as she wants”.

Tina and Sue’s relationship went downhill from there.  Zora came to the house only if she needed to collect something or to see her siblings: Paul her eighteen-year-old brother and Lily her six-year-old sister, both of whom she loved dearly.

Tina was operating as a single mom because her husband Michael was doing his fourth and hopefully his final stint of farm work in Windsor, Canada.  The Lamonts were fairly comfortable: Michael is a teacher and Tina is an accountant. They own their home, two cars and have some savings; but they decided they needed to build their dream house and to save towards their children’s college tuition. That is how Michael started going to Canada as a farmworker. He was due back in less than two weeks; Tina couldn’t wait. She often became overwhelmed, having to do everything on her own.

Dan is Michael’s only brother. He was on vacation from Canada and stayed with Tina and the kids. Tina had known Dan for as long as she knew Michael, well over twenty years. She could not believe he would hurt Zora, she believed there was a huge misunderstanding.

Paul was quite upset about the whole situation. He loved his uncle, they were pretty close. Dan had bought him his first bicycle and taught him to ride it when he was just six years old. Dan along with his father had thought him cricket and football. The three of them would play together on weekends and holidays.

Paul did not know what to believe. “Could Zora have mistaken Uncle Dan’s actions?” he wondered.  He loved Zora very much and took his role of big brother very seriously, although he was only three years older than her. He felt it was his duty to protect her, especially in his father’s absence.

One day, as Zora was in the library reading ahead for her courses next semester, her phone vibrated. It was Lily. “Hi little sis,” Zora said cheerfully. She heard a sob on the other end. “Lily…sweetie, what’s the matter? Tell me, Lily, you know you can tell big sis anything.”

“Zoe,” Lily said in an almost inaudible voice and began sobbing again. “Uncle Dan said I must not tell anyone, but it hurts real bad.”

“Lily, you didn’t go to daycare today?”

“No, mom was late and Uncle Dan said he would take care of me.”

“Lily, big sis is coming home now. Count to one hundred and I’ll be there by the time you’re done.”

Zora felt physically sick. “Did that bastard touch my sister? If he did, I swear I will make sure he pays for it.”

Zora called Paul and told him what Lily said. Paul was close to the library so he picked up Zora. He drove home as fast as he could. When they got there Zora got out before Paul came to a complete stop. She raced to Lily’s room where she found her still sobbing. She hugged her tightly and tried to comfort her.  Through tears, Lily explained to Zora how Dan had molested her. She insisted it was her fault saying she should not have taken the ice cream and candies.

Zora called her mom and told her what had happened. Tina asked the finance director’s secretary to let him know that she had to rush home to deal with a family emergency.

Paul could not bear to see Lily in that state. He walked from the room without a word. He banged on the door of the guest room that Dan stayed in. Dan opened the door while rubbing his eyes, clearly, he had been sleeping. “What’s with the banging?” he asked.

Paul advanced toward Dan and ‘buff’, his fist landed on Dan’s face. Dan staggered and almost fell. “That, is for Lily,” Paul said. As soon as Dan straightened up Paul’s fist connected with his face again. This time blood spurted from his mouth along with two of his teeth. “And that, is for Zora” Paul informed Dan.

Dan was livid, he charged at Paul shouting, “What the hell you talking bout? You crazy?” Dan pinned Paul against the wall, they struggled, Paul pushed Dan off him and he fell on the dresser. The things from the dresser crashed to the floor, breakable items shattered into smithereens.

Zora heard the commotion and realized the sounds came from downstairs. She raced down the stairs and followed the sounds to the guest room. She took in the scene and realized that Dan was pretty banged up but Paul seemed fine.

Zora took Paul’s hand, “Let’s go,” she said. Paul gave Dan a disdainful look and said “Don’t you even so much as look at any of my sisters again, you dirty pedophile.” Paul then went out of the room with Zora and slammed the door.

Dan contemplated calling the police but knowing he would be in much more trouble than Paul, he abandoned the idea.

Tina arrived and went straight to Lily’s room. She found Zora sitting with her. When she saw Lily her heart ached. She held her close and wept for both of them and also for Zora. She felt ashamed of herself that she was not there for Zora when she needed her.  She also blamed herself for what happened to Lily. “What kind of mother am I?” she asked herself.

She was overwhelmed, her family was falling apart and, she had no idea what to do. She needed Michael more than ever but was apprehensive about his reaction to the events of the past few days. “Would he blame her?” she wondered.

“Where is he, by the way, where is that bastard?” Tina asked Zora.

“I think he’s in the guest room. Paul dealt with his case,” Zora answered.

“What do you mean by that?” Tina asked.

“You’ll see,” Zora replied.

“I’ll deal with him later, right now I need to take Lily to the doctor to have her examined,” Tina told Zora.

Tina took Lily to see Doctor Harris, the pediatrician who had cared for all her children. Zora went along, she wanted to be with Lily. The silent ride to the doctor’s office was only punctuated by Lily’s question “Mom, am I in trouble?”

Tina had to fight back tears, the idea that Lily thought this was her fault was too much. “No baby, you are definitely not in trouble,” she told her.

Tina and Zora were both dejected, they worried about what the doctor’s examination would reveal. They could only hope for the best.