ENTRY 4
MY INDEPENDENCE DAY

By the time I was eight years old, there was nothing that my Mama could hide about the abuse she suffered from my Father. There were days where we were a happy family, Mamma, Father, baby sister Alice and I. When Father got mean, it was a tragedy waiting to happen.

Mama usually took the brunt of Father's beatings. Until Independence Day when I was eight and Alice was two.

Father was extremely drunk that day. I had foolishly wanted to go to our small town's Fourth of July Parade and asked Mama about it. She said she would think about it and get back to me. Looking back, she meant she'd see how drunk Father was.

That is what caused Father to beat my Mama to death.

That was the first time Father came after me.

I was fast for an eight-year-old and had the added advantage that Father was too drunk to stand. I may or may not have found my baseball bat and hit him in the head. Like he did to Mama.

I heard the cry of my sister Alice and made my way to her crib.

I grabbed a backpack and packed our favorite toy animals and Alice's blanket that she couldn't sleep without.

I went towards the living room, carrying Alice, the backpack, and the bat when I noticed that Father was waking up. I put Alice in her stroller and hit Father again. This time, he knocked over a lamp.

Fearing he would wake up again, I got Alice out and went back in. The smell of smoke was present and I grabbed a picture of Mama, me, and Alice.

I left the house and never looked back.

By the time I got to the square where the parade was going to be, people were lining the street for fireworks which were due to start any minute.

Chief Swan, his daughter Isabella, and Doctor and Mrs. Cullen, and their three adopted kids, twins Jasper and Rosalie, and Emmett were there and said hello.

I didn't realize that Alice and I were still in our pajamas, the adults took notice.

After I explained Father was hitting Mama again, Chief Swan left to get officers to my house.

Sadly, by the time that they got there, the house was ablaze. Nothing was salvageable.

Except for a bear that was mostly destroyed and suspected to be the cause of the fire.

To this day, nobody knows my involvement and I am called a hero.

The Cullen's quickly adopted Alice and me and I later learned that they were working on getting us taken away from my parents.

July 5th was going to be the day that we were taken from the home.

Looking back on my life since then, I am grateful that I was able to get Alice and me out. Even if I did kill my father in the process.

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