Chapter 1

The past

Bretts POV:

Walking down the streets of lima with a little hand holding tightly to mine, its so calm and quiet. A small little town which I prefer, it seems like there is nothing here to do but that doesn't eliminate everything. I know this place will be good for my family, I just hope we can stay here.

My name is Bretton Peirce, Brett for short. I'm going into grade 10 which currently makes me 16. I'm the oldest out of all the peirce kids. Next in line is Julia, she just turned 14, then we have little Lilly who is 7, last but not least is Tyson who is a wapping 5. We moved down here from LA, it was really nice up there but our dad got into some trouble causing us to relocate.

Our household is a little diffrent then the regular family stereotype. Its just us 4 and our dad, John. Our mom passed away after Ty was born. She was sick and the doctors said she would have a small chance to make it while giving birth. Of course being the amazing mother she was she chose her kids life over hers, knowing she had my dad, Julia, Lily and I there to help.

From that point on I was forced to be a parent. I would fully take care of Lily and Julia to help my father out, as he took care of Ty. I was 11 at the time so it was a little difficult with a 9 and a 2 year old. But we made it work. When Ty turned 1 everything changed. My father started to drink more and would come home drunk sometimes. I never knew why he just changed but maybe it was for the best.

At 13 and 11 me and my sister did it all, we learned to cook and to keep the two little ones in check. It got easier over time as the little ones only knew us as adult figures even though we wernt adults. They usually always listen and never act out, we were really lucky.

What happend you ask? Well even though we had it good and a routine everyday there was always something stopping us. Our lovley father. Remember when I said we wernt the normal steriotyope family? Well I'm about to explain why. Our father continued to drink constantly and he didn't stop. He would come home drunk out of his mind, but always when the little ones would be sleeping. One night he came home to me and Julia doing homework, it was 10 pm. I new he was drunk from the second he walked in, I could always see it in his eyes. He swayed back and forth nocking things over. And he tried to go see the little ones but I refused, until he left mad.

He never used to get angry, that was until I turned 14. It was like he didn't care I was his kid, he would yell and break things sometimes an inch away from hurting me. What I never understood was why only me? I mean don't get me wrong thinking back now I was happy he never hurt Julia or the little ones, but why me? Was it becuase I was the oldest, or becuase I was technically a man?

Well that night changed for all of us. He ended up beating the shit out of me, I broke my arm and almost lost my eye sight in my left eye. Turns out it was a wrong move to ask him why he is like this. But what made him stop was when he started to move towards Julia, even with a broken arm I would never let anyone harm my siblings, so I ended up pushing her to the stairs and blocked her from a slap across the face. He left after that. Julia was going to call the police and paramedics but I stopped her. The only thing I could feel more then the pain I was in, was the thought of loosing my siblings.

That day was the most painful one of my life, I stayed home and got Julia to make a brace to secure my broken arm. The next day I went alone to the hospital, I told them I got attacked by three men last night. They called my father and he showed up drunk like usual, but doing this for years, he was able to hide it and put on an act. After getting a cast and my eye looked at we left. We were almost home when he turned to me. I was expecting him to get mad, but he apologized.

"Brett I'm so sorry I went out with the guys last night and I drank way to much, I came home wasted and I don't know, I just snapped. This will never happen again, please forgive me. Please!"

I looked at him I could see in his eyes that he meant a part of his apology. Being 14 I just needed a parent, and for the longest time I have been letting it go becuase I was scared that one day he wouldn't come back and that would leave me alone with being in charge, I had no idea what to do. So I forgave him.

I wish I could say that was the first and last day of my father abusing me. At least I hoped. Over the next year thats all he seemed to do, come home randomly and start freaking out breaking things. At first he would try to go near Julia but I always got infront of her and took the beating. He eventually got so mad that I would get in the way that he only went for me. As much as that scared me, it also made me happy, that I was able to stop him from hurting Julia and the little ones. They were the only things that kept me going.

But as usual after he would come home and beat me, he would disappear for a few days then show up and apologize giving me excuses. "Oh one of the guys pissed me off last night, oh someone hit our car, oh someone insulted him, oh I got fired." They never stopped until one day I got furious, it was halfway through the school year and he came home and did what he does best. But I got fed up, and over the years of him not being there and me being tired from doing everything just to have a beat down from the one person who is supposed to be there for me. I took charge, at the age of 15, the first time I was ever in a physical fight and hit my father.

It started off great in my mind, I hit him good and he stumbled back in shock, like he had no idea what happend or what to do. I yelled telling him to stop. I accused him ever since Ty was born he had been a dick and a dead beat dad. If mom was here she would have left him. Then I asked him what his problem was. I stood there breathing heavily full of rage. I could see the gears in his head turn and his eye turn red with rage. I have never seen him so angry. He walked up to me and punched me hard in the face making me stumble back to the wall. He grabbed my neck with both hands and started to slowly strangle me while he yelled at me.

"You are my problem boy, you and ur stupid annoying siblings!"

I stared at him with wid eyes and his hands slowly got tighter on my throat. I was able to breath but just struggle a little bit.

"Ever since you were accidentally born the love of my life wanted more, becuase of you, we continued to have kids. And if it wasn't for YOU SHE WOULD STILL BE HERE! If that bastard kid wasn't born then my WIFE would still be here with me. ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" John said

All brett could do was just listen while his father tighten his grip on his throat. Up to when Brett couldn't breathe.

"Its all ur fault boy, and if you ever challenge me or try to even think about hitting or questioning me I will kill you. And if you do I will start beating those stupid siblings of yours so don't try me boy." John said dropping Brett on the ground.

Brett gasped for air as he scrambled to crawl away in fear.

John started walking away when he turned back "Got it?"

Brett didn't even try to speak he just nodded his head. Then his father left the house, and didn't return for a couple of days.

None of my siblings saw what my father did that night, and I plan for them to not find out. Last thing a kid needs to hear from their only parent was that he hated them and wish they were never born, plus that they killed HIS wife. Not even their mother.

For the next year it was the same things on repeat. So often to where I was able to control his rage and sometimes avoid the beating.

Two weeks later he came home in a hurry. He was yelling and packing stuff up. I had just turned 16 and it was then end of the school year. Leaving us a month left till the beginning of summer. We did what he asked and for two weeks we had all our stuff packed until one day a truck showed up and took all our stuff. My dad said we were moving to lima Ohio, he didn't tell us why we had to leave. I just got in the car with my siblings and drove following the moving truck.

In total it was a 33 hour drive but it took us around two and a half days, having a 7 and 5 year old can slow you down. We took around 27 stops to pee and get snacks. We didn't stop to sleep once, and let's just say when we got there I was exausted. John didn't want to drive in our car so it was all up to me. Julia helped a lot to keep Lily and Ty calm and entertained, I appreciated that a lot.

We pulled into a street that was filled with nice houses. We then pulled into a driveway of a nice two story house with a double car garage door. It was a nice stone and marble look. Apparently it was the only one we could find for sale so late on notice, it could use a little work which I didn't mind. I love having projects to keep my mind off all my problems. Our house has 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, one in the basement that is finished and a kitchen and living room. It was a nice little home. Brett could see them growing up here, a fresh new start.

The next day they all unpacked, Brett first helped Tyson who got his own room. Then he helped Julia and Lily with their room. He then moved on to his own in the basement. Finially at the end of the day everyone was tired they ended up ordering pizza and going to bed ready to have their fresh starts. After Brett tucked everyone in and said goodnight to Julia he went down to his room and laid in bed, thinking about the new friends he could make and how much different things are going to be for him and his siblings. How its going to be better. Then he fell asleep.