I have never been the one to yell or put my foot down when I have gotten into a verbal fight with anyone, but this summer on the night of July 30th, all of that changed. I stood up to someone that had done me and my mother wrong in the past. Still to this day I barely speak a word to this person even though I am forced to live under the same roof. Even though this event was negative at the time, a positive opportunity was brought up in the end. Kids sometimes may feel intimidated to stand up to an adult. I learned through this event that no matter who has done something wrong to you, you have the power to stick up for yourself. No one has the right to treat you with disrespect, especially someone I used to look up to.
To begin, since I was four years old I have lived with my mom and her boyfriend (I just call him Mike) in a too-big-for-2-but-perfect-for-3-person house. We used to be a quite happy family until Mike never seemed to want to go out with me and my mom anywhere. We did not bother asking anymore when we realized ordering pizza and watching football was a priority for him instead of us. As I grew older, I also grew a sort of hatred for Mike as well. It may have to do with the fact that I do not really talk or see my biological father all that much, so I have a bit of uneasiness of the whole idea of trust in a father figure, but that's a whole different story. Our family grew apart from each other and basically felt as if Mike was just a roommate in our house. Mike had always had this insecurity that my mom was dating other men and sneaking around with her “new boyfriend” as he always would say. I knew in my heart my mother would never do something like that to anyone; she just needed to support the both of us so one day we can leave that house for good.
Anyways, my mom and her girlfriend were planning a trip to go to Florida for a week this summer just for a relaxing get away. I did not care enough to know if my mom had told Mike yet that she was leaving soon. The day before she left, my mom and I went to Target to buy groceries for the week while she was gone. She spent a good amount of money on those groceries so I would not be hungry for the whole time she was gone. After we left Target, I had to go to work until late that night, so my mom just let me take the car. While I was at work I felt like something was wrong in the pit of my stomach and my heart felt like a ton of bricks; I just knew something bad was gonna happen that night.
When my shift was over, I hurried home to see if everything was okay or if my instincts were just playing tricks on me. When I pulled into my driveway, the house looked dead, without a single light on which gave me an eerie vibe. Instead of using the front door, we use the garage to get in and out of the house, so I typed in the code to the garage multiple times, but it would not work every time I tried. I guess my mom heard me pull up cause she opened our front door so I could come in. I took a step into my house and the inside was filled with darkness so that I had to feel my way to a light switch. The light switch didn't work either so I asked my mom, “Is the power out?” She did not answer me but just yelled upstairs to Mike, “Mike can you turn the power back on?! Kyli is home!” The whole situation gave me an eerie vibe and I felt my nerves kicking into overdrive when the thought of  Mike purposely turning the lights off popped in my mind. I finally felt my way up to the kitchen and suddenly all the lights came back on. My heart instantly dropped when I saw what was in front of my eyes. All of the brand new groceries my mom and I bought was aggressively piled in the garbage can.
My mom was shocked as well to see this in front of her which made her say, “What the hell is this?!”
In reply Mike said like it was no big deal, “I thought it was old.”
My mom and I just stood there in shock from how dumb that had sounded, there were piles and piles of obviously-not-old groceries in our garbage can. The groceries were so fresh that all the vegetables were still cool from the refrigeration at the store, the eggs yolks were splattered on other foods from the force of impact, and even a case of water was a part of the disaster even though water doesn't get old. The smell of mixed up spilled food wreaked throughout the kitchen. A huge footprint was imprinted on the unpeeled bananas. That's when I knew this was no accident. I took pictures of the scene so I could show people what an ass my stepdad was.
At first I thought of how dumb he was for thinking they were old, and then he broke me out of my thought with the words, “Kyli, your mother is running away with her new boyfriend to Florida and never coming back! I hope the plane crashes on the way there.” At that moment I felt a fiery lump in my throat itching to burst out with words of absolute enragement. My fists were clenched so hard that I didn't even realize till every joint in my fingers ached. Something dark took over my body that night and I blew up on him like never before. I don't even remember what I said in that moment, all I remember is running down stairs to the garage, grabbing all of Mike's Heineken beer and chucking each bottle one by one off of our balcony. The sound of them shattering on the ground beneath me gave me a sort of release. He threw away something I needed, so I threw away something he couldn't survive without. I just remember a lot of yelling between me and him and crying myself to sleep that night. My mom picked up my sobbing face and said,”We’re getting out of here, I promise”. I was relieved but also terrified since she was leaving the next day and I was going to be stuck in that house with Mike for a whole week. I actually spent most of those seven days at my boyfriend or friends house because I never wanted to be home. When I was home, I spent my time in my room a lot because I was so scared we would get in another fight, which has happened often, and nothing has ever been resolved since.
This experience gave me a sort of confidence and bravery in myself because I stuck up for myself and my mother which I have never really done before. Kids are often too scared or feel intimidated to stand up to an adult, but I believe this was a perfect example of not taking crap from anybody no matter who they are. Something positive came out of this because on November 1st is the closing day of my mothers and I brand new house, and I'm so excited to start a new chapter without that negativity in my life. Don't let anyone treat you with disrespect because if you can find the courage to do it, you can overcome anything. Taking the bull by the horns was the best decision I ever made and taught me a life lesson that'll help me in my future.