My name is Matt.
Well, Matthew.
I’m 16, 6’, brown hair, and brown eyes.
I’m a sophomore and this is my 3rd school this year; it’s not even past the 1st semester.
But that’s not my fault. I’m not a horrible student; I get mostly A’s and B’s.
You could say that I’m good at sports; it’s where I take all my anger out.
I have a mom, and little sister, Mady, or Madison when you’re mad at her.
She’s 8. Mom says she’s just like me. But I don’t see it.
Dance is her thing, I don’t get. But each to its own I guess.
She great at other sports, but dance is her favorite. She’s really good at school, too.
You could say she’s my life. I can’t stay mad at her for anything. I don’t understand how anyone could.
My mom is great. She does everything, makes sure we have everything, and that we’re safe.
She’s so strong. I guess you have to be when you’re a nurse and dealing with our special family.
It’s hard on all of us. But mom doesn’t let it show.
You see I have a father, too. Well, kinda.
He’s the reason we move.
To be away from him.
You see, he’s a drunk. An angry one at that.
Mom divorced him 2 years ago. That’s when the moving started. But he always finds us.
Here’s how it goes. He gets drunk then starts breaking and throwing things.
That’s when I tell Mady to go to my room and lock the door.
Then the hitting starts. Mom tries standing up to him, but he just so much stronger.
I step in, I yell, push him back, he hits me, I hit back.
Mom tries stepping in again but he just throws her to the floor, like she’s a rag doll.
Somehow the cops are called. Maybe it’s the neighbors that hear. I don’t really know. But they show up.
It’s just kinda how it goes every time. There’s a lot of court crap. But it doesn’t matter. They don’t listen.
This last time was pretty bad. I mean it had to be, he’s actually in jail this time.
He found us, again. It started like it usually did but this time for some reason I didn’t tell Mady to go to my room.
She just stood there, crying. I’m guessing she was in shock. She hadn’t seen this much before. Neither had I.
He hit her. Knocked her straight to the ground. That’s when I lost it. Maybe this time he learned.
So that what brought us to another new state, town, and school.
Mady’s already started dancing. I’ve been in the gym twice and the coach has already talked about me starting for the basketball team. Maybe this is the last fresh start.
I haven’t been asked about the bruises and scars. Yet.
I just want a normal life.