Tracy placed Dolly in her highchair, fluffed out her beautiful orange and white dress, and then scooped a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth.
“There you go, Dolly,” Tracy said. “Eat up,” as she cleared the excess oatmeal from Dolly’s face with the edges of her bedsheet. She grabbed Dolly’s milk bottle off the windowsill and placed it in her mouth. After a few seconds, the overspill of the milk running down the side of Dolly’s cheek informed Tracy her Dolly was full. She quickly changed Dolly out of her Sunday school dress, replacing it with her bedtime pajamas.
Filled with excitement, Tracy scooped Dolly up and cuddled her into her arms. Suddenly, she felt warm liquid seeping through her underwear, puddling to the floor. Going to the potty hadn’t crossed Tracy’s mind as she stroked Dolly’s beautiful brown hair locks with Mama’s wig brush. She had lost herself in the moment of playing with her best friend. Because of this, a friendly smile escaped from Tracy’s lips. She was happy to have got Dolly as a gift from her big sister, Eva, for her birthday.
Moments later, Tracy swung her around, caressed her in her arms, squeezing the air out of her rubber cheeks when the sound of heavy feet stomping hard against the laminated floor grew closer to her bedroom. Tracy stood in the middle of the floor squeezing Dolly with all the love she had in her body.
Suddenly, Bam! The door to Tracy’s bedroom flung open, slamming against the wall. Tracy jumped like a frightened frog on a log, dropping Dolly to the floor. Her muscles tightened. Fear consumed her heart as Eva’s eyes glared down at her, penetrating through Tracy’s soul. It was as if Eva could smell the urine saturated in Tracy’s undies as well as the fear running through her veins. Eva didn’t care about the sharp pain Tracy felt as she yanked her arm and dragged her into their parent’s room, tossing her onto the bed. Tracy’s thighs, back, buttocks and legs burned like hot coals as the strap of leather slapped across her tender skin, leaving behind red ribbon-stripped bruises across her body.
Meanwhile, hot tears streamed from Tracy’s eyes down her baby cheeks. Where was Mama with her warm arms to wrap around her, showering her with kisses? Or Daddy greeting her with her favorite Cheetos puffs and apple juice he’d bring her back from the store? Tracy hollered, kicked and screamed loud enough to wake the dead, but the dead and nobody else came to her rescue. She tried to escape the leather strap once again, rolling back and forth from one end of the bed to the other, but she was met on each side of the bed by Eva laughing at her with each strike.
At that moment, confusion took over Tracy’s mind. Who was this monster she saw before her? This was not the big sister who hours ago took her to the County fair and lavished her with gifts and candy.
Whip! Whip! Pop! Pop!
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Tracy yelled, but it didn’t stop the whirlwind of the leather strap as it continued to slap against her aching body. Tracy’s chest tightened. Short breaths of air escaped from her mouth. Out of breath and no longer able to move, Tracy laid in the middle of the bed gasping for air. Then, the smell of beer mixed with hot air whisked across her face as Eva tried to resuscitate Tracy back to life.
As Tracy lay there in agony, she wondered why. Why did her big sister treat her this way? Why was Eva beating her to the last inch of her breath? After all, was wetting her clothes such a horrible crime?
Tracy loved Eva and she thought Eva loved her back. However, little did Tracy know her birth was a curse because she was destined to be the chosen one in their family to break the curse in their bloodline—to set fire to the kingdom of darkness. She didn’t know about Eva’s dirty little secrets of witchcraft and psychological problems, not to mention alcohol and drug addiction. Those dark evil eyes stared at Tracy. The tips of Eva’s lips curled into an evil grin.
“Happy Birthday, sis.” Eva staggered out of the room and disappeared around the corner.
