I Did As I Was Told
by
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After one night of explosive yelling and screaming coming from that kitchen, Cathy and I bolted from sleep and slid down the steps to our spot to listen. No one was there but mother, she was screaming her head off as she walked circles around the table. When I looked, Carol Ann was in the crib but she didn’t have any covers on her. Her belly was like a big ball and she was blue. Cathy and I both thought that she was cold and started down the steps to help mother stop crying and cover the baby up. We thought mother had forgotten the covers but, before we made it down two of the steps, the front door crashed open and hit the wall with a loud bang then mother sat down in her chair next to the crib and put her hands on her face. Two policemen were dragging father into the house. He was in another one of his drunken moods and kept falling all over the place. The policemen had to hold him on both sides by his arms to keep him from crashing into the walls. We watched, huddled together really tight, and as all three of them got closer to the steps, father looked up and saw us. We saw the fury in his face, his temper totally out of control. He looked like a madman with spit coming out of the corners of his mouth and his eyes fired in bloodshot red. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks and Cathy started to cry. She was scared silly and I knew we had to get out of there right away. If he got loose from the policemen, we would surely be dead from the beating we would get. "What are you doing out of bed?" Father screamed and started pushing his way away from the policemen towards us but they got him by his arms. Father turned really fast and punched one in the face then all three of them landed on the floor and started fighting. Both of us turned, bolted up the steps, ran to the bed and jumped in. Cathy wasn’t crying, she was laughing. "I guess that'll teach him not to hit anyone again." She laughed. "Stay here," I told her, "it’s quiet now so I’m going to sneak down the kitchen stairs and see what’s going on." Slowly I inched my way down the last set of steps and saw the two policemen holding father at the bottom. They had him sandwiched between them and one officer was talking right into his face in a low voice. Fathers face was so red with anger that I couldn’t look at him. Mother was still sitting in a chair next to Carol Ann’s crib. She had her face in her hands and was sobbing so hard the chair rocked. Carol Ann was still laying there with no covers on. One of the policemen was talking to my father and then suddenly one grabbed my father’s throat and made him look at him in the eyes. "Jim, your baby is dead. Did you hear me? Can you understand me? Your daughter is dead. We need an explanation then you’re going downtown." Father got real quiet then,walked to the crib and looked down at Carol Ann. He didn’t cry or make a sound but as soon as the policemen let him go, he lunged for mother. "You holy bitch," he screamed over and over. "You let her die and I’m not taking the blame for it." With that, he ran to mother, hit her then fell into the corner of the crib, the bottom fell out and Carol Ann rolled onto the floor right to the policeman’s feet. Ever so gently, he picked her up, then the blanket and wrapped her in it. It was too late for mother. Father had already hit her and knocked her over in the chair backwards. Her head hit the hard floor and knocked her out. Deep inside of me, I knew this was bad but since everyone was in an uproar, I had to take care of the little ones so I went upstairs, gathered them all in one bed and went to sleep. Carol Ann was in heaven.
She had curled up next to Patrick in the bed and pulled the covers over her head. How Teresa and Patrick slept through all of that yelling and screaming was beyond me, but they did.
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About the Book
This bold new inspiring book is so full of twists and turns, it will certainly over whelm you with each chapter.
It is a compelling and touching novel, based on fact, taking you on a journey through the life of a very young girl as a working foster child in the 1950's and beyond, beginning with a postpartum mother, an abrasive alcoholic father and bewildered siblings, that are in her constant care as she struggles for normality.
Travel through the uncertainties of her early childhood dealing with moving from home to home, abandonment and on going medical issues. Her misfortune will take hold of your heart strings and you'll want to protect and comfort this intelligent determined little girl named Rose.
She grows into Margaret as she is controlled and then, read along as she matures into Marty, a cool sure footed confident teen with strong survival instincts and skills long forgotten in today's society. Her only companion is her own strength.
About the Author
Today, with a hard learned past in Maryland, Marty draws upon memories of her young years living in the Welfare System in Maryland. Her experiences as a working farm foster child formed her character into a survivor. She has evolved into a light of heart, rogue spirited woman being very secure in who she is. There is a special place in her heart for those she has met and will always welcome, with open arms, into this place called life.
For most of her adult life she taught, "The Art of Equestrian Riding" using the patience and discipline, she learned as a child and is currently retired in the Ozark Mountain Range, raising Boer Goats and loving life with her husband Pete.