Chapter 8
Over the summer we rotated chores . At the end of the summer we went to the beach . The system had a time share . We would go to mobile Alabama to Gulf shores. We had two weeks there. The house had upstairs and downstairs . There was four bunk beds to a room with a conjoined bathroom . The downstairs hard a large sitting area with a door reaching the wrap around deck that led to the beach. We hunted sand crabs with flash light at night
During the day we would visit shops with neon signs for beach wear and the ninety- nine cent souvenir shop as we called it. The hot donuts sold on the beach front and the feeling of sand between our toes. We had a shower under the deck where we shower off the sand before stepping in the beach house. Those were the fondest memories I had .
I had a white one piece bathing suit with flowers on it. I was laying down after swimming and decided I would dry off enough before I headed back to the house. My front was done as my sister Paula gave me coconut oil to prevent sunburn.
At this point I trusted my sister . She kept insisting and me thinking we were mending our ways I allowed her to rub the coconut oil all over me. I laid down and felt the tingle sensation all over my skin thinking it was the water drying. I flipped over on my stomach and fell asleep. When I woke the sun was setting. I stood up my skin was tighter. I dusted off the dry sand confidence my plan had worked. I hate washing off in the cold water under the deck before going inside.
I did stop by the shower to remove my bathing suit to shake out the sand and put a towel on. The other girls said I gotten really dark. I immediately went inside to get my clothes together to get in the shower to wash off the ocean water.
I turned on the shower warm like I used to. I like it steaming hot. I dropped the town and stepped in . Fire went through me and I let out a blood curtling scream. My skin felt like it was on fire and everything hurt. I jumped out so fast. My house mom put her hand on me and I screamed.
She then asked me what happened and I told her about Paula and the oil. Paula sat there smirking . I knew then the truce was not real. She gave me the worst sunburn I've ever had. The remainder of the vacation I started peeling and itching and hurting. I looked like a reptile coming of its skin .I had to use aloe vera and cold showers until my burn subsided.
Till this day I can't handle hot showers at all. The memory of the pain from that feeling was etched into my mind. The trauma I felt with that particular day set forth my shower preferences.
I knew then my own sister was not on my side. This was the beginning of a war I would fight with her my entire life. When I was a younger stories would be told around the dinner table how I was the most unloved of my siblings .
" Momma remember when I sent Melina to grandma in a package when she was a few weeks old. I didn't want another baby ." Laughed Mia.
" Momma remember when Paula use to take her bottle and give Melina a carrot instead. You find Paula in the corner drinking her milk ." Mused Jamie my oldest half sister reminded.
" Momma you remember when we told her she was the milk man's kid because she was so ugly. Or she was found in the dumpster behind the bread store and that's where we found her."
They all laughed as if I was the punch line of all their jokes. They were relentless in their teasing. This last event with Paula was just another tease in her book. I was just the punching bag the unwanted sister. The outcast to family they didn't want me. These conversations would be memories my sisters valued.
When I came back to school I was recovered Scarlett and John was cool for the first few weeks but that ended soon. Then Ryan and me were cool but John didn't care notes began again passing in the hallway . I would read them then toss them in the trash. John would urge me to respond. How we did love letters were we pass them back and forth with our responses . Like a continuous chain letter.
I was eight years old. The paster had worked his way with our donations in the offering plate to buy a huge church building. We used to hold services in a store front church. Now we had a big shiny new building. Completed with a baptism pool with a retractable curtain over the front stage. It was like a display where it was high enough for everyone to see. I looked at the closed curtains as my skin prickled and chills came over me just looking at it. I mistakened this feeling as me being fearful of everything as I was still a child and we feared what we didn't understand.
I was there one day playing with Zack the preachers boy as Paula wanted to go see him. The church wasn't open yet and we were helping the pastor set up the bibles and hymns in the pews. We were almost done as Paula watched Zack as she really liked him . I knew she liked him and it showed but Paula was very much her father's daughter when it came to getting what she wanted.
This church had an auditorium look where the steps were descending to the main stage. Me ,Paula,and Zack placed the books in the holders in the back of each pew. Paula smiled at looked at Zack.
" Hey let's play hide and seek." She suggested but really she wanted to sneak off with Zack to be alone. Zack was a year younger than us. I knew she wanted to be alone with him. Zack was more friends with me then he was with her. Paula hates that. I complied and skipped off to find a hiding spot. I ran up the side wing of the church not knowing where it led trying to find a spot to hide as I found myself at the baptism pool.
I went to turn around to leave the erie pool as I knew there was only one way up and down . And I wasn't going to cross the pool as I had a strange feeling from it.I climbed the back down the stairs behind the stage where you entered the baptism tub and you exited it out down the stairs on the opposite side.
The pool was full to the second step. I back tracked to go out the way I came in, but when I tried to leave something pushed me with a force so hard I sunk into the baptism water tub. Than was dragged underneath the pool as I gasped for air and tried to reach the surface for air.I tried to get out and as soon as I reached the stairs something grabbed my leg to pull me back under. I was in hailing water at this point.
When I tried again I was dragged back into the pool. All of a sudden two hand grabbed me pulling me out . I looked down to see markings.on pale white skin. Then he layed me down on the bottom of the stairs and fled. I watched a man flee . But I knew who it was. It was my hunter.