Full Summary:
Jackie Johnson hasn't been home in two years. She ran away to get away from her stepfather. Now Mr. Hardy has been hired by her parents to find her. Can she prove to Mr. Hardy, her dad, step-mom, & mother that her stepfather was abusing her? And will they listen?
Life Before The Streets:
My parents always told me that I was special to them because I was there only child. Then my parents started fighting and eventually got a divorce when I was six. My father remarried and I eventually learned that the reason they were fighting was because my father had been cheating on my mother. I liked my new stepmother and she was very nice to me. They invited me to stay over at their house whenever I wanted even when my new baby brother came into their lives. My stepmother Jean said that I needed to be in my brother's life as much as possible. But when my mother married my stepfather he put an end to me visiting my father, for fear I would tell the Secret.
When my mother remarried, I liked the guy at first, but then soon grew to dislike him. When my mother went to bed, he'd come into my room and sit on my bed and talk to me. At first it was okay. I liked to talk to him about school, but all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Then as the weeks progressed and he kept coming in, I realized his intentions. At the age of eight, I knew why my mother loved him, but I had grown to hate him. Every night he would come into my room and touch me. The touching always made me feel weird inside and out. But he never did anything else but touch me. Then I turned fourteen.
The day I turned fourteen, he came into my room while my mother was at work. She wasn't due home until 4:00am so he thought he'd have some fun. Mind you, I'd been living with this monster since I was seven. He came in and pulled my sheets back. I was already asleep and I woke up when he touched me. I'd learned in school that what he was doing was wrong, but I couldn't do anything. He'd said he would kill my mom and me if I told anyone. He was wearing his robe and some boxers. I was wearing a long t-shirt that went all the way down to my knees.
I felt him push my shirt up and move my underwear out of the way. I opened my eyes then and saw him lay down on top of me. The look in his eyes told me he was drunk. He put his lips on mine and kissed me hard. I tired to push him off of me, but he smacked me across the face. Then, before I could stop him, he was inside of me, raping me. I silently cried as his hand crushed my face, so I wouldn't make a sound. He left me alone and came back an hour later and raped me again. He said in his slurred voice that he wanted a child and that my mom couldn't give him one so I would have to do.
When he came back an hour later, he raped me again. He raped me an hour every hour until it was 3:00am. Then he left me alone. It was a Friday night so I didn't have to go to school the net day. My mother had to work though that morning at 9:00am so I would be alone with him that whole day until midnight. I never left my bed. I told my mom I wasn't hungry and stayed in bed on Saturday. He came to my room at 11:00am and never left.
On Sunday, I told my mom I was going to dad's to celebrate my birthday. I had packed enough clothes, books, CD's, batteries and my CD player to last a month. I had about $6,000 in cash on me from saving and used $400 for a bus ticket to New York. I wanted to get away from my stepfather as fast as I could. Once in New York, I went to the hospital and told them I was raped. They do a kit and give me a pill. I take it but I know it will never help. The local police ask who raped me and I tell them I don't remember seeing his face. I was gagged and blind folded. They let me leave.
Eventually I end up in Bayport, but don't have any money to stay anywhere. I make a temporary house out of wood I collect along the beach. I am able to make a house that will keep out the rain, wind and will hold for as long as I am able to stay here without the authorities knowing.