I twirled happily around in the dress, the fabric dancing around my legs. My brother politely clapped and I took a bow.

I didn't like it anymore, how much my brother grew up in the past year. He had gone from looking like a five year old to looking like a seven year old. He was only five. His buzz cut grew out fast, and since joining the soccer club at our elementary school he had developed… ABS. Abs looked odd on a five year old let me tell you.

When we stood up, I could no longer put my chin on his head, his head came up past my nose. His hair was a thick, light brown mop that hung just past his ears. My hair was cut in a bob in those days, so the length of our hair was the same. Except that my hair was red back then, and his was a darkening brown.

I loved my brother; the only real family I ever had. Sure, we had mommy, but… I don't want to talk about it. Our dad supposedly left after I was born then came back and made mommy pregnant with Dommy. The best thing he ever did was give me little Dominick Fernando.

I gave him a hug and he pushed me away, but he was smiling. He grasped a hold of a chunk of fabric and shook his little head. His chubby fist released the dress and his electric blue eyes glinted with a childish joy of playing with his sister.

'Lina, Mommy gunna kill us dead cause you weared her dress…'

'She couldn't kill us, she wouldn't go to heaven…' I told him, but took off he dress anyway. I smoothed it out with my fingertips and gently hung it back on the hanger. I slid it back into the closet of clothes never worn.

'Lina…' Dom asked, his thumb temporarily out of his mouth. 'Is there such thing as a heaven?'

I crossed Mommy's room and held his hand. We walked together down the dingy hallway.

'Of course, Nickydom. '

He pouted. 'Don't call me that, Lima Bean.'

I laughed and Dominick clutched my arm closer to him. 'Lina, I like it when you laugh. Why does mommy never laugh?'

I shook my head and opened the creaky door to the room we shared. The smell of cookies enveloped us as we each took one from the platter of them on the bedside table. I grabbed Tim's old shirt and went into the closet. Tim was my mom's ex boyfriend. He was nice to us, and he always got in the way when mommy got mad at us. He still came by occasionally and bought us food and clothes, like the cookies and my nightshirt.

I thought he was handsome, but mommy told us that she thought he looked like a rat. He had this weird color hair that looked kind of like a mix of salt and pepper on my plate, which is often all I got to eat. He had these clever eyes that I could never seem to tell the color of, and they were always twinkling like Santa Clause's on Christmas. He never came to our house though. Mommy scared him away. Tim had this look on his face like he was about to get himself in a lotta trouble. He had a job as a mailman for rich people, he told us. He also had two pet snakes that he carried in his pocket.

I now know who Tim REALLY is. But back then I thought he was just a nice man.

It was well past midnight and the alarm clock was the only light in the room. I heard the door slam and mommy yelling. I bolted up out of bed and scooped Dominick up. I could hear her yelling our names as she stormed up the stairs. I looked around wildly for a hiding place. I stuffed Dominick in the cabinet in the closet and jumped back into my bed. I knew what was going to happen. The door flew open, and Mommy launched herself at me. I screamed. She threw me across the room and I heard a crack somewhere in my hand. She ran to me and picked me up. I thought maybe she was in a better mood, and then she tossed me out the window.

It was only the second story, so I was fine. I was alive; wasn't I?

I knew what to do. I ran into the house, hearing mommy look for Dominick in rage. Our hiding spot was fantastic; as long as Dominick stayed quiet we wouldn't have a problem. I saw mommy's phone on the counter. I lunged for it and ran outside. I crashed into the bushes but didn't bother picking myself up. I just dialed the numbers I always dreamed of dialing. 911.

The ringing only lasted for a second or two before I heard…

'911, what is your emergency?'

I was hysterical.

'Honey, please calm down and tell us what happened.'

'I would like to report a child abuse.'

'Where, and are there ambulances necessary?'

'I don't know, my-' I thought of it. To this day I don't know why I did it, got my own mother arrested. 'My friend confided in me about her mommy hitting her and her brother. She was screaming and she told me if I ever heard her suddenly stop, to call 911…'

'What happened?'

'She stopped screaming, she was and then she stopped and I don't know what happened….'

'What is her name?'

'Kaylina Wells. Her brother is Dominick Wells. He is in the closet of the third door on the left of the second floor. He is inside the cabinet. She told me she always hid him when her mommy got mad.'

'And what is your name, sweetie?'

'PLEASE JUST SEND THE POLICE BEFORE DOMMY GETS HURT!' I screamed and hung up. Mommy looked out the window. She heard every word.

'KAYLINA YOU LITTLE HOAR!' She screamed and threw open the closet doors. I saw the sirens wailing up. It was then that I looked at my wrist. The sight made me faint. In the bushes. Where nobody could see me. Nobody could help me.