Tait and Tess are brother and sister. Tait is eight years old and Tess is five years old. Their parents are divorced. They live with their mother, Janelle, in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Every other weekend they go and stay with their dad, Mike, out in the country only about twenty miles away from their mom’s house. Mike and Janelle divorced three years ago. Since then Mike has remarried a woman named Dana. Janelle is single and struggling with work. She recently quit her job at a law firm, and she is having trouble finding another one.

Tait and Tess walk home from school everyday because the school is only about five blocks away from their mom’s house. They were coming home like usual one day, and when they came inside they saw their mom crying at the kitchen table. Tait went up to her and asked, “Mom, Mom what’s wrong?”

Tait was scared for his Mom. He’s never seen his mom cry before. She took her hand and slapped him across the face. He fell to the ground, and he immediately ran to his sister to protect her. They both ran upstairs to their bedroom and closed the door. Janelle followed them upstairs. She wouldn’t stop screaming. She kept repeating, “This is all your fault!”

Tait and Tess were scared for their lives. Janelle walked through the bedroom door. She grabbed Tess and took her to the bathroom. She locked her in there and came back for Tait. She told him if he told his dad about this that next time it’ll be even worse. So, he didn’t tell.

Over the next couple of days it got even worse. Janelle was hitting them, and the children were so scared to tell anyone because they thought something even worse would happen. The weekend came and they went to their dad’s house. He noticed the bruises on them and asked them about them. The siblings lied to him and said they happened at the school playground. He didn’t think anything of it.

When the weekend came to an end the children went back to their mother’s house. The same routine continued. Every day they came home from school they were beaten. The next time they saw their father he saw the same bruises. Mike called Janelle and was worried about them. She again lied and said the bruises are from the playground.

Mike one day thought it’d be nice to surprise his kids on a day he wasn’t supposed to have them and take them out to eat. He pulled up in front of Janelle’s house, and walked through the front door. He saw Janelle in the kitchen holding Tess by the arm smacking her repeatedly. He quickly grabbed Tess and Tait, and he brought them out to the car. “You will never see these kids again,” Mike yelled at Janelle. Then, he drove away.

Mike took Janelle to court for full custody over Tait and Tess. He won the case, and the children were finally in a happy family and never abused again.