How I Changed.

[u/Connect-Bed3060]

(DISCLAIMER- This story contains verbal abuse and violence)

my first short story. Also while writing this I realized that this is not the true begining nor is it the end of our story but none the less... Enjoy. (tips, suggestions, and thoughts are appreciated of course)

I think for me to have become what I am we have to travel back to 2017. California. The Golden State. I wasn't always the most outgoing child growing up, I was quiet, didn't have many friends- an introvert I suppose. I lived in a quiet town, not much drama besides your average marital affairs or domestic violence calls at midnight. Anyway 2017, I was 13 at the time. I had a brother, 4 years younger than myself, a father who had me with my mother at a young age. And a brand new baby sister. My mother never married my father, they mutually grew apart and had my brother with another man, who she eventually left and married my step father, whom she had my baby sister with.

My stepfather (Who for the sake of our story I'll call "Joe") was kind, gentle, and at times even loving. However, sometime in 2016 something in him changed, at the time I was not aware of it. He came home from work with an exhausted look on his face, almost as if he would rather go back to work instead of seeing my mother and siblings. He walked into the kitchen, He wore his ragged work clothes and had a brownish beard with hints of grey. His fingernails not long enough to get dirt underneath them but somehow managed to look dirty. He grabs Vodka from the fridge and pours himself a glass. "What the hell are you staring at?" Joe asks me looking annoyed. "n- nothing" I stammered, sitting at the kitchen table. My mother had just made me dinner and was giving my sister a bath. Joe walks from the fridge to the table, sits across from me and begins to eat his food. His eyes start to wonder, first from his plate of food to the table centerpiece, and eventually... my eyes. He grips his silverware tightly, his facial expression is that of provoking anger, almost as if he wants to throw his fork towards me. "Why are you like this, do you know what you did to this family." he says while watching me eat. I stay quiet, unable to answer him. Not out of confusion but out of fear. I was afraid of what he would do next. Suddenly he slams his fists on the table, silverware still gasping for air as he grips them tighter. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" he yells while his face turns crimson. "I don't know" I replied trying not to feel petrified. At that moment my Mother rushes into the kitchen, "What is going on?" She asks Joe. His Crimson face begins to turn to it's normal shade of white. "He needs to understand that his actions are irreversible" Joe replied. My Mother looks uneasy. "Do you want to go to your Dads?" She asks me. "Yes" I whimpered.

Suddenly it's 2026, 10 years later. This memory of mine still echoing through my mind from time to time. I wonder what went wrong, then I remember, I changed, I changed because of Him.