She felt like no one in her family could have ever done her any harm to her. Of course, why would they? They had the same blood. She was always smiling, helping around in the house, she was never a trouble maker as a teenager. Many of her younger cousins and 2nd cousins looked up to her and saw her turning into a beautiful, respectful, young lady. One that they could go to whenever they needed advice or just to spend time as a family.
Every weekend, it was the same routine. After school, she would get ready and go to Dallas to go visit her family from her mom’s side. This time she thought it was going to be the same as before. So, she did the usual and arrived home from school and got ready.
When her family arrived at her aunt’s house, she went around and said hi to everyone and sat down on the couch. They stayed there the whole day, it was getting really late and she was getting sleepy. She asked her mother if they could go home and call it a night already but her mother was so focused on playing cards so her mother asked her sister in law if her daughter could sleep in her room. The sister in law agreed and the little girl went off and laid down on her bed. She doze off quickly.
Next thing the little girl knew, she woke up with her eyes wide opened looking at her cousin’s hand on her lap. Quickly she jumped off the bed as fast as a lightning bolt and asked her cousin what he was doing. Her cousin just smiled and the little girl headed for the door and twisted the knob and left straight for her mom. Meanwhile, the little girl’s mother was still playing cards with the rest of the family. The little girl leaned over, and whispered to her mother’s ear about what had just happened pausing through the sniffs caused by her tears. They left and ever since that day, things between her families have never been the same. The little girl had trouble putting her life back together. She started gaining trust issues. Over a dozen of session of therapy she had taken to help her move forward in her life, she still struggled letting go of the past.