My name is Madison Reed, and I was twelve years old when my life finally split open, though the truth is that it had been quietly breaking apart for years before anyone noticed. I lived in a small town in Kansas where houses looked the same, lawns were trimmed every weekend, and people smiled politely at church on Sundays while pretending they did not hear what happened behind closed doors. From the outside my family looked ordinary. Inside our home, fear lived in every corner.
My stepfather ʙᴇᴀᴛ me every day as a form of entertainment. One day, he br0ke my arm, and when we took me to the hospital, my mother said, “It was because she accidentally fell off her bike.” As soon as the doctor saw me, he picked up the phone and called 911.
