Free BITTER MEMORIES: A Memoir of Heartache & Survival by Sue Julsen, Gary McCluskey Page B

yesterday mornin’.” 
    “Where are the boys?” Frank snapped.
    “Mitch is upstairs. Greg and Ron are in the backyard.” 
    “Well, don’t just stand there, woman! Go get ‘em!” Frank smirked, then turned to Daddy, and said, “I swear, you can’t find ‘em any dumber, but she’s a good cook, and still a decent enough lay.”
    Both men laughed. 
    “Guess that’s all that’s important, brother. Especially the lay part!” Daddy made a humping gesture with his hips.
    “You wanted to see us, Dad?” the tallest of the three boys asked, entering the room.
    “Ah, yes! Eli, Sarah, these are my boys. The good-lookin’ short one here is my youngest, Mitch. He’s eight. The tall good-lookin’ one is Greg. He’s ten. And the other good-lookin’ one, my oldest, is Ron. Just turned fifteen last week. Good lookin’ bunch, aren’t they, Eli?” Frank bragged.
    Daddy nodded as the boys said in unison, “Hello.”
    “Yep, good lookin’ boys, Frank, and Ellie, well, I guess she’ll have to do.”
    They laughed again.
    “You boys take Sarah upstairs and show her where to put her things,” Frank said to his sons. “Eli and I have a lot to catch up on.”
    “Yes, sir. Come on, kid.” Ron headed toward the stairs with me and his brothers closely following behind. He took me to a small room at the end of the hall. “You’ll sleep here,” he said, dryly. 
    “When you get your stuff put away, come downstairs and we’ll play a game. We’ll be out back in the tent,” Greg stated, then smirked.
    “Okay! It won’t take me long. I don’t have much.” 
    They ran out, and I looked around the room. A twin bed, a nightstand, and a lamp were in the corner against the wall to the left of the door. An old dresser leaned against the wall on the right, and the other wall had a small closet. One crooked picture of an old house and some trees hung on the wall above the dresser.
    “It sure is plain,” I whispered. “Not decorated the way I expected, or hoped. But, I don’t need much room, or fancy curtains. I’m just glad to have a room all to myself!”
    I hurried to unpack the small red suitcase I’d lifted from someone’s garage several months back. I laid my nightgown across the bed, then put my one pair of extra underwear and my other dress, also lifted from someone’s garage, in the bottom drawer of the dresser.
    After setting my suitcase inside the closet, I ran down the stairs and out the back door to find the boys. I never had anyone to play with, so I was very excited! I saw a big camping tent at the far side of the yard, and ran toward it.
    I heard the boys inside, but I couldn’t understand their words. Then Greg stuck his head out the door and whispered, “Come on in, Sarah. We’ve been waiting for you.” 
    “You have?” My eyes widened, and excitement boiled over inside me.
    “Sure, we need you to team up with Ron and I’ll team up with Mitch.”
    “Okay! What are we gonna play?” I entered the tent. “Hey, I can’t see. Don’t you have a light?”
    “Sure, we have a lantern,” Ron answered, and turned up the flame.
    As my eyes adjusted to the dim light I saw the boys were naked. Instantly, I heard the soft angel voice, say, “ Go to safety, Sarah. We’ll protect you.”
    I’d been hearing my angel’s voice for a long time, and I’d learned to listen to her. I didn’t know who the other voice was that I’d heard when we first arrived, but I trusted my angel to take care of me, just like she’d always done since that first time Daddy made me get in bed with him.
    Gladly, I drifted away, and from my safe place I watched as Polly, just a few years older than me, emerged. Polly also looked like me, and acted just as shy. 
    “I think I’ll just go back to my room,” Polly said, bashfully, taking a step backwards.
    “No, Sarah! You have to take your clothes off so we can play the game.” Mitch shook his pecker in his hand and grinned.
    “I don’t wanna play!” She