"Dollhouse"
They're here again. The people in the fancy clothes. Big brother tells me they'll take us away if we are not dressed like a perfect family. I don't understand, why would they care about how we live? The girl is always with them. Uh oh, she's walking up the driveway. Mommy is hiding the bottles. Daddy is hiding the lady neighbor's clothes. Brother is hiding his medicine. We are all now sitting on the couch, smiling.
I think of it like a dollhouse for normal children, where the toys don't move until you're asleep. The people come play with us by asking us questions. We lie with saying sweet words, like dolls who don't talk. We need to be perfect like plastic.
They took a picture of us today. They said it was for our file. Mommy acted very sugary sweet while they were here. "Can you pose with your brother, baby? That's a good girl."
Baby is the sweet nickname Mommy uses when she wants to look good for someone. Mommy is always dressed highly. She has very pretty jewelry. That's all they can see.
Daddy throws business parties. They are all dressed nice. Mommy sometimes has her friends over. But nobody that comes inside hears me tell mommy to please wake up. No one hears about my daddy's girls. Nobody sees the cigarettes of my brother. I am the only outsider that is able to look in.
One day, I fear they will look through the windows of our house or the lies that come through our teeth. But I have sworn not to tell them anything. If they were to find out what's in the kitchen, they'd take me away for sure. The kitchen is where my mommy's bottle collection is. That's where the knives are that mommy chases daddy out with. When brother goes in, he comes out with his special medicine. He says it 'eases the pain'. But I am beginning to think it isn't physical.