My Dad Makes Us “Vote” On Who Gets To Sleep In A Bed Or A Dirt Pit. My Brother Just Betrayed Us To Save Himself. How Do I Escape?

She’s seriously concerned that the chronic cough and visible getting worse indicates real neglect that needs medical documentation. She calls Dr. Romano at the children’s hospital and explains the situation, arranging for Yasmin to be brought in for a complete assessment as soon as possible.

Ammani knows that medical evidence will be harder for Dad to deflect or charm his way out of. Doctors documenting actual physical harm creates a case that courts take seriously.

She starts building a file with all the reports and evidence. She is preparing for the possibility of emergency removal if the medical evaluation confirms what she suspects.

Dr. Romano agrees to prioritize the evaluation and asks specific questions about symptoms and duration that Ammani answers based on multiple observer reports.

The System Crumbles

When Dad gets called by the school about the arm writing and the counselor interview, he comes home in a cold rage that makes the air feel dangerous. He walks through the door and announces that we’re all being pulled from the school effective immediately.

He says that he won’t allow interference in family matters from people who don’t understand proper discipline. He says anyone who tries to visit will be denied access, and that he’s within his rights to control who speaks to his children and when.

The control is slipping from his grasp and he’s tightening his grip in response, making everything more dangerous for all of us. Mom sits frozen at the kitchen table while Dad paces and talks about his rights and privacy and how teachers are overstepping their authority.

Yousef nods along with everything Dad says, already calculating how to use the situation to his advantage in tonight’s rankings. I watch Dad’s performance and realize I’m running out of time before he completely isolates us from anyone who might help.

I know I have to act fast before Dad makes good on his threat to pull us from the school. So after the final bell, I tell Mrs. McCann I need to stay late to work on a project and instead I go to the public library three blocks away.

I use one of their computers to create a fake email account with a name that doesn’t connect to me, then I set up a cloud storage account using that email. My hands shake as I upload all the photos from my phone.

I upload the pictures of Yasmin’s frostbitten toes and the rust marks on her skin and the shed from outside. I upload the audio files I recorded of dinner rankings and Dad’s voice explaining his system.

Then I write an email to Mrs. McCann’s school address explaining what each file shows. I am labeling them clearly so she’ll understand the context.

It’s my last play, putting all the evidence somewhere Dad can’t confiscate or destroy, even if he takes my phone tonight. I feel both terrified and calm as I hit send.

I know I’ve just done something I can’t take back, but also know it’s the only option left. The email confirmation pops up and I log out of everything, clear the browser history, and walk out of the library into the afternoon sun.

I feel like I just set something huge in motion that I can’t control anymore. I walk home from the library with my phone feeling heavy in my pocket, even though I deleted everything from it after sending that email.

The sun is setting and I know dinner rankings are coming soon, but for once I’m not worried about where I’ll sleep tonight because bigger things are in motion now. When I get home, Dad is in his office and doesn’t notice me slip in through the back door.

I go straight to my room and wait for whatever happens next. That evening after a silent dinner where nobody looks at each other, I’m lying on the yoga mat in the garage when Yousef appears in the doorway.

His face is red and his hands are shaking as he walks toward me. He knows I’ve been talking to teachers and he’s scared because my snitching puts him at risk too.

He starts listing everything I’ve done like he’s reading charges in court, talking about the counselor meetings and the arm writing and how I’m destroying the family. His voice gets louder as he threatens to tell Dad every detail.

He is promising I’ll spend weeks in the pit once Dad finds out. But then he mentions the pit and something breaks in his voice for just a second.

His eyes show pure fear instead of the calculating look he usually has. He’s terrified too, I realize.

He’s just been dealing with it by siding with Dad instead of fighting back like me. Before I can say anything, he turns and walks out, leaving me alone in the garage with the smell of gasoline and motor oil.

Hours pass and I can’t sleep because my mind keeps spinning through what might happen tomorrow. Around 2:00 a.m. I hear a crash from inside the house, followed by Yasmin’s scared voice calling for help.

I run inside and find Mom on the kitchen floor, her body crumpled like someone cut her strings. She’s breathing, but her eyes are closed and she won’t respond when I shake her shoulder.

Yasmin stands in the doorway in her pajamas coughing and crying at the same time. Dad appears from upstairs, still half asleep, and starts saying something about Mom being dramatic.

I don’t wait to hear the rest. I run out the back door in my bare feet across the cold grass to Fergus’s house.

I bang on his door so hard my knuckles hurt, not caring that it’s the middle of the night or that I’m in my pajamas. When he opens the door I’m crying and begging him to call 911 because Mom needs help and I don’t trust Dad to do it.

Fergus takes one look at my face and doesn’t ask questions. He just grabs his phone and makes the call while I stand shivering on his porch.

The ambulance arrives in less than 10 minutes with lights flashing red and blue across the neighborhood. Two EMS workers rush inside with their equipment while Fergus stays with me on his porch, his hand on my shoulder.

Through the window I can see them working on Mom while Dad stands nearby talking and gesturing. One of the EMS workers keeps looking around the house, noticing things.

She sees our scared faces, Yasmin’s pale skin, and the way she can’t stop coughing. She sees the strange setup visible through the back window where the shed and the tarp covered pit sit in the yard.

She writes things down on her clipboard between checking Mom’s blood pressure and heart rate. Dad tries his usual charming routine, explaining that Mom has been stressed lately and probably just fainted from standing up too fast.

The EMS worker’s expression doesn’t change as she documents Dad’s defensive responses and the obvious fear in all our faces. When she’s helping Mom onto the stretcher, she makes direct eye contact with me and I see recognition there.

She knows something is very wrong in this house. Less than an hour after the EMS workers leave, a car pulls up and Ammani gets out along with two police officers.

She’s carrying folders and official looking papers, and her face is harder than I’ve ever seen it. One of the officers stays by the door while Ammani walks straight to Dad and hands him documents.

The Rescue

She explains in a calm professional voice that she has an emergency removal order for Yasmin based on immediate danger. The order cites medical concerns from Dr. Romano’s notes and the documented inadequate shelter that multiple sources have reported.

It includes all the evidence that’s been building from my reports and Mrs. McCann’s observations and the EMS documentation from tonight.

“My case is under review too,” she says.

“But Yasmin is being removed right now.”

Dad’s face goes from confused to angry to scared in about 3 seconds. His control is finally cracking as he realizes his perfect system is being taken apart by people he can’t manipulate or charm his way around.

Dad starts talking fast about his rights as a parent and false accusations and how this is government overreach. His voice gets louder as he threatens to call his lawyer and sue everyone involved.

The police officers just stand there with their arms crossed, completely unmoved by his performance. Ammani’s expression stays hard as granite while she explains exactly what the law allows her to do in cases of immediate danger to children.

“She’s seen enough cases like this to recognize the signs,” she says.