A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)

by Dave Pelzer

My relationship with Mom drastically changed from discipline to punishment that grew out of control.

School was a haven for me. I was thrilled to be away from Mother.

That day I vowed to myself that I would never, ever again give that bitch the satisfaction of hearing me beg her to stop beating me.

The month of September brought school and bliss.

I wore a cape of red … I was Superman.

as I sat on my hands in my “prisoner of war” position. I began to give up on God. I felt that He must have hated me.

I came to despise the neighbors, my relatives and anybody else who had ever known me and the conditions under which I lived. Hate was all I had left.

She had stripped me of my very existence.

The trouble between Mother and Grandmother was bad for me because after their battle, I often became the object of Mother’s anger.

Before I opened the car door, I bowed my head and with peace in my heart, I whispered, “… and deliver me from evil.”

knowing the good Lord was always over my shoulder, giving me quiet encouragement and strength when I needed it most.

These same people may believe that over-discipline is not likely to follow the child into adulthood. They are tragically misinformed.

Each year thousands of abused girls run away from home and sell their bodies in order to survive.

Even in its darkest passages, the heart is unconquerable.

Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.