Free In Too Deep by Valerie Sherrard

and worrying, so I guess my appreciation was kind of unexpected. Thinking about that on the way to my bedroom I realized that I don’t often show a lot of gratitude for the way my parents take care of me. Of course, they’re old and all, andthey can get on my nerves at times with their old folks’ ways and ideas, but maybe that’s not so bad after all.
    There are certainly worse things! I lay on my bed and thought about Amber’s situation, and it nearly made me cry. It’s no wonder that she came to Little River determined to keep to herself. I’d probably do the same thing if something like that had ever happened to me.
    Amber grew up in Alberta and had lived with her parents until she was ten. Then her folks got a divorce, which happens to lots of kids. But what happened after that is really sad.
    At first she and her older brother lived with their mom, and when it was just the three of them everything seemed to be okay. She was used to not having her dad around anyway, because of his work.
    Amber’s father works for a big company that has offices all over the world, and he’s always being sent to live in other countries. She only sees him a couple of times a year, when he’s in Canada on leaves from his job. I’d hate that, but I guess if that’s what a person is used to it would seem normal.
    Anyway, there were no big problems until a couple of years ago, when everything changed. Amber’s mom started dating another man, and at first it seemed that he was a pretty good guy. He’d take them all to the movies or out to dinner, and he was friendly and nice to her and her brother.
    â€œMy mom was just gone on him,” Amber had told me. “She started changing when Pete came into our lives. At the start it was little things, like the way she wore her hair. It used to be long and full, but Pete likes women with short hair, so she got it cut. It didn’t stop with that, though, because they got married and before I knew it we were doing everything the way Pete wanted it. It was ‘Pete doesn’t like your music, so wear earphones when you’re listening to your CDs.’ Or ‘Pete thinks five minutes is long enough to talk on the phone at one time.’ And it just went on and on, until our whole house was like Pete’s prison.”
    I’d listened as she continued, wondering what it would be like to have a stranger come into your house and start telling you what to do about every little thing.
    â€œIt went on and on, like some nightmare that just kept getting worse, except you didn’t wake up from it. Pete’s favourite expression was ‘it’s not suitable.’ My friends couldn’t come over to the house anymore because Pete didn’t think they were suitable. I told Mom it wasn’t fair, they were my friends, and she just took his side and said he was doing it for my own good. My own good! Nothing was for my good, it was all for Pete. What he wanted was the way it was going to be.
    â€œPete was the
man
of the house, he was in
control
. It wasn’t suitable for me to wear makeup. It wasn’t suitablefor me to put posters up in my room. My clothes weren’t suitable for a young lady; they embarrassed him. I’ve been dressing like this since I was about twelve. I like coming up with my own look, something that’s unique. I’m going to be a fashion designer when I finish college, though Pete probably wouldn’t think that was suitable either. There were constant wars in the house, and Mom would never open her mouth to stand up for me. She just agreed with everything he said. I think she was terrified he’d leave her if she didn’t.
    â€œThen Pete decided that he and Mom needed more time for themselves. He makes this big announcement at the table one night, and Mom actually sat there and smiled as if it was a wonderful idea. He tells me that I have to give them more privacy and that