girl

My sister-in-law wrote to me again, wanting me to tell her if I thought she should stay with my brother or go back to her other boyfriend.

I wrote back this time. I let it all pour out of me. I told her how my brother molested me and raped me when I was only a little girl. I told her how he tried to deny it when I confronted him. I told her that if she stays with him, she is putting her own children in danger, and that if she stays, it will be the end of any friendship between us, because I must keep my daughter safe from my brother, no matter what else happens.

Once, I loved her. She is the closest thing to the sister I never had. I pray she listens to me. Please God, let her listen. For the sake of her unborn baby, for the sake of my nieces, let her truly hear what I've said, let her walk away.

But I don't think she will.

From in the shadow she calls
And in the shadow she finds a way finds a way
And in the shadow she crawls
Clutching her faded photograph my image under her thumb
Yes with a message for my heart
Yes with a message for my heart
She's been everybody else's girl maybe one day she'll be her own
Everybody else's girl maybe one day she'll be her own