Blog entry for one day of the person's life

Blog entry for one day of the person's life

It was 5 March 1973, Daly City. California. It was the happiest day of my life. The only time of my life when I was FREE! At first I pondered at these words. What do they mean? Then it hit me, I was FREE from the clutches of my evil “mother”. I do not even know if I can address her as a “mother” as I was referred as “it” by her…… But first let me recall what happened that very day……

It was morning. I needed to finish the dishes on time or I would not get any breakfast. But it was already very common for me to miss my breakfast, it was almost every day I miss my breakfast. Then the hitting and punching of me started when I asked for food…… This happened every day there was not a day when there is not any hitting…… I quickly snatched some leftover cereal when she was not looking. Then I was on my way to school. I was led to the nurse office to have a check up. The excuses I made up to protect my “mother” and to hide the truth always did not work on the nurse. And in the end, I always broke down and told the truth. Today was no different. Then she counted the number of marks and bruises on my body and records it down. Soon she left the room as I scrambled to quickly put my clothes back on as I normally do everything quickly. The nurse returned with my principal and two teachers. Soon after a short talk, I was send to class. But a few minutes later, I was back at the principal office. I found a new person in the room, a policeman. Then was told to tell about “mother” and I and I reluctantly told. But when the policeman asked me for my address and home number, I knew I was back into hell…… When all the staff started saying goodbye when I left with the policeman, I though I was going to jail but going to jail is better than “hell”. Then I left with him to the police station and at past 1p.m., he asked for my home number again which made me want to stop him from calling. But the message he gave my “mother” was short but confronting. I could also see his sweat rolling down as he called my home. This was his message,” Mrs Pelzer, this is Officer Smith from the Daly City Police Department. Your son will not be coming back today and will be in custody of the San Matao Juvenile Department. If you have any question, you can call them.” He assured me by saying that that was not so hard.

Soon I was back in the police car, driving off towards the outskirts of the city. A sign wrote “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HIGHWAY IN THE WORLD”. At first I thought it was just an ordinary sign board but after I heard what the officer said, I really agreed to it and also cried about it. As we were driving off, the office suddenly turned and told me,” Your free.” At first I thought I was going to a jail but after he declined about the idea on sending me to jail, I pondered about the words,” Your free……” “I am free?”

But now I figured out. I was really FREE. No more beating, chocking, suffocating, starving and many more from my “mother”. I was REALLY FREE. I could start a life on my own now. I had wasted almost all of my childhood with that “devil”. I’M FREE……

Summary of the book

Dave Pelzer was the second born of five children. His father was a fireman and, according to Dave, his mother was originally a loving, kind and wonderful person that would do anything for her family. After the abuse started, Dave could tell what kind of day he could expect to have by the way his mother was dressed. If she was all made up then he could expect a good day, but if she wasn't he knew he would be beaten and starved.

The book describes the worsening abuse that Pelzer suffered at the hand of his mother and her alcoholism. Most speculate that she had some other addiction or a chemical imbalance but none is known. Among the many incidents discussed is that his mother attempted to burn Dave on a stove when he was 8 years old. It was at this point his mother began to make him go without food for extended periods of time. The abuse gets worse and David is forced to sleep in the cellar and perform hard labor. He got an average of half a meal a day on a good day. When David was 10, she also stabbed him in the stomach—accidentally, as Pelzer notes in the book—and did not take him to the hospital (though she did take care of the wound herself). By this point he was no longer considered part of the family and lived in the basement, denied basic contact, play, and food. His mother stated that she did not want Dave to interact with "her family".

Over time the depth of the abuse worsened. Dave claimed he was forced to sit in the "prisoner of war" position (head bent backwards facing sky, sitting on hands). His mother stopped using his name and began referring to him first as "The Boy" and finally "It". The punishments are reported to have evolved into "sick games" in which she made her son suffer.

Incidents cited in the book include forcing ammonia down his throat, cleaning a sealed bathroom while inhaling the fumes from a bucket of ammonia mixed with bleach( Gas Chamber), inducing vomiting followed by forced ingestion, smashing his face against a mirror while forcing him to say "I'm a bad boy", beating him with a rubber hose, lying in the bathtub naked with freezing water for hours, rubbing his face in his baby brother's soiled diaper trying to make him eat his youngest brother's feces, as well as starvation and general malnutrition, and "accidentally" stabbing him with a knife when he didn't meet the time limit to do the dishes.

In each of the sequels, the author reveals more forms of torture he did not describe in this book (e.g., his mother hitting his neck with a broom handle, causing his neck to swell so that he was unable to breathe).

Initially the abuse did not happen when his father was around. But when David entered first grade for the second time, the abuse began to occur even in his fathers' presence. At first he tried to stop the abuse but as time went on felt unable to intervene. David generally only got food when his father was home, for example. In the face of this abuse, his father gradually distanced himself from the house, and finally moved out when David turned 12. About two months later, on March 5th, 1973 David was rescued by teachers at his school.