B E F O R E T H E S T O R M

V I I

S T O R M

My mom was born in Sussex to two Immigrants. Her mother, Isabel Sanchez, was a Puerto Rican farmer, and her father, Zachary Ashka, was a young African American man who had traveled to Puerto Rico on a business trip. He met Isabel and soon, they fell in love and moved back to his home in the US and got married. They soon had five kids; Charlotte Ann, Damian, Zachary Junior, Isaac, and my mother, Rachael.

They moved from Chicago, Illinois, to Sussex, England. They wanted a fresh start, and there were amazing job opportunities there.

Isabel gave birth to a healthy baby girl on a cold December evening after they had moved to Sussex. The small newborn baby was then named her Rachael Maria Ashka. She had beautiful golden brown skin, and dark hair and eyes.

My mum was a pretty happy kid, growing up. She had a loving family and she and her siblings were very close. When she was 16 she was seeing a boy for a few months and he got her knocked up. Her parents would not let her get an abortion, so she let them take care of the baby until she finished school.

When my mum was 19, she moved to London to start college. She left her baby, Starr, with her parents and was ready to begin a new chapter of her life. She began working as a waitress at a bar to support herself. Then she met my father.

His name was Robert McCullens. He was from Scotland and was looking for work.

Robert McCullens had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a charming smile. He was a handsome man.

My mother was waiting tables one afternoon when she met him. They chatted and after he left, he began to come back every day at the same time and would make sure only my mother waited him. If she wasn't working that day, he'd leave. Eventually they started dating, then moved in together. He never spoke of his family. My grandparents did not like him, they could tell he had bad intentions. But my mother, being young and dumb, stayed with him anyway.

She and Robert had a secret wedding five years after meeting. They were staying over at my grand parent's house for the holiday season, when the news of their new marriage had slipped out. Her parents were not happy.

There was an argument, and eventually my mum and dad took Starr, who was eight at the time, and returned to London.

Another five years passed. After the predicament with his in laws on Christmas, my father began to change.

He started to drink more. He became angry with my mother for the simplest things. He started to just slap her, and scream at her when Starr wasn't around. Then he started coming home late and would beat her and sometimes took advantage of her. He stopped caring if Starr's innocent 13 year old eyes seen what he would do to her poor mother.

When my mom found out she was pregnant with me, she had hoped that maybe Robert would stop beating her.

She was right for first few months...then he started accusing her of cheating and started hitting her again.

It was either the second or third beating when she decided she had had enough. She had Starr call the police and my dad was arrested. For six months.

My mom gave birth to me a few months after. My dad was released and promised that he was "a changed man". A few months after my birth, he was allowed back into the household. It was foolish of my mom.