Beyond the Darkness: Suffering in Silence

ABOUT Susan Smith

Susan Smith
Who Am I? Susan M. Smith  I decided that at the early stage of my adult life I would be highly involved with healthcare, so from 1994 until 2009 I worked at various hospitals which gave me an opportunity to work in the emergency and trauma departments at a University medical center and  More...

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Description

Beyond the Darkness Suffering in Silence Beyond the Darkness is a depiction of a young girls struggle to overcome rape; incest and a variety of abuses at the hands of her loved ones. The lead character is Kayla born in small town Arkansas, Kayla serves as the narrator of the story. Anita and Jonathon Worth are the parents of Kayla; Mark is Kayla’s older brother. The story is set in the late summer’s year of 1976, in Arkansas when Kayla recounts her birth. She also recalls the fact that it should have been a holiday but was not due to the fact that she was born early, due to the violence that her mother suffered at the hands of her father. Kayla also feels as if she is not the child that her mother wanted because of her skin tone and lastly the fact that her father wanted a boy. Kayla’s father was enlisted in the United States Air Force when Kayla was born but due to alcohol abuse he was dishonorable discharged .Kayla’s mother Anita was in love with her father but her father was a womanizer and cheater. Kayla’s father also indulged in alcohol which leads to a great deal of traumatic situations. Even though married Kayla’s father and mother were not ready to become parents. The children were not a priority of the mother because the mother was too busy keeping up with the father and his activities. Kayla’s parents went their separate ways in the end. And Kayla and her brother was sent to live with her grandmother and mothers of siblings that all resided at one house in the rural area in small town, Arkansas. Kayla lived within the home from age 4-11 when her mother finally decided to take her and her brother away to live with her. Unwilling and in an effort to resist Kayla rebelled by fighting, skipping school. Kayla felt like an outcast, couldn’t and didn’t make friends, but instead fought – fought violently to return to the home of her grandmother. With no avail Kayla and her brother Mark had no choice but to leave and stay with their mother and her new live in boyfriend. Kayla feels afraid of this man. And she great reason to do so, the mother’s boyfriend rapes Kayla in the bathroom. Upon the arrival of mother from work Kayla expressed to the mother the actions of her boyfriend. The mother in turns shoots the boyfriend. In steps the grandmother to save Kayla, but she was not safe.

Some children do not have the fairytale childhood. Some have hardships, hardships that can not be imagined or dreamed of. This is my journey for closure and an effort for a fresh start.