Joey's Story Joey's Story This is a story of a kid named Joey and his life. The people in Joey's family were named Sarah, Tania, Arnold, Wendy, Ronna and Carl. Carl is his grandpa. And Ronna is his Grandma. Wendy is his Mom who lives in Portland. Joey lived with his Grandma and Grandpa after he was 4 years old. He went to live with them on his 4th birthday. He got his first tricycle for that birthday. Before Joey lived with Grandma and Grandpa, he lived with his Mom, Wendy and Dad, Tom. When Joey was born, his brother and sisters were so excited to have a baby brother. He was the cutest little baby you ever saw. Joey and his brother and sisters moved away from Wendy and Tom because they weren't doing a good enough job being parents. When Joey was 2 or 3 years old, his big brother, Arnold told Joey to go play on the train track and the train almost hit Joey. Arnold was 5 or 6 when that happened. That was when Joey and his brother were living with their Mom and Dad. Mom was gone playing with her friends and Dad told Arnold to watch Joey. Kids who are 5 or 6 are too little to be watching 2 or 3 year olds or telling them what to do. That's why they have parents to do that. Joey's Dad made a big mistake. There were more mistakes too. Once Dad Tom poked Joey's body with pins and pretended they were bee stings. That made Joey cry. He was only a baby when that happened. Joey's dad abused his mom too. He broke down the door of their apartment and they had to sleep in the basement. And once his Mom locked him in a closet. Joey's sisters tried to help him but Dad slapped them away. They were trying to protect Joey but they were too little. These memories still make Joey feel sad. After Joey moved in with Grandpa and Grandma, some bad things happened there like yelling and fighting and calling names. That made Joey feel sad and upset. Sometimes Grandpa would get mad at Joey for things that seemed like nothing to Joey. Then Joey would feel confused. Tania was Joey's best friend in the family. She was nice to him. She talked to him nice and she didn't fight with him. Arnold was the big brother in the family. Arnold always got yelled at because he back talked grandpa. When Joey was 7 or 8 years old some abuse happened to him by Arnold. Joey can't remember the first time Arnold sexually abused him. It happened a few times. It happened when he was asleep. Sarah tried to tell Arnold not to do it but Arnold threatened her with a knife and told her that he would kill her or everyone she knows and loves. So she didn't tell. And Joey didn't tell because he was scared. Joey felt like there was no one there to defend him. There were barely any fun things that happened. This changed when Arnold left. Arnold had to leave because he abused Joey. ***** Then Joey met a nice counselor named Julie. Joey got to be in a group with other kids who had gotten sexually abused. They had fun. And they learned things. After Arnold left, things got better in the family. Like the fighting stopped. They got along better. They had more fun. They went swimming at the community center. They went to movies like The Emperor's New Grooves. Grandpa and Grandpa didn't stress out so much. Joey was sad because Arnold left. And he was happy because he left. The reason he was sad was that Arnold was his only brother. The reason he was happy was that Arnold couldn't abuse him anymore. Joey also had mad feelings about Arnold being gone. Sometimes he blamed his sisters because there was no one else to blame. Sometimes he blamed himself because there was no one else to blame. And he thought maybe it was his fault he got abused. The reason he thought it might have been his fault was that Joey was lonely and he liked Arnold's attention. Joey also thought maybe if he didn't stop the abuse, then it was his fault. Julie told Joey that lots of times kids think it's their fault because some of the abuse feels good to kids' bodies. She said that's because sexual touching on private parts feels good. Like backrubs and headrubs feel good too. She said the reason it felt good was because Joey's body was healthy and normal. Joey said: Big brothers should be nice to their little brothers and not threaten them. It is a big brother's job to protect their little brothers. When Joey was 9 1/2 years old, he got to go stay with his Mom for a week. It was the first time he got to do that since he got adopted by his Grandparents. When Joey found out he got to go, he was excited because he knew it was going to be fun. While he was there he got to go swimming and go to OMSI and get a skateboard and get skates. Joey's favorite part was getting a skateboard. While he was there, the mosquitoes stopped biting him and his mosquito bites all cleared up. When it was time to come home, Joey wasn't quite ready. He wanted to stay there because it was fun. The best part about coming home was that Joey got to see Grandpa and Grandma. It was fun seeing his sisters again. Once he got home the mosquitoes started biting him again. Mostly Joey loved living with his Grandpa and Grandma. Once, when Grandpa slapped Joey, his feelings got really hurt and he wished he could live someplace else. Joey liked counseling because it helped him. He learned how to talk about his feelings and not keep them all inside of him. He found out that other kids got abused too and that made him sad for them but glad that he wasn't the only one. It made Joey feel like he wasn't so alone. Here's some advice Joey has for other kids who are being abused: *Talk to a parent before it gets out of hand. *And don't trust older brothers who want to be alone with you and who boss you around when you're little. And remember! Big brothers should be nice to their little brothers and not threaten them. It is a big brother's job to protect their little brothers.