The year I was 9, we lived in a cold-water one room flat. It was crowded to say the least, 13 folks all trying to fit. There was nothing to call my own,even my bed was shared.
I was lost in the shuffle of mewling children. Was 'Shut up' my name? or was it 'Girl'... No one cared about me as long as chores were done. Fetch the water, heat it, fill the tubs. Do the dishes, scrub the wash. Sweep the floor. Chore list without end.
My salvation was the lilac bush that grew out back. Notebook hidden beneath my shirt, I would wiggle beneath her branches. In her leafy embrace I tasted freedom. Here I could shed forbidden tears, while a breezed stirred a leaf against my cheek. Her silent caress. Mother Lilac sheltering my from prying, jeering taunts. How dare I squander time? Waste paper and ink ? In this green cavern I spun tales of adventure, of happy-ever-after. Spilled my secrets and took comfort. Scrawled my thoughts. Beneath her skirts I had found home.
It was here I hid my treasures, in an old coffee can. Half a robin's egg, a bit of coloured glass, a diamond ring (crackerjack variety). Confident they were safe under Mother Lilac's guard.
I peer through the lattice of green to see my father, storming about. He is looking for me. Suddenly rough hands are tearing me from her bossom. I don't understand, I try and cling to her. My book! White pages flutter away in the wind, as my wrist is ensnared, and belt bites into flesh. "Hide from me!" is snarled. Lilac brushes me with one leaf...be strong. Again the belt comes down, and again. I don't bother to count, it doesn't matter. I know he will continue until he can no longer raise his arm. Suddenly I am flung to the ground and he kicks me hard...I bite my lips stare hard at the safety of Lilac. "I'll teach you!" He rips and tears her from the ground. Crushing the blossoms, ripping apart the lacing of her branches. I struggle to my feet. He is waiting for tears and shouts of no that he'll never hear. For her roots are within me, and I watch his onslaught through a veil of green.
