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TWENTY-THREE

Alderney State Penitentiary,

Dear Amethyst,

My father is too intelligent to admit to engineering my cruel upbringing. He allowed the situation to escalate until hatred seeped into my blood. The brothers always put me into fights I couldn’t win, and every day brought with it pain and humiliation.

Some attacks left me unconscious. I sustained cracked ribs,a broken nose, fractured fingers, a dislocated shoulder, and bleeding from one of my ears. Dread was my constant companion. These people didn’t care if I lived or died.

Things changed when the two older brothers left our elementary school, leaving just me and the youngest. You must understand that daily violence and cruelty had robbed me of all mercy. Each injury deepened my hatred and sharpened my need for vengeance.

One day, the youngest brother cornered me in the bathroom with two friends, and something inside me snapped. Every ounce of resentment that festered in my soul broke free. I let loose and pummeled his face.

His friends tried to intervene, but my fury had surpassed the point of pain. I slammed that bastard’s face into a urinal and didn’t stop until a teacher pulled me off.

My brother got taken away on a stretcher, and I was escorted to the principal’s office. When he gave me a speech about being the better person, I spat blood over his desk. That sanctimonious bastard sat back for years, saying nothing as I served as the school punching bag.

When they called my father, I expected him to arrive with a syringe and put me down like a rabid dog. As he walked me out of the school in silence, I wanted to vomit. I didn’t think I would survive to see the end of the day.

Do you know what he said?

What do you think your parents are hiding? It may be worse than allowing you to sit in the back seat of their car without a belt. How often do they avoid the subject of your accident?

Xero.

P.S. Did you receive the toy?