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loose again!” Mom exclaimed. She and Dale Richard laughed out loud as I sat there in shock.
    From that day forward, I never went into the pantry again—and I always made sure to do a head count of the animals before and after school. I felt that I was their protector, and I promised that none of them would meet the same fate as that poor cat or my beloved goat, Indy. I also looked at Mom and Dale Richard differently after that day. They had changed forever in my eyes. Now they were murderers.

Chapter 5
    Uncle Bill
    Life on the farm didn’t change much after the incidents with Indy and Toby. Mom was still abusive, Dale Richard was at work most of the time, and Rachel Emily was the beloved daughter. I was twelve years old now, and my life consisted of going to school every day, coming home, doing my chores, and trying to avoid Mom at all costs.
    One day I got off the school bus and was greeted at the door by a man I had never met before in my life.
    “Hi! You must be Sarah!” he said.
    I looked him up and down and immediately felt disgust in my stomach. The man looked like a complete bum: long, unwashed hair, unshaven face; dirty clothes; and sandals on his feet.
    “Hi?” I said, with obvious confusion in my voice.
    Mom came up behind him, and her face was glowing. She was well dressed, her hair was all done up, and her makeup was flawless. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen her look so good.
    “Sarah, say hi to your uncle Bill!” Mom said.
    “Oh!” I said. “Whose side of the family is he from?”
    “He’s not really your uncle, Sarah. Just a friend that you can call Uncle Bill.”
    Rachel Emily was standing behind me, unsure as to whether she should enter the house and come close to this unfamiliar man.
    “Look what he brought you!” Mom exclaimed to me.
    On the dining room table was a brand-new word processor. Immediately, I didn’t care who this “Uncle Bill” was; I was taken aback by the beautiful piece of machinery on the table. Rachel Emily ran over to it, but Mom held her back. “No, sweetheart, that is for Sarah so she can do her schoolwork.”
    “Thank you!” I exclaimed to Bill.
    “No problem—just want to make Mary Nancy ’s girl’s happy!” he replied.
    “Can I use it before I start my chores?” I asked my mother.
    “Of course. Take your time!”
    I was in heaven. Not only was my mother being kind and sweet to me, but here was this awesome word processor sitting on the table, just waiting for me to start it up and type to my heart’s content.
    I sat down at the table, and Rachel Emily sat next to me. I turned the word processor on, and it hummed as if to say “Hello! What do you want to write about today?” I glanced up to say thank you again to “Uncle Bill” and noticed that he was getting ready to leave.
    “See you later, Bill!” I said.
    “See you around, Sarah!”
    My mother was waiting at the kitchen door. Before Bill walked out the door, he stopped and leaned into Mom, as if he were going to kiss her on the mouth. Mom giggled like a schoolgirl and gently shoved him away “Tomorrow,” she said quietly.
    She shut the door behind him and turned around. Immediately, I could tell that the kind Mom was gone and the mother I knew was back. She crossed the kitchen in three large steps, leaned down, and got right into my face. “If you say one fucking word to your father about this, I will kill you … DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”
    It became clear to me what was going on. This “Uncle Bill” was more than a friend; he was obviously close to Mom in a way that she and Dale Richard were close.
    “Get the hell out of here and do your chores.” Mom picked up the word processor and hid it in a cabinet that Dale Richard never looked in. “Did I stutter?” Mom asked. “Get off your fat ass and go do your chores!”
    I got up slowly from the kitchen table and went to the front porch to put on my work boots. I was too young to fully understand what my mother was doing,