Save a Mother and Her Three Daughters

This month marks the 20th year. The 20th year we’ve been prisoners to this never-ending cycle of abuse.

My name is Amaya and I am writing this to help save my mother, my two younger sisters, and myself from the control of my abusive father.

We might look like a normal family of 5, but behind closed doors, things are anything but normal. My father is emotionally, mentally, and at times physically abusive towards my mother, and this is beginning to trickle down to his children. And things have only gotten worse over the years.

We have tried to escape countless times, but every time we thought we got away, he would find us and he would force his way back into our lives, eventually taking away any control we had. Now he is threatening to abandon us the week before rent is due which will result in us becoming homeless without a car for shelter or transportation.

Currently, I have been forced to take a semester off from college and I am working two jobs in preparation for my father abandoning us. Unfortunately, neither paycheck will come in time to pay rent next month and I don’t know if I alone will be able to cover whatever fees will incur.

This is our story.

My mother, whose name is Rachel, has been involved with my father since 2001. He has only become more abusive and controlling over the years. After the birth of my sister in 2010, Rachel realized that things weren’t going to get better and she needed to leave him. However, all past attempts to escape failed due to the lack of a car, money, and a support system.

In the Spring of this year, we escaped him for what we thought would be the final time, since tax returns finally gave us the money we needed to leave. However, things took a turn when Rachel revealed that she was pregnant with my father’s child and would not be able to work soon due to increasing sciatic nerve pain. We moved into a cheap one bedroom and I was planning to start working full time. I would have been able to cover rent for the next few months, giving my mother enough time to have the baby, recover, and start working again. But something happened. The first day we moved in, Rachel went into excruciating labor and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Out of fear and desperation (as we have no other family to rely on), my mother called my father. It has only been downhill since then.

Since my baby sister was born and Rachel was no longer able to work, my father offered to step up and pay rent, with the only caveat being that we would have to move to Colorado. We packed up the car and grudgingly agreed. However, before we were even out of Texas, the car was beginning to fail. Realizing this, my father suggested we sell it and use half the money from it for a down payment on another car and the other half for extra rent money. We agreed, however, the car completely broke down shortly after. This resulted in us using whatever money we had intended for rent on tow trucks. On top of that, we only received $2,000 for the car instead of the previously promised $4,000 due to the non-functioning condition of the car, which was still extremely generous. With that, we no longer had our own car, stripping away the last of our freedom.

After paying rent this month (September), we are left with nothing and are rushing to come up with enough money for rent next month. My father has been refusing to get a job as a scare tactic to get what he wants from us. I finally got a job on the 20th, which leaves me only 2 weeks to come up with whatever I can to help cover rent, but I realized I don’t won’t be paid until after rent is due.

Besides demeaning us and telling us how we’re nothing without him, my father has been threatening to sell our remaining two cats, even though he has already forced us to sell the others. He is also becoming increasingly hostile towards my mother due to her still recovering from the pregnancy, constantly talking about how “useless” she is in front of his own children. He has us walking on eggshells since anything we do could set him off and result in punishment—from verbal abuse to refusing to buy us food or water. We fear that if we do not escape now that we will never be free again.

We have found a one-bedroom apartment that I will be able to pay for on my own, so any funds raised will go towards covering rent for the new apartment plus whatever moving costs may incur, and towards acquiring our own car. Any leftover funds will be used for bills, and if we have enough, they will go towards therapy for my mother, sister, and me since we have undoubtedly been affected by this lifelong ordeal.