Once upon a time lived a broken girl. I’m sure you have heard of many broken young ladies but I’m sure none are quite like me. You see, I have lived a life that everyone can relate to even just a little. Some know me by “The Broken Girl of Horrific Events” not because I introduce myself as so, but merely because many have called me that from one time or another after hearing my story. Although I do tend prefer to be called by real name, Theeŕa Marìe McKinley.

As I have just mentioned, my name is Theeŕa Marìe McKinley.

I am half white half Filipino and yet people say I am just white due to my pale complexion. My eyes have their own unique shape which draws a lot of attention but what really brings up questions is my color changing eyes. I have wavy Auburn hair that curls at the ends and goes all the way to my knees without being straightened. I am quite small for someone my age. When standing only 4’10 with a size 4 shoe most people would guess me to be a first year in middle school if not younger. If it weren’t for my mature facial and bodily features people would still be talking to me like I were a young child. Due to the way I carry myself though; many people think I am older than I actually am.  

I am the third youngest in our family of fourteen kids. In order from oldest to youngest by our current ages as I write this, 7/26/13 there is;

AnnaBelle: 38 years old

Jen-Yen: 37 years old

Aaron: 36 years old

John-Andrew: 27 years old

Christopher: 27 years old

Nathaniel: 25 years old

Michael: 22 years old

Gabriel: 19 years old

Joshua: 17 years old

Daniel: 17 years old

Trevor: 15 years old

Theeŕa: 14 years old

Trinity: 14 years old

Sven-Jay: 10 years old

If you were to stand us all in a line you would have a hard time trying to find our resemblance. We all look like we are from different families but the truth is, we are all 100% blood siblings.

We were all born in different countries and states but Trinity and I were conceived in Louisiana by what I assumed based off of my parent’s moving records, and then born in a small village hospital in the Philippines. We were born into a small 4 bedroom house with a large backyard. My parents occupied one room, --the biggest one in the house. AnnaBelle, Jen-Yen, Aaron, John-Andrew, and Christopher shared the second room. The next room was taken by Nathaniel, Michael, Gabriel, Joshua and Daniel. Finally, the smallest room was filled by Trevor, Trinity, Sven-Jay and I.

My parents slept on a king size bed that was in perfect condition while we kids were left to sleep on the floor with holey towels as our blankets. None of us had shoes or socks. We only had a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that were both way too big for each of us to wear. Our parents had drinking, gambling, drug, and gang problems. When they had money, they would buy new things for themselves. My siblings and I would be fed a few times a week with usually only crumbs. On rare occasions we would each get a full slice of bread or something. None of us really knew how to talk and we definitely didn’t know how to read or write. We were kept in the house in our rooms at all times, unless we were able to sneak out and use the restroom.

None of us had ever gone to school, or even seen other kids before. On a lot of days we were all tied to hooks that were in the floor boards so we wouldn’t move around or try to leave the house. Our days and nights ran together but we could always tell when a new year started because of the loud explosions of fireworks that shook the floorboards. Trinity and I, both were born deaf to the world and since we weren’t really around other kids our age neither of us knew what different objects were or anything. We were born not only deaf but behind. We were behind all the other kids when it came to even the simplest things.

I remember perfectly the day that our lives changed for my almost death at four years old as a price to pay. On that very day I was deemed to be a hero to my siblings as many people say. On July 23, 2003 my father came in and gave each of us a cracker. I took a small bite out of my cracker and then broke it in half. I gave one have to Trinity and then the other half was given to Sven-Jay. I was just as hungry as the others but I knew that they would need it more than I.

My father got angry at me for sharing my food. I didn’t know why at the time but now as I think back on it I think it was because he knew that if they ate more they would become stronger. If they became stronger they may have a better chance at escaping the torturous prison that my parents called a home. That my siblings would maybe even bring the police back to the house to find many malnourished beat up, sick kids along with drugs, and weapons scattered around the house.

My father yanked my arm and dragged me from the bedroom I lived in; out into the large backyard that I didn’t even know existed. My weak legs and almost non-existent stomach were scraped up from being dragged across a wood floor, onto concrete, and across a rocky back yard. He let go of my arm and my limp body fell onto the ground without even a second of resistance. He kicked me multiple times and then grabbed a metal baseball bat and began mercilessly beating me with it over and over. He hit me everywhere aiming for what seemed specifically for my stomach and head.

I just laid there unable to move as he continued on with his anger releasing exercise. When he was done he threw the baseball bat across the yard and went back inside leaving me there bleeding out in the hot sun. With only a drop of energy in my body and blood trickling out of my head I slowly crawled with all that was left with my strength. I crawled from our back yard to our patio and into the middle of the street. Once I made it to the center of the street I gave up and just laid there like a dead animal.

A neighbor saw me there, not moving, but heavily bleeding out. She called the emergency number and after what seemed to be hours an ambulance arrived and rushed to help me. I waited until they were leaning over me and I began to crawl back to my house. They seemed confused. I kept looking back to make sure they’d follow me. They stopped me but I started crying and pointing towards the house while trying to escape their grip.  I led them back into our house where they found my mother with a hookah in her hand and my father using another and alcoholic beverage bottles everywhere, many of them shattered. Two police officers arrested my parents as I continued to lead the Emergency Team with my finger to the other end of the house where all the bedrooms were.

