Days turned into seasons and soon Baby boy was crawling. Little one's mom had finally left the couch and went to dad's bed. The summer was coming to an end and Little one would be starting school soon. She was excited it would be fun to get away from the house.
By now the blood shit and piss had fermented into a ruddy musty odor that seemed to attract the mice and now some rats had found their way to the “shithole cafe”. Try as hard as she could, Little one tried to keep her brother clean and fed. She learned how to mix her mom's milk with crackers and make a mush that brother would hungrily suck down. She had to be careful and take the left over milk after her dad got his fill.
She would carry brother to the bathroom and hold him over the toilet hoping he would go whenever he saw the bathroom. He was starting to crawl and dad would get pissed when brother got under his feet. If she didn't shield brother with her own body he would have killed him already.
The only good thing was that dad still was fascinated with mom. He found many ways to torment her and there were times when her little hands could not cover her ears fast enough to block out mommy's cries.
Some nights were better than others. Little one would sneak in and try to wash mommy when dad left the house. She had gotten so skinny and could barely move but Little one would take some rags and a pan of water into the bedroom. Slowly over the past few weeks Little one had taken care to try to sneak food and water to mom whenever she could. She was so tired that when sleep overtook her she barely moved from where ever she passed out.
It was dark when Little one opened her eyes. She was holding brother cuddling with him to keep him safe and warm. There was a chill in the air and the days were shorter. There had been no food for a long time. Dad had not been home for a few days now and mommy had been able to get up and go to the bathroom.
There were noises in the kitchen and the pungent odor of human feces permeated the house. Little one gagged and her movement woke up brother. He barely stirred and rolled into her growling stomach searching for a nipple or anything with sustenance.
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Finally she could get out of bed. She looked at herself in the mirror. How had things gotten so bad? “Daddy” was gone. Little one had done her best to help keep the baby and her alive. Not having a clue what to do and how long before the man came back, she broke down and called her mother. She begged and pleaded for help. Later her mother came to the apartment. When she came in she had food, diapers, formula and some clothing. She made faces and called the kids bastards. The smell and filth made her want to vomit but she helped clean and feed the baby. Her disgust was palpable and Little one cowered in the corner and fell asleep. "Grandma" scooped up the kids and took them to her house. With the kids gone, she fell into a deep sleep that was filled with terror. The next day she packed the meager belongings and took the bus to her mother's house.
Begging, pleading she cowed before her mother and swore she would do anything, anything to stay. Her mother laughed and couldn't stop saying “I told you so”. Gloating she made space for Little one in the attic, and put her mom and the baby in the small room behind the stairway. Anything would have been better than what she left.