To Hide the Truth, A Memoir
Excerpt from Chapter one
It was 1958 and I just turned nine years old...
Taking a deep breath, I began my ritual of nearly every prayer I ever learned. Curled up in a fetal position, I squeezed my prayerful hands so tight I lost feeling in them when I finally unclasped. My stomach churned, hot water rose in my throat, burning, acrid. I swallowed and coughed. I held my breath to pray. I crossed my fingers and my toes, wishing time would either flash or just stand still at that very moment. I heard Mama in the kitchen, stirring about, sobbing.
In my half asleep, on alert daze, I heard a car door slam outside around midnight. In my shallow breathing, I counted numbers as if counting his steps until he opened the front door. A living room light showed his shadow as he stomped through the house, stopping at the kitchen doorway. His words began low and jumbled; I couldn't hear my mother's voice. Within minutes, his voice roared, damning Mama to the fires of hell and everywhere else he could think of. I heard a glass break, and a chair thrown. I wrapped my arms around myself and squeezed tight, as if preparig for a great wrath. Mama screamed as I heard a sharp smack. Feet shuffled on the linoleum. Then, quiet. Did he kill her? I jumped out of bed, and ran into the kitchen, finding Daddy's massive hands around Mama's throat, his eyes blazed in anger. Mama's mouth hung open, her eyes bulged, a trickle of blood oozed from her nose. I pulled hard on Daddy's arms.
"Daddy, stop it! You're going to kill her!" I screamed, beating him with my knotted fists. Daddy suddenly loosened his death grip, and looked at me. Mama slumped to the floor. I helped her into a kitchen chair. I picked up clumps of Mama's hair out of the floor.
"I'm going to bed," Daddy announced royally. "I love you, Susan."
REVIEW
BY SHARON CURRENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF KENTUCKY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSOCIATION
"Susan Harmon has written a chilling account of growing up in the 1950's in a household plagued by domestic abuse.This memoir of domestic violence, as seen through the eyes of a child, takes place in the isolated hollers of Eastern Ky. Unfortunately, at that time, women and children had little hope of escaping the violence.The struggle to end violence against women and children has come a long way since then but we still have far to go. To Hide the Truth helps the reader understand why women stay with their abuser,with reasons ranging from love and hope to fearing for their lives.While her mother had "to hide the truth" about the abuse she endured,Harmon shines a spotlight on it in hopes of helping others who continue to struggle in secret."