The year was 1975, and at age sixteen, young Keri was desperate to strike out on her own.
However, as readers of the first three volumes of this series will know, her childhood was hardly the loving, supportive, preparatory period it should have been.
Instead of family dinners and piano recitals, there were shattered dishes and abusive parents. Instead of trips to the museum, there were trips to TV studios - to be molested by celebrities. In short, her childhood was nothing short of a nightmare.
Should it really be any surprise then, after such a traumatic baptism into life, that her first foray into the adult world was hardly an unmitigated success?
From living in squalor to racking up debts, her new-found independence forced her face-to-face with many of life's grim realities. And despite waiting all her life for her freedom, she soon realised that a world without the institutional bars she was so accustomed to was just too much of a jungle. And every jungle has its predators...
But what was a girl to do? Regress back to an abusive enslavement? Or continue moving forward in a world that seemed so backward? She needed a friend - and fast.
Naturally, her understandable distrust of others didn't make things easy. Not to mention her warped idea of love. In the end though, her determination proved the deciding factor. As far as she was concerned, she'd performed her final "favour", and cried the last of her tears.
But just when she thought she'd finally left her demons behind, she found herself at the mercy of unsavoury characters yet again - and this time, without anyone to turn to...
DISCLAIMER: This is a true story of child abuse, and as such, reader discretion should be advised. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
However, as readers of the first three volumes of this series will know, her childhood was hardly the loving, supportive, preparatory period it should have been.
Instead of family dinners and piano recitals, there were shattered dishes and abusive parents. Instead of trips to the museum, there were trips to TV studios - to be molested by celebrities. In short, her childhood was nothing short of a nightmare.
Should it really be any surprise then, after such a traumatic baptism into life, that her first foray into the adult world was hardly an unmitigated success?
From living in squalor to racking up debts, her new-found independence forced her face-to-face with many of life's grim realities. And despite waiting all her life for her freedom, she soon realised that a world without the institutional bars she was so accustomed to was just too much of a jungle. And every jungle has its predators...
But what was a girl to do? Regress back to an abusive enslavement? Or continue moving forward in a world that seemed so backward? She needed a friend - and fast.
Naturally, her understandable distrust of others didn't make things easy. Not to mention her warped idea of love. In the end though, her determination proved the deciding factor. As far as she was concerned, she'd performed her final "favour", and cried the last of her tears.
But just when she thought she'd finally left her demons behind, she found herself at the mercy of unsavoury characters yet again - and this time, without anyone to turn to...
DISCLAIMER: This is a true story of child abuse, and as such, reader discretion should be advised. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
