My first evication

I experienced my first eviction when I was 8 years old. I was in the third grade at Hyde Elementary. I was excited when the bus dropped me off because I had a new kitten that I named Sunshine.

When I went inside the house that Friday afternoon, I discovered that my mom had left on a weekend vacation to Southern Missouri. There was a guy there whose name was Buddy. He was to be our babysitter.

I did my normal thing and started playing with Sunshine. At some point after dinner, I noticed that Sunshine was lying on the ground, not being himself at all.

The babysitter said that I should call my grandpa. He did not think that Sunshine looked well either. I called Grandpa.

Grandpa was there in less than 10 minutes to pick up Sunshine and myself. We went down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was determined Sunshine didn't have a fighting chance.

Grandpa and I went outside with Sunshine.

I did not watch as Grandpa stepped on Sunshine's head to end his suffering. I did, however, help Grandpa bury Sunshine while he explained how it's better to end the suffering of a hurt animal.

Grandpa took me back to the house. The babysitter was there waiting to greet me. He was sad for me and wanted to console me. He started to rub my shoulders, expressing to me that he was there for me. He started pulling me closer. I was upset and crying.

He took me into my mom's bedroom. He and I ended up in my mom's bed naked. He molested me two nights in a row. There was oral and sodomy both nights.

My mom returned home with great news. She'd been invited on another weekend getaway the upcoming weekend. What she said next was the scariest moment of my life. She told the babysitter to be sure and show up Friday afternoon.

During that week, I told my mom what had happened to me. She did not believe me one bit. She thought I wanted to ruin her weekend. He was there Friday afternoon.

He wanted my brother and sister this weekend. To keep that from happening, I volunteered. I told him I liked it. Only this time, the trauma was severe. I was hospitalized for a week or two.

I remember my grandma being at my bedside. She was praying for me. I remember her crying as she prayed. She took it upon herself to contact my father. She wanted him to take me away. He did show up at the hospital. He talked to the nurses. Then he went home without me. This was the first time he made an appearance in my life since I was four days old.

After I was released from the hospital, my next memory is being at a big table. I was at the police station with my grandma, police, and detectives. I remember they were nice, and the table was shiny. There was a cabinet that had guns in it, I remember.

My grandma was terrified for me. That, combined with her belief in God, led to no charges being filed. My grandma wanted to protect me from this man. I did not understand it; the more she would talk to me about it, the more she encouraged me to put it all in God's hands.

It was Sunday at some point following the assault that we went to church. She had me go up front to be prayed for. Every single person in that church came forward to put their hands on my shoulders and prayed.

I still to this day carry a physical scar from the attack. But the mental, emotional, and spiritual health has forever been damaged. He invaded my holy temple and destroyed who I was for his self-satisfaction. He is the one who gave an eviction that to this day I'm still unable to return home to. Home where I belong, in my temple.

Now I'm old enough to understand everything. It hurts so much worse. The pain, the anger, the hurt he inflicted on my grandparents—I cannot find it within myself to forgive him. I would do it all over again if they didn't have to be involved.

I learned later in life that my kitten Sunshine was given Draino. He was poisoned by the babysitter. That's how he started the process to my eviction..