He bailed us

Dad scoffed and shook his head. "You know that Melissa will never go for that. She's too independent and thinks nothing is wrong with her."

I shook my own head and sat back. They were defending her again. There was probably nothing I could say to change their minds. Then I looked at my mom.

"Who is Melissa's father?"

She looked down at her hands and replied, "His name was Mack and he was very abusive. I ended up in the hospital right before I gave birth to Melissa... that's when I left him for good."

"What?!" Deja vu punched me in the gut! How do I seem to know nothing about my family?! Then a realization slapped me in the face. "Is that why you freaked out when I told you what Jason was doing to me?" This question was directed at my mom. "I cried to you on several occasions and you always told me to just stop making him angry and he wouldn't hurt me anymore. You knew about the bad stuff and still let me suffer.

"It wasn't until he almost killed me that you offered me a way out." My h