Just a girl.

Raised in a patriarchal family.

But what is family?

Abused at the age of 11, by family, stripped of my innocence.

Taught to stay indoors and clean, beat not sense-less, but full of sense of what a "girl" should be.

Thrown out of my house at 14, by family, but at least it wasn't a home.

Because home is where the heart is, but my heart was not there.

Years later, I sit in a classroom, finishing my second semester of college.

Pouring my heart out into my studies, I've found my home.

But a mere Hispanic girl, becoming more than a mewling quim, or a housemaid?

Well,

that's unheard of.