When Grandma had enough of their abusive drunk of a dad, Elane, Joseph and Anna hid at her house.
JUST LIKE GRANDMA
There was a time when things were very special around the town of Shiresboro. Everyone knew every person in town. They were all large families. Everyone knew each person’s child by sight and by name.
There came a time though when a town drunk named John became a vicious, vindictive man to everyone. After many years his wife Joanna had passed away. Thus he became a worse drunk and more vicious and vindictive than ever before.
Several of the townspeople were concerned for his children; Joseph, Elane and Anabelle. They heard him hollering, ranting, raving and screaming at them all the time. No one knew for sure if he was abusing them.
There came a day which Anabelle would never forget. The day John was beating and punching Anabelle and she remembered Grandma Davies words “If there ever comes a time when you decide that John’s behavior is too much you are to come to me, no one else but me. You understand?”
Hearing those words in her head as Joseph, Elane and she were hiding; she became aware of just what Grandma meant. This was probably the time.
“Shhh, be quiet! He’s coming!” Anabelle whispered to Joseph and Elane. They were hiding behind a snow bank which had a tuft of dead grass sticking up out of the top of it.
John was coming. He’d been drinking again. Vodka did this to him every time. He drank two cases of beer too. After that they knew that they had to run and hide.
When John had started drinking he was playing with them. They were having a snowball fight. When Joseph got hit in the face and started to cry John said “that’s enough”. After that he got sad. Then he got mad at them and they ran away. There was nothing else they could do.
“Run, go where he can’t find us until he passes out!” Anabelle hollered.
Today is the fourth day in a row that they had to run away. “No! Joseph, Elane run! Run to Grandma Davies’ house! Daddy, don’t! I didn’t do nothing!” Anabelle screamed as John reached her. “Run Joseph! Run Elane!” Anabelle hollered at them again. She was always the one to protect her younger sister and even younger brother.
John hollered at them “I thought I told you kids to stay in the yard!” as he slapped Anabelle. “You know betterin’ not to lissen ta me!”
He slapped Anabelle again and then he rolled up his huge hand into the largest fist Anabelle had ever seen. John then punched Anabelle. He was so drunk that as he tried to punch Anabelle again she ducked. She twirled
around, twisting and hurting her arm to get away from him. Anabelle then ran as fast as she could, heading for Grandma’s house. John was screaming and flapping his arms after her. The wind in her ears was so loud that she couldn’t hear what he was screaming.
Anabelle stopped to scream “You are not doing this to us again!”
He screamed back “You little shit! Don’t you speak to me like that! I am your father!”
Anabelle screamed back. “No you’re not! You’re nobody’s daddy, you’re a drunk! He started towards Anabelle as she jumped in her skin, turned around and ran into Grandma’s house, slammed the door and locked it.
Grandma got on the phone. She was saying “Officer he’s punching and slapping them! It’s not the first time! It is going to be his last!” and then she slammed the phone down.
Very quietly Grandma told them to go into her bedroom, close and lock the door. Anabelle shuttled Joseph and Elane to the bedroom door.
This is sad, but probably true in many aspects. Alcohol and drug abuse in the home leads to generations of problems and crimes. I might not have been adopted and taken off the island if not for an alcoholic father. I suspect that your poem comes from the deep dark corners within yourself and reflects the abuses that you saw around you growing up and the emotional trauma you suffered. It puts a face on the monster.
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