by E. D. Lewis (Author)

In Elle's upbringing, sexual abuse and rape was something not to be exposed, never discussed, and conditional. She remained quiet in fear of retaliation from another relative or the offender himself. Never mind how Elle feels or the residual lifelong problems and concerns that follow. Covering up failures, mistakes, and protecting the guilty was key. Becoming conscious of the absolute fact that sexual and drug abuse are interrelated, Elle's raging thoughts felt like she was up against a gargantuan obstacle. The truth is there is a social stigma, a label, an unspoken rule that those two subjects are not to be discussed openly or publicly. The unspoken rule is to keep quiet and stay silent. The ultimate goal for those involved in her being traumatized by rape and sexual abuse was to silence Elle or force her to conform and only speak about the sexual abuse and rape in an extremely controlled environment. Implementing and enforcing this barbaric strategy proved to be essential in protecting the wrongdoer or her mother's criminal neglect for impotently standing by and doing nothing. This stratagem also enables the criminally neglect to edit the narrative when obligatory circumstances are needed in limiting the grotesque exposure and ignorance of those who are really aware but would rather stand by and do nothing. Undoubtedly, both are interconnected. And as for Elle's experience, the guilty blames and dismisses the raped and sexually abused child and continues diminishing her as she grows into adulthood while accusing Elle as the mother of her own child, Megan, for that child's addiction! Her thoughts merged as her tumultuous, traumatic, and abusive childhood predisposed Elle to herself a lifetime of drug abuse and desolation. However, and persistently, Elle proved a powerful exceptional opposite to be true.