I had just turned six, and it was a scorching hot day. I thought it would be a normal day. Only it turned out to be the day I will never forget.

Mom was doing dishes and Brian, who was one at the time, was taking a nap. Scott, my biological dad, always said he loved to play with me, but now, I realize that he never really did. When I asked him to play with me, he shouted, “Go away!” I didn’t go away. When I asked why, he started screaming at me. I was only six, so I didn’t know what else to do besides whimper and scream for Mom. Mom came rushing into the room. Then, they started screaming at eachother. Almost every conversation they had was like this. It started out fine, then it turned into chaos. It pained me to hear it, so I started to scream. The only difference was that Scott didn’t yell back, instead he started to hit me. Mom was trying to make him stop, but it was no use. He was too hefty. When he realized what he was doing, it was too late. Mom attained injuries when he shook her off him, and I had fresh, swollen read marks on my back. So I started to cry even more.

After all this happened, he loaded up the Blazer and drove away. There was a loud slam of the doors to the Blazer and the house. He didn’t even apologize. I remember standing on the front yard, screaming and crying for him to stay. It was no use. That was the last time I ever saw my dad.

Now eight and a half years later, I can still remember how I felt, what the weather was like, what I was doing, and even what my mom was wearing. Scott has caused me so much pain that for most of my life I blamed my mom for what happened. I realized that it wasn’t her fault. It was his. He’s the one who cheated on her, who never played with me, who yelled and hurt me, and who choose to forget about his only daughter. People always tell me that I need to forgive him and move on, but I just can’t. Because of him, I was depressed, suicidal, and physically harmed myself from the day I turned eight to the day I turned fifteen. A dad who causes his daughter that much pain, in my mind, doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.