Carla had been startled from her sleep as she heard the front door open and the sound of muffled voices coming from down stairs. Her cheeks were still damp from the tears she had shed, and her hair was tangled as a result of her tossing and turning throughout the night.
She had stayed rooted to the bed, hugging her teddy bear closer to her chest as she desperately tried to listen to what was being said down stairs. She had never been so relieved to hear her mother's voice as she had been in that moment. There was no way Frank would hurt her if her mother was in the house, she had thought. She quietly crept out of her bed and tip-toed out to the landing.
As she sat in the darkness at the top of the stairs and listened to Sharon and Frank's conversation, she had been confused by how normal Frank was behaving. It was as if nothing had happened just hours previously. How?
Carla didn't tell her mother what had happened: Frank had told her not to tell anyone, and she had to obey by his rules. She was only seven years old and she was absolutely terrified; not just of Frank, and how he would react if she ever told her mother about the abuse, but she was also terrified of her mother's reaction to the revelation; what if she didn't believe her? What if she thought she was just making the whole thing up?
With that thought, Carla had sadly retreated back to her bedroom, finding some small comfort in cuddling her teddy bear that auntie Barbara had bought her.
Tuesday 16th March, 1982.
It had been the day after Frank had first abused her. Carla had awoken at her usual time of eight o'clock to get herself and her little brother ready for school. She hadn't waited for her auntie Barbara to arrive to pick them up as she was eager to leave the house as soon as possible; desperate to avoid Frank.
She had a relatively normal day at school, though the teacher must have known something was up as she had asked Carla if anything was bothering her.
"Are you alright, Carla? You seem unusally quiet today." asked Miss Marsh.
Carla had immediately became defensive as she replied to her teacher. "Yes, Miss. I'm fine, thank you."
Miss. Marsh furrowed her brow as she looked down at the young girl.
"Are you sure, sweetheart?"
Carla winced at the term, 'sweetheart'. It should be a nice, comforting word. But Frank had tainted it, just like he had tainted her.
"I'm fine!" Carla snapped before storming off, instantly alarming her teacher with her erratic behaviour.
Carla had felt apprehensive about going home after school, so she decided to stop in the park for a while. Her and Rob had taken turns pushing each other on the swings before Carla had reluctantly told him it was time to leave.
As Carla had arrived back home with her little brother, she had been so relieved to find her mother was home too.
It's okay, Carla. she had told herself. Frank won't hurt you now; your mummy's here and she's going to protect you.
But that thought quickly disappeared as she noticed the way her mother was looking at her. Her eyes had been so cold it sent chills up Carla's spine.
"Rob, go play in your room please. I need t'speak to your sister." Sharon had said to her son, though her eyes had been fixed on Carla the whole time she was speaking.
Rob had climbed his way up the stairs out of the way, leaving his sister alone with their mother.
"What's wrong, mummy?" Carla asked timidly.
"Go in the living room." Sharon had ordered.
Carla had done as she was told, but she had been horrified as she walked in the room to find Frank lying on the floor half naked. She turned to leave but her mother had blocked her exit.
"Mummy?" Carla had whispered in fear.
Sharon seemed completely unphased by the utter terror radiating from her young daughter. Her voice lacked any emotion as she ordered Carla to take her clothes off.
"No, mum, no.." Carla sobbed at the realisation that something horrible was about to happen.
"Do as you're told, Carla!"
Carla had stared at her mother with fear and confusion, but there had been no emotion behind her mother's eyes. And in that moment, Carla realised just how helpless she was. She miserably started to remove her school uniform.
Once she had taken off all of her clothes, Sharon had picked her up and placed her on top of Frank. Carla had desperately tried to cling on to her mother but Sharon had pulled her daughter's arms from around her neck and forced her down on Frank.
Carla had screamed in agony. The pain of Frank penetrating her was unbearable and she had struggled against him.
"Please stop, you're hurting me!" she sobbed.
"Shut up, and do as you're told!" had been her mother's harsh reply.
Carla continued to sob as tears coursed down her face. She felt like she was being ripped apart. There was a terrible, hot pain that spread between her legs up to her stomach as her mother held her in place.
