i was 19 and pretty sheltered from the harsh reality of life. We weren’t wealthy but weren’t poor either. I have a twin, a little brother and a little sister.

It all started in 2021, half way through my college year and pretty happy. Growing up i looked at my Mum and Dad as if they were my superheroes but the further into 2021 we got the more that changed.

My mum and dad had broke up early in the year which i assume was the catalyst for all this. My dad became homeless and my mum turned to drugs, but i didnt know that at the time. Although they had broken up my dad still crashed at the house every few nights to see all of us, which was nice because it didnt feel right not having him around. One night when he was staying round he found a bag of powder in the bathroom and went through to speak to my mum because he was concerned it was one of his kids taking it. The blame was placed on me, which i defended myself convincingly as i had an on-suit bathroom which I exclusively used. Then the blame was passed to my twin which my dad then butted in and blamed her as he felt she would just keep passing the blame round everyone. She beat him pillar to post.

After that my Dad never entered the house, whether out of shame of getting beat up by his ex wife or guilt of causing her to turn to drugs i dont know. All i know is that i no longer felt safe in the house. My twin didnt either as a few days later he moved in with my Gran.

During the next few weeks my Mum was in the house less and less, preferring to go out than stay in and look after her own children. As the oldest i felt it was my responsibility to look after my siblings, which i did. To make sure they got everything they needed for school i had to drop out of college and get a job to pay the bills, feed and clothe my siblings.

After doing this for a few months my mum showed back up at the door while i was at work. My sister was off school ill and let her in. She told her that it was me that told her to leave and locked her out the house and was on drugs. Fed her lies about myself, which inevitably turned her against me. When i got home i was surprised that my mum was in and took her to the kitchen to demand where she had been. My sister attacked me while my mum watched. At that moment i understood why my Dad didnt hit back, he loved her. I love my sister and didnt want to cause her harm even though i was feeling her fists thump across my jaw. Once she stopped i was told to leave.

After everything i had done to try protect my little brother and sister from living a horrible life, they had been corrupted by my own mother against me.

I slept under bridges for weeks, until she called me out the blue and said she had to talk to me. I approached her cautiously, sat down and asked her why after all this time she wanted to talk. She told that she was struggling to pay bills so i should take the money out of my trust fund and give it to her. I was angry i took off out of the house and that was the last i heard from her.

From then i got my own flat, a great paying job and a dog that has become my best friend. Still working on the great girlfriend part 😅

Sorry if this is against the rules or anything, i just wanted to share my story. If anyone is going through something similar, reach out and ill try help out then best i can. This isnt the whole story, if you want more context for some stuff ill be more than happy to add more, i just couldnt be bothered writing more tbh