Broken Down

Prologue

I'd love to have known that things were not going to work out this way, but I didn't expect that to happen.
Let's go back to the beginning.

"Listen here Tarina I don't care who made that mess, you'll have to clean it either way because you are a woman!" Explained my father. "You can't just laze around with your brothers because when they'll grow up their wives would do the work!"

Sexist? I know...

"But I have a lot of homework to do right no-" I started.

"The amount of homework you're doing shouldn't be affected by the little things we ask of you." Added my mother. "We love you but try to be a responsible girl, don't you see your friend? Kaycee is always trying to be better in her school work, she cleans her room repeatedly and is organized beyond comprehension. What about your cousins? Jessie and Ciara? They never fail classes... You should be more like them. "

Love? Yeah, right.

I don't think she expected anything else from me so I nodded and got to cleaning up the mess my little brother had made.

This was a daily ritual in the Acero household. My mother, Tyra, was a stay at home wife, well not really but she worked from home. She was extremely strict and severe but she tried her best because she practically raised 3 children on her own.

My father, Arturo, was a business man. He owned a chain of hotels around the world and didn't live with us. He used to visit regularly, but slowly, waiting started getting longer and longer until he showed up twice a year.

Kendrick, my older brother, was 18 and he was in University. He had always been the brains of the Acero family. He was calm and not only that but he behaved responsibly. He was my mother's favourite, although she refused to admit it, I saw it as clear as day.

Dean, my 14 year old younger brother, was the life of the party. Not literally but everyone loved him. He was energetic and full of life. He loved creating and inventing, which made him want to become an engineer. He was my father's favourite. His first name was also Arturo but he went by his middle name.

Then there was me. My name is Tarina Acero, I was 17 at the time and what can I say. It was hard to understand why I was constantly in emotional pain. Maybe I was being dramatic, or even possibly I seeked attention from my family, but I only wanted to be loved for me. Luckily there was one person who did that. My grandma.

My maternal grandma, Ximena, the only grandparent I had, she was my other half, so I loved her and she loved me. Without her I would be nothing. She was amazing and beautiful. And at the age of 74, she still looked 40. I knew that whatever decision I made would affect her and that's why I had to hold on.