Chapter 1

My aunt was caught cheating by my uncle. In a panic, she called my parents, begging them to save her. But when they arrived, my uncle, who had XYY syndrome, stabbed them to death because of what she'd done.

He was sentenced to death, and my brother and I became orphans.

To get her hands on the land and savings my parents left for my brother and me, my aunt went to court and became our legal guardian.

From then on, life for my brother and me was pure hell.

We had to fight with pigs for a place to sleep and with dogs for scraps of food. There was always work to do, and the beatings never stopped.

At fifteen, my cousin, carrying the XYY syndrome, slashed my face with a knife and molested me. When my brother stood up to him, my aunt and her man beat him so badly that his legs were broken. They chained him in the pigsty and fed him pig food.

They threatened my brother's life, forcing me to use my body to earn money for them.

In the end, my brother killed himself by smashing his head against the pigsty wall. I set the house ablaze, determined to take my aunt and her whole family with me. We all perished in the fire.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the night my aunt called our parents for help.

*****

"Matthew, you and Brenda need to come save me! Robert's losing it again. He says he's going to kill me!" Aunt Tanya's voice shook with fear and desperation as she pleaded with my dad over the phone.

My dad, always the one to look out for his family, snatched up a stick by the door and shouted for my mom. They were about to rush straight over to Aunt Tanya's place.

I'd just traveled back in time and landed right at this critical turning point. I barely had a second to take in the shock and joy of seeing my family again, or even wrap my head around being alive. I had to act fast to stop my parents.

My parents were already on the motorcycle, about to take off. Without thinking twice, I clutched my stomach, let out a wail, and collapsed to the ground, rolling on the floor in pain.

"My stomach hurts... it hurts so bad..." I cried out. I clutched my stomach and bawled my eyes out, like my world was ending.

My parents, still on the motorcycle, instantly freaked out. They jumped off and rushed over. My mom scooped me up from the ground and asked nervously, "Mabel, what's wrong? Where does it hurt? Talk to me."

I didn't say a word, just kept screaming in pain.

Seeing me like this, my parents exchanged a worried look. My dad said, "You take Mabel to the hospital right now. I'll head over to Tanya's place alone."

My mom looked worried. "Robert can be really rough when he loses his temper. Please be careful, okay?"

My dad nodded and was about to leave, but I grabbed onto his pant leg, crying and clinging to him. "Dad, please don't leave me! I need you, Dad! Don't go..."

My mom had never seen me cry this hard before. She looked a little shaken and said to my dad, "Mabel looks really bad. Why don't you drive us to the hospital first?"

My dad was still hesitating, but when he saw my neck veins popping from how hard I was crying, he didn't dare wait any longer. He picked me up and rushed me to the hospital on his motorcycle.

I kept squirming and wouldn't sit still the whole ride. To keep us safe, my dad had to slow down.

When we got to the hospital, I wouldn't let the doctors touch me. Every time they tried, I screamed until my voice was hoarse. But at least my dad stayed by my side.

By the time we finally got to the hospital, things at my aunt's place had already wrapped up.

Aunt Tanya was beaten black and blue, her legs swollen and bruised. She ended up running out of the house and collapsing in the field, where some folks from the village spotted her and hauled her to the hospital on a tractor.

When she got to the hospital and saw my dad, she stormed over and started swinging at him, fists flying.

"Why didn't you come save me? I called you. Why didn't you show up? Are you even my brother? Look at me, beaten up like this, and you don't even care!" Aunt Tanya yelled.

She spat, "Tomorrow I'm going to the cemetery and tell Mom and Dad everything. When you die and see them, how will you have the nerve to face them? Do you even have any shame?

"You're a scumbag! You don't care about your own sister. You're no better than a beast!"

My dad just stood there and took it, never fighting back or saying a word. Aunt Tanya kept taking out all her frustration from the beating on him.

She was getting more and more out of line, even raising her hand to slap my dad, but my mom couldn't watch anymore and stepped in, shoving Aunt Tanya away.

My mom snapped, "When has your brother ever not been there for you? Every time you got hurt, he was always the first to help. You call him heartless, but what about you?

"Every time Robert hurt Matthew, did you ever care? We're still stuck in the hospital, and you three are already back home, acting like one big happy family. Did you ever even ask if he was okay?"

My mom had been holding back her resentment toward Aunt Tanya for years, all for my dad's sake. But today, Aunt Tanya had finally crossed the line, and my mom just couldn't take it anymore.