I thought that today might be different but like always as soon as I go downstairs I notice that dad is on the phone already. I really wish that dad would at least wait until after I go to school. Or at least after breakfast.

For as long as I could remember dad is always on his phone or not around. Like always I also have to get my little sister, Ava, ready for the day. My mom left us right after she was born a couple of months ago. She didn’t survive giving birth. My sister was born early due to complications of moms pregnancy and they almost both passed away. That would have made it a lot worse. For as long as I can remember dad has always been pretty disconnected from me. I was definitely a mommas girl. Sadly I’m basically the momma now. But don’t get me wrong I love my sister I just didn’t expect to have a baby this young. Most people think that she is mine and that I am a teen mom but I am just a very helpful big sister.

Since dad was obviously busy. I didn’t want to bother him so I checked to see if he had cooked this morning. Generally I have to cook but sometimes he will have cooked something up. I’m not totally sure if it was him or one of his friends that actually cooks but either way one less meal I have to prepare is not going to bother me.

As I walked into the kitchen I noticed that it was cleaner than normal. Recently cleaned. It smelled like oranges but like a cleaner type of oranges not the smell that you would get from peeling an actual orange. I continued on just figuring that it was whoever my dad had had over last night. I generally don’t see the people he has over but I always know if someone else is here because dad will play music when there is guest over. He doesn’t really turn it on otherwise as he is normally on the phone so it would be a distraction. We don’t have any televisions in the house either. That’s a newer thing. Dad got rid of them when mom passed. We live in a smaller town and so because of dads job when mom passed away there were a lot of rumors going around about what actually happened. Obviously I know what actually happened since I was there but no one really listens to me. I am only 16 years old. Because of dads job people tend to think that if something happens with our family that dad will tell me what to say to people so they do not get suspicious. Now I understand that but at the same time why would I want to stay with him if he really would do something like that. I know that he doesn’t like being in the position that he is in but I also know that he feels like he is trapped.

Ava did not sleep well last night. We are still trying to get into a good sleeping routine. It is very hard sometimes. I am very young so it isn’t easy to know what to do and nobody wants to help me because they think that Ava is mine so I must have done this to myself. People tend to not help me anyways since dad is in the Serpents. The Serpents is the biggest gang in our area. They are responsible for a lot of bad things that happen. Dad got sucked in because of someone he wanted to protect. Me. When someone that did not like my dad in high school found out that he was going to have a daughter they had decided their revenge. They wanted to kidnap me and sell me off. When dad found out he was so scared and did not know what to do until one day someone came up to him and told him that they could help him. Sadly that help was gang protection. Now don’t get me wrong gang protection isn’t necessarily the worst but I just wish dad didn’t have to be a part of it.

I got Ava’s bottle ready and started my breakfast. I went and got Ava and then brought her back to the kitchen and put her into the bouncer chair with her bottle. I finished my breakfast and cleaned up.

After getting Ava changed and dressed I put her in her play pen for her nap. Dad makes me be homeschooled. He didn’t want me to be made fun of for all of the rumors.

In the middle of time working on my math for the day I heard a very loud explosion from nearby. I knew that it was close but I didn’t realize how close until I got up to get Ava because the explosion scared her. It was across the street.

Dad wasn’t home. I didn’t know where he was as he didn’t tell me and I never even heard him leave. I took Ava and my school work and some clothes for each of us and went to my best friends house when they told me that they were evacuating the area.

I had my phone with me but dad wasn’t answering. That wasn’t too uncommon as he’d always tell me that he didn’t want anyone listening in on our conversations and he wasn’t sure if it was safe for us to talk anywhere but home. That night I found out that the explosion was an attack from a rival gang and it was meant for my father.

I was very scared and one of the people from the Serpents came by and left a note that dad was safe and to stay hidden until I heard more. My friend had a hidden room in her basement and her mom let Ava and I stay in there. They lived in a very protected house as they honorably got out of the gang.

A few weeks later I got a letter saying that it wouldn’t be much longer and there was great news. I was really confused because there was no return address barely a mailing address and no one had signed the letter. I was really nervous for a while until one day my friend came down and told me that I had a surprise upstairs. So She grabbed Ava and we went upstairs and standing in the middle of the kitchen was my dad. He looked so happy. I had never seen him like that before. He had a smile on his face and a tear running down his cheek. I ran to him and gave him a hug I was so happy to know that he really was okay.

Then he whispered in my ear, “It’s over. We are safe now.”