Hear Me Now

CHAPTER ONE: NANA

My name is Emily. I'm a regular girl, living in the regular small town. Well, as regular as a small town can be. My mother and father both grew up here, so I was destined to have the same fate. I live in a town where everyone knows everyone, and talks goes fast. Like when my mother and father divorced, the town knew it before you could even say hello.

    The looks you get in this town when everyone knows your business would be the absolute worse to an outsider. Growing up here, your hide gets thicker and you become accustomed to it. Sounds sad, but it actually prepares you for everything else this cruel world has to offer.

    I'm not quite sure how my mother and father met. Neither one of them ever talk about each other much, except to ask about each other. My father still loves my mother. I know that. My mother does not still love my father. My father had one child before he met my mother. My eldest sister, Kaitlyn. My mother adored Kaitlyn, and took her in as her own. I have a very good relationship with Kaitlyn's mother, but since Kaitlyn and I are so far apart in age, we don't have much of a relationship.

    I suppose my mother and father were happy together at one time. They got married and had three kids. All girls and I was the youngest of us all. Key word: was. After my parents had me, my mother got tired of my father's games, and finally left him. I don't blame my mother, nor do I hate her, for what she did. My mother became very depressed after this, and off to our grandparents we went. Most children would hate this, but now as a young adult, I understand why my mother did what she did.

    My sisters and I were pretty young at this time, so we didn't really care much. My grandparents were the epitome of a love story. They met when they were in high school, and had been in love ever since. I used to love to hear my dear grandparents talk about how they got engaged. My nana, Linda, and my grandaddy, Wayne, were in an argument going through the tunnel, heading towards Mobile. One thing led to another and Wayne said, "Well, hell, lets just get married then!" And that was it.

    You could see the love in their eyes when they looked at one another. It was something every little girl dreams of having one day. My mother was a travel nurse and she would visit us every few months, sometimes every year. It was always like a Christmas present having my mother home.

    My nana would call my mother daily to keep her updated on us. Every time she got on that phone, I would hope my mother was saying she was coming home, for good. Though, those were never her words.

    Back to my father, my sisters and I used to go there every weekend. He was always so excited to see us, as were we with him. We would go to my PawPaw's every Saturday to watch the Alabama game. I can still hear them cheering and singing the Alabama theme song when we would get a touchdown. One day, when I was around 7 or 8, we were at my pawpaw's house. I'm not sure where everyone was at, but I do know my father and I were there. I needed to shower, and he told me he would shower with me.

    I thought this odd, but didn't think anything too wrong with it. My father got undressed with me, and stepped into the shower. I had my back to him, washing my hair. I felt my father's hands on my shoulders, pushing me to turn around. I didn't want to, but he made me. I kept my eyes to the ground. I didn't want to see what he wanted me to. I don't remember much after that. I don't even remember getting out of the shower.

    In a way, I hate him for making me look at his naked body because he was my father. The one who was supposed to protect me from these types of things. In another way, I'm glad he did because he taught me to trust no man, not even the one whose seed you came from.

    Our visits to our father's became scarce after 'the incident' and soon became non-existent. He stopped calling to check on us, and I wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was just ashamed of what he did. But I was not the only one. He had done far worse to my eldest sister, but that is her story to tell, not mine. My father met my stepmother not long after this, and she quickly fell pregnant with my little sister, Izzabella. I was slightly jealous of my little sister because she got to live with my father. I had forgiven him, and I was jealous he was raising his 5th child, but none of the others.