The Girl Nobody Wants: A Shocking True Story of Child Abuse in Ireland by Lily O'Brien Page A
Authors: Lily O'Brien
Ads: Link
damage as he possibly could, by breaking windows and anything else that caught his eye.
Most days, I would just walk around for a while and then I would go back to the house to see what was going on or to see if dad had come home, and I would hide in the garden until Ted went off, and only then would I feel happy knowing that Ted was not around to bother me. And most of the time, Ted would be out for hours, just walking around, breaking things; but then sometimes he would get on the horse Rose and ride her bareback through the village, as fast as he possibly could, and he would only be holding on to the chain around her neck to steady himself. He would ride along, smashing as many windows as he possibly could with his slingshot and not stopping until he got back to our house.
Then, a couple of hours later, people would turn up at the house looking for our dad, to complain about Ted riding the horse through the village like a madman, and about him smashing all the windows and street lights as he had done so. But dad was never at home and we would tell the people that if they really wanted to find our dad, then they should go down to the pub and ask for him there, but they never did. Next to come along knocking on the door and looking for Ted would be the police, but Ted would just give them even more things to complain about, as he laughed and shouted at them, calling them all kinds of names and telling them to fuck off as he hung out of the upstairs windows. However, they would never go into the house to get him as he always threatened to climb out of the window and onto the roof if they put a foot through the front door.
Almost every time we went out, we would cause some kind of trouble for ourselves; it wasn’t because we were bad children, but because there was so many of us that something just had to happen. I remember one morning a woman came to the house and she asked to see our dad, but as usual he wasn’t in and no one had seen him for about a week. So, we told the woman that he was out at work and that he would be back after five o’clock and we told her to come back then.
And she did, but he still wasn’t back, so we kept the front door locked shut and we all kept very quiet, hoping that she would go away and leave us alone. But she didn’t leave and she just kept knocking on the door; so eventually, Ted opened the front door and he went outside. He told the woman that he was our dad and then he asked her what she wanted; he was only thirteen and straightaway she told him that she wasn’t stupid and that we had all better go to school or she would be back with more people who would make us go to school, and then she left. Ted came back into the house and he said that she was a bitch and that he had told her that he was our dad; and he said that he had told her to fuck off and she did and that was the end of it.
Ted then said that he was now the boss of the house, he was going to be our dad from now on and he was going to look after us. We all looked at him and then we all fell about laughing and I said that if he was now our dad, then he would help us; and because we were all starving hungry and we had no food in the house to eat, then he needed to get some for us. Ted looked at us all and then he said, ‘Ok, go sit down in the kitchen and I will be back in a couple of minutes with some food for you all to eat’; so we all went into the kitchen and we sat at the table and waited for him to come back.
And within a couple of minutes, he was back holding a frying pan with what looked like a long sausage sitting in the middle of it. He then put the pan onto the stove and began to strike some matches and within a couple of minutes he had the stove lit and we all sat patiently waiting for the food to cook. But within a couple of seconds of the heat reaching the frying pan, the sausage began to smoke crackle and stink all at the same time, and we all began to choke as the kitchen filled with thick smoke. The
Most days, I would just walk around for a while and then I would go back to the house to see what was going on or to see if dad had come home, and I would hide in the garden until Ted went off, and only then would I feel happy knowing that Ted was not around to bother me. And most of the time, Ted would be out for hours, just walking around, breaking things; but then sometimes he would get on the horse Rose and ride her bareback through the village, as fast as he possibly could, and he would only be holding on to the chain around her neck to steady himself. He would ride along, smashing as many windows as he possibly could with his slingshot and not stopping until he got back to our house.
Then, a couple of hours later, people would turn up at the house looking for our dad, to complain about Ted riding the horse through the village like a madman, and about him smashing all the windows and street lights as he had done so. But dad was never at home and we would tell the people that if they really wanted to find our dad, then they should go down to the pub and ask for him there, but they never did. Next to come along knocking on the door and looking for Ted would be the police, but Ted would just give them even more things to complain about, as he laughed and shouted at them, calling them all kinds of names and telling them to fuck off as he hung out of the upstairs windows. However, they would never go into the house to get him as he always threatened to climb out of the window and onto the roof if they put a foot through the front door.
Almost every time we went out, we would cause some kind of trouble for ourselves; it wasn’t because we were bad children, but because there was so many of us that something just had to happen. I remember one morning a woman came to the house and she asked to see our dad, but as usual he wasn’t in and no one had seen him for about a week. So, we told the woman that he was out at work and that he would be back after five o’clock and we told her to come back then.
And she did, but he still wasn’t back, so we kept the front door locked shut and we all kept very quiet, hoping that she would go away and leave us alone. But she didn’t leave and she just kept knocking on the door; so eventually, Ted opened the front door and he went outside. He told the woman that he was our dad and then he asked her what she wanted; he was only thirteen and straightaway she told him that she wasn’t stupid and that we had all better go to school or she would be back with more people who would make us go to school, and then she left. Ted came back into the house and he said that she was a bitch and that he had told her that he was our dad; and he said that he had told her to fuck off and she did and that was the end of it.
Ted then said that he was now the boss of the house, he was going to be our dad from now on and he was going to look after us. We all looked at him and then we all fell about laughing and I said that if he was now our dad, then he would help us; and because we were all starving hungry and we had no food in the house to eat, then he needed to get some for us. Ted looked at us all and then he said, ‘Ok, go sit down in the kitchen and I will be back in a couple of minutes with some food for you all to eat’; so we all went into the kitchen and we sat at the table and waited for him to come back.
And within a couple of minutes, he was back holding a frying pan with what looked like a long sausage sitting in the middle of it. He then put the pan onto the stove and began to strike some matches and within a couple of minutes he had the stove lit and we all sat patiently waiting for the food to cook. But within a couple of seconds of the heat reaching the frying pan, the sausage began to smoke crackle and stink all at the same time, and we all began to choke as the kitchen filled with thick smoke. The
Similar Books