It seemed to last forever. Her whole body ached in pain but the more she had screamed the more her mother had shouted at her to shut up and do as she was told. Carla had never felt so lonely and desperate in her whole life.
She had no idea what was happening, what Frank was doing to her. She didn't know what she had done to be tortured like this. It wasn't just the pain that had terrified her, but the flushed, contorted look that had been on Frank's face.
Once it was over, Sharon handed Carla her clothes back and told her to go and play in her room.
Carla had struggled to climb the stairs. Each step she had taken had caused an agonising pain to shoot up through her body. She had put her hand between her legs in an attempt to ease the pain but it hadn't worked. When she had finally reached her room she collapsed on to her bed and her body shook as she was overcome with heart wrenching sobs. She removed her hand from between her legs to find it covered in blood. She was so scared, she thought she was going to die.
Eventually she cried herself to sleep.
When Carla had woken up the next morning, she was relieved to find the pain had eased a little bit. She got herself dressed before carefully making her way downstairs.
In her living room, everything had seemed normal. Frank and Sharon were sat on the sofa drinking tea, and Robert had been sat on the floor playing with his toys.
"Carcar, play?" Rob had spoke as he noticed his big sister enter the room.
"No, baby. I can't play now." Carla had gently spoken. She had been in too much pain to sit on the floor with her little brother.
"We'll be having dinner soon, sweetheart." Frank had told her.
She nodded meekly, before slowly making her way towards the sofa to watch television. She hadn't told her mother about the pain she was suffering, both her and Frank were acting as if nothing had happened anyway.
After they had their dinner, Sharon had disappeared upstairs to run a bath. She called Carla up first, which was unusual as Rob was usually first to be bathed.
Carla stepped out of her clothes to find her underwear soaked in blood. Her mother said nothing. As she climbed in to the bath, the hot water caused enough pain to take Carla's breath away. She started to cry, and again, her mother said nothing.
Once she'd finished having her bath, her mother dried her and dressed her in her pyjamas.
"Go downstairs and tell your brother to come up for 'is bath." Sharon had instructed her, and Carla had to make another painful journey down the stairs.
As Sharon was upstairs washing Rob, Carla sat on the sofa with Frank.
"Have you had your bath?" Frank's voice had cut through the silence.
Carla nodded in answer to his question, and she hoped her mother wouldn't leave her alone with him for too long.
Carla had been sat in the living room with Sharon, Frank and Rob for about half an hour before the discomfort of her situation forced her to leave the room. She slowly made her way up the stairs, and went straight to bed. She had stuffed her face in to her pillow to muffle the sounds of her crying, so her little brother didn't hear her.
How does a man, tell the woman he's sleeping with, that he has abused her seven-year-old daughter?
This was one of many questions that Carla had constantly asked herself over the years, ever since that day in 1982. She would always wonder how he had brought up the subject. It's not exactly something you'd bring up in an everyday conversation, that was for sure. She was sickened by the thought of how confident Frank must have been, knowing Sharon didn't regard sexual abuse as the truly horrific ordeal that it was.
It wasn't until her adult years that Carla grew to understand just how cold and calculated her mother really was. Frank didn't have to threaten her, or beat her in order for her to accept what he was doing to her daughter: She had accepted it, willingly. And it was that betrayal that hurt Carla the most.
Her mother's betrayal had hurt her more than Frank ever could, because her mother was the one person who should have protected her.
Although Carla had been subjected to far worse ordeals later on in her life, it was that experience that always stood out in her memory, as it had been the first time. The pain had lasted for several days, and it had been even worse when ever Carla went to the toilet. She tried to ignore the pain, hoping it would go away. But eventually she couldn't take it anymore and had spoken to her mother.
"It's alright, give it a few days." Sharon told her. She never gave her anything for the pain, not even an affectionate smile or cuddle.
It was that day that Carla realised, if Sharon hadn't protected her from Frank and his sick sadistic urges, then who's to say other men wouldn't come and hurt her, too?
Without her mother's protection, Carla would be fair game for any paedophile.