Friday night I was in the mood for some boston market and about to pay for my all-sides meal when I got the call.

my grandma was on the other end, and said ‘didn’t you hear? (mom’s boyfriend) went after your mom with an ax after catching her with another guy and nobody has heard from you mom today. and he slit all your mom’s tires.’

i thought the worst. death crossed my mind. i couldn’t even think of a response. i got sick to my stomach and was too shocked to even cry.

i called my mom.

she answered. thank God. she’s ok.

sort of.

she was ‘talking things out’ with her boyfriend.

i talked to my sister. she was ok too.

sort of.

i had to work till 11 p.m. so i sent my grandma to go get my sister out of the house. she was scared at first, but finally got her.

i drove out to my grandma’s house immediately after i got off work. only while looking at my sister could i finally relax.

jesus. god. the girl is nine. years. old. what. the. f*ck. kind of world is this?

my mom was at my grandma’s too. still trying to talk things out with the guy who had just gone after her with a d*mn ax.

i said ‘get off the god damn phone. jesus christ.’

she didn’t. instead she just walked into the other room.

and kept ‘talking things out’

i slept over and after my mom went to work, i took my sister to my house.

the girl was in shock. this normal girl who usually tells every agonizing detail of every little aspect of her life couldn’t tell me what happened.

she just stared into space.

all i could gather was that she had made the 911 call. and that she didn’t want to go home.

i can’t let her live like this. i thought.

but my mom had a different take on things.

“he’s actually fighting for me! can you BELIEVE it?!!’ she said in a sick, giddy voice.

wow.

i told her my sister does not deserve this. i told her to leave her boyfriend. i told her this was insane and im not going to pretend like nothing happened.

monday night, when i found out my mom had made my sister go back home, i didn’t sleep. i was sick to my stomach and in a state of panic all night.

this was insane.

i had to do something.

i called DCFS.

it was not a decision i came to lightly. and i have now broken nearly all bonds with my mom as a result.

it’s not easy to call DCFS. they seem to pass the buck a lot and they don’t so much give you a number, as an anwering machine and then they have to call you back.

waiting is insane. i checked my phone every three seconds.

when i finally got to talk to someone, i was trembling.

as i write this im trembling.

why is my sister living like this? why can’t i save her? why doesn’t my mom care?

the investigation is ongoing, but i don’t think they’re going to take my sister out of the home.

i don’t understand how the system could betray her like that.

that’s just insane.