T-Ray is an Abuser

I remember feeling like I had the worst parents on this planet.  That they didn’t care about me, that they didn’t want me there in life.  I felt like no one had worse parents than me, but people do.  There are kids that live with bruises from the time that their father threw them down the stairs, or marks from the time that their mother, the one who gave birth to them, hit them with a book. Lily, from The Secret Life of Bees, is a victim of this.  Her dad, T-Ray, is abusive.  He has been acting this way since the death of his wife almost 10 years ago.  I think that T-Ray has felt these emotions of abusing before she died, but after that his emotions overflowed and taken control.

We don’t hear much about T-Ray’s past.  We don’t know if he has had any previous marriages that would have ended badly, we don’t know if he had abusive parents when he was a child; we don’t know why he abuses his daughter Lily. But he does. For all we know, he could have been abused when he was a child, and that’s his parent’s style. As we read on page 8 we see that it says “He didn’t believe in slumber parties or sock hops, which wasn’t a big concern as I never got invited to them anyway.” This tells us that T-Ray didn’t let Lily go places or do things that she wanted. His actions probably followed the ones of his own parents.  I believe that one of the main reasons he abuses his daughter is because of his past.

T-Ray isn’t an abuser just because he might have had a bad past, the emotions of his abusing started around the time his wife died. It wasn’t a great marriage, and she was going to leave.  I think that he was stressed with the emotion of her leaving, that he took it out physically on his daughter.  In the beginning of the book, it talks about the day that her mom dies. On page 7 it says, “Get in your room!” he shouted, and shoved me.  I leaned against the wall, then fell forward onto my hands and knees. Lifting my head, looking past him, I saw her running across the room. Running at him, yelling. Leave. Her. Alone.” This is the first account in the book of T-Ray ever hitting his child, and it happened because of his wife.  She was trying to leave him, and he took his anger out by hitting his daughter. As showed, T-Ray abuses because of his anger with his wife.

Not only does the abusing come from his past and the stress of his marriage, but it also comes from what Lily did to her mother. As their parents were fighting, Lily had gotten a hold of the gun and shot her mother to death.  Whenever Lily does something wrong, T-Ray always has the excuse of that she killed her mom to blame her. On page 24, we are given a look at some of the things that T-Ray does to his daughter: “I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but I still never got used to that powdered-glass feeling beneath my skin.” Kneeling on small pieces of glass from age six.  She was a baby, making mistakes was normal for her.  There is no reason to make your kids kneel on glass, it disgusting and disturbing.  T-Ray is not a good father to his daughter, since he abuses her weekly.

T-Ray has been feeling the emotions of hurting his daughter for many years, but they have finally shown since the death of his wife. Lily didn’t only feel like she had the worst parents in the world, she did.  She had a dad that abused her.  A dad that physically hits her, a dad that doesn’t want her there, a dad that doesn’t care about her. But she has the courage and strength to leave this life of pain.

           

Say Goodbye.

Author's Note: This piece was written to show the extraordinary word choice I can use.  I needed to get  a 10 on word choice, and that was completed with this piece.

As I step of the bus, I walk in to the middle of a storm.  It’s raining bullets.  Looking up I see the sky brightening.  Crashes of lightning hitting the horizon, followed by roars of thunder.  Tress dancing in the wind, swaying back and forth. Walking along, stepping in puddles, but it feels no different from the pouring rain hitting my shoulders. Looking ahead, I see the sun emerge from an army of clouds.  I see birds flying and creatures stumbling.  As I turn my head, I see the storm that just passed. I say goodbye to wet cold weather, and hello to sunshine.

The Secret Life of Bees- Rosaleen

Author's Note: I wrote this piece, responding to The Secret Life of Bees. I had to write it in the perspective of another character, besides Lily. I chose Rosaleen.  I feel that this portrays the actions of her thinking.

I am walking, on a long journey.  Lily is with me, and we don't know where we're headed, we just needed to be gone.  I needed to get away from all this mayhem caused with T-Ray.  He was not a good person, and not someone anyone would like to be around...so we left.  I'm still worried about if this is the right decision, being that we haven't had anything change for the better, yet.  All we're doing, hopefully, is getting a second chance. A new beginning, leaving our horrible past  behind us.

"Can you tell me anything about my mom? Like what she was liked? What she looked like?" Lily asked.  I'm not sure if -I should answer her.  Yes, I do know what happened to her mother.  Every  fight that was ever fought, ever word that was ever said, and every action that was ever made. I know the truth; and Lily and T-Ray know parts of it, but neither knows the whole thing.  I was like a sister to Debra, I was her listening ear when things had gone wrong with T-Ray, I was like the book, and she was the author.  I only know the things that she told me. (which I assumed was the whole thing, since it took hours  to listen to her)

"No, sweetie, I don't know much about your mother.  Not much at all." I replied, watching the tears fill up in her eyes.

"Well can you please tell me what you do know?" She asked, begging.

""No," i said, sighing before I opened my mouth, "I....I don't know anything." I said, breaking her heart.

I know one day I'll give up, I'll crack.  Then I'll tell her the things she wants to know; then I'll tell her the truth.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Author's Note: I wrote this piece to explain my feelings on everything happening for a reason. 
 

"I don't believe in luck.  I believe that everything happens for a reason"-Nelly
If everything goes wrong in life, and you feel like nothing, remember that everything happens for a reason. That shirt, the one your wearing, it's for a reason. We don’t know all the reasons at first.  It could be that the guy your secretly in love with will compliment you, or that you'll get in a accident and die, and the shirt you happen to be wearing is one that your grandma got you the day she died; but it's still a reason.  If your life is crumbling, and you feel like nothing,  remember that any action you-or some one else- made was for a reason. If you're confused or worried why something happen, and can't find a good, valid reason, maybe it wasn't a reason in your favor.  You're not perfect. Not everything you want to happen in life will.  That's life, that's the way it goes.  Good reasons and bad reasons, but it still happened for one.  These reasons could change our life.  Like if you miss a flight, you could meet your soul mate in the airport.  If you lose the job, a better one could be down the road.  Or if your six year relationship ends over a stupid fight, maybe you won the fight.  In situations like that, it's hard to find the good outcome.  Some can spend many years searching for it, and even then still not know.  There will be reasons in our live that will remain clueless our whole life.  Things we could never find the good outcome, without looking at he rest of our lives.  Because you wore that shirt today, that guy, the one you like, could ask you out.  Then after about a month, you meet one of his friends that you like. Your world may be full of confusion, but look,  you would have never met his friend without meeting him, and you would have never gotten his attention without wearing that shirt. I hope you realize that everything really does happen for a reason.