I pointed at each door and they opened each of the doors leading to where my siblings were. The Emergency People looked like they were going to pass out from shock of the living conditions we were in. One of the Emergency People grabbed a radio and proceeded into the room where Trevor, Trinity, and Sven-Jay were still tied. Not too long after the Emergency People began untying my siblings several more arrived. I remember one particular Emergency Person coming to me. She had dark brown, almost black hair pulled back in a braided ponytail. She had a sweet smile that assured me that my siblings and I would be okay. Her doe-like eyes examined me carefully. She kneeled before me and started talking; I just tilted my head in complete confusion. She nodded and then started doing all these gestures with her hands. I didn’t know what this crazy lady was doing but it half scared me, half interested me. So I watched intently.

She began to clean my head and with feather-like touches she began to wrap my head nodding and smiling. For the first time, I felt safe. Next thing I knew I was being picked up and carried to the back of an ambulance and from there I was taken to a small hospital. The hospital wasn’t very well built but it was good enough to care for patients. Each room could hold two people comfortably. There were ten rooms all together and my thirteen siblings and I took up seven of those rooms. I got to share my room with Trevor. In our room there was a whiteboard that had a mark that looked like this ‘23’ on it. The next day it looked like this ‘24’. I had no idea as to what it meant but I did know that when the mark was like this, ‘24’ I went into surgery that day. I woke up again on the day that the whiteboard showed ‘26’.

Each day I was visited by the same Emergency Person that wrapped my head. The lady with the long hair and doe eyes. She would spoon feed me every day and hold my hand. This went on until the whiteboard thing said ‘7’. That day she came in with a man. He was wearing all these patches on his shirt and he wore shiny black shoes. His hair was cut short enough to look like peach fuzz and he wore the coolest looking hat I had ever seen. He visited me, then Trevor, and then he disappeared again. On the day that ‘9’ was marked, my brothers and sisters were taken to a place with other kids. From then on I didn’t know what the next symbol would be. After a few days had passed, I saw the man again, this time with one of the workers from where we were all staying.

He signed a piece of paper that had a lot of other hand-written things on it and then started taking my few things and putting it in a bag. He had done the same with my brother’s and sister’s things. He left with our few belonging and then came back empty-handed. He carefully picked me up and carried me to my other siblings that were in a big room that was almost empty. There was a big desk with another man behind it. He smiled at each of us and waved. I didn’t know what was going on and from the looks of it, neither did my parent-less family. The man who took our stuff brought us out of the building to a bus where our stuff was. He sat us down and started the bus. He drove and drove until we reached a plane with a big set of wings painted on the side in blue. He put on his hat, straightened his clothes, and stepped off the bus to walk up to a woman in the same looking clothes as he was wearing.

The man stopped, put his heels together and with his right hand straight, and elbow bent at a sharp angle, he put his middle finger to the corner of his eye and held it there for a moment. When I looked at the woman, she did the same thing. Was this some kind of well-dressed gang? The two of them talked as I pondered at what they were a part of. After a while they both walked over to the bus and entered. The woman smiled a shy smile at me and grabbed my hand and my sister’s. The man picked up Sven-Jay and said something to my older siblings.

My older siblings rose from the seats and the woman walked both my sister and I to the plane and the man carried Sven-Jay and led my other brothers and sister to the plane as well. They took us in the plane and sat us all down along with many other people who were all dressed the same as the man and woman. They buckled us all in and put Sven-Jay in a special plastic seat and buckled him in three times. Once at the chest, then towards his privates and then a strap across the seat and him buckled him in tight.

During the plane ride each of the uniformed people went to all of us kids. One uniformed person to a kid. They all had pencils and papers. The uniformed people taught us how to hold the pencils and started showing us how to write. A young man sat and taught me how to write different things. He tried to get me to match what he was writing. He never seemed to be upset, he just kept trying. Finally he taught me how to write my name. When I did it, he gave me a thumbs-up and a high-five with a great big hug.

Theeŕa

Theeŕa

I didn’t know what I wrote but I was really proud of myself. I pointed at what we wrote and tilted my head with a questioning look. He pointed at the word and pointed at me. Then he wrote something and pointed at it and then himself.

Kayvon

Although I was still confused, I just smiled and nodded. Next we began writing a lot of other things.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo

Aa   Bb   Cc   Dd   Ee  Ff  Gg   Hh  Ii   Jj    Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn   Oo

Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

Pp   Qq   Rr  Ss  Tt   Uu   Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy    Zz

My siblings had learned the exact same things as I had but the starting words were different. There were only two things I had learned that they hadn’t.

Air Force

Air    Force

Once I had written it well enough he pointed at the word and then pointed at a badge on his shirt. The badge matched the painting on the plane. He pointed and showed me that the other people had the same thing. Then he wrote something that took me a really long time to perfect.

The Air Force is friendly.

 The    Air    Force    is   friendly.

Right before the plane landed he pointed at the words ‘Air Force’, pointed at his badge and all the people who had it, pointed at his smile, pointed at all the other people and then gave me a thumbs-up. It made me smile a bit but I couldn’t figure out why.

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Author's Note: Sorry that it didn't come out right... I had it so the part where I am first learning to write, you can see the two different people's writing but it didn't save right... Please Comment and Subscribe <3 -Kaitlyn