The girl who lost her shield

Stephanie was a wild girl. She lived with her mom in Highfield after her parent's separation. Her mother got remarried when Stephanie was eight but she separated from her husband after a year when they had a son named Sam. Stephanie was not close to her father because he had raped her at the age of twelve and it haunted her, but she had kept it to herself. She suffered her own pain and had a wild way of dealing with it. She started acting out at the age of sixteen. She got involved with drug dealers and armed robbers. She starting missing classes at school and finally dropped out of school at the age of fourteen.

Occasionally, she would visit her dad. He continued to force himself onto her. At the age of sixteen she fell pregnant. She did not get along with her brother, Sam and they would always fight. Sometimes she would let him starve for the whole day and he would hit her in the stomach whilst she was pregnant. She was not sure who the father of the child was, it was either her father or her boyfriend Jack. At this time she then told her mother about what her father had been doing to her since the age of twelve. Her mother “Stellar”, then cut ties with her ex-husband. Stephanie decided to elope with Jack. Jack was a drug-lord. At Jack’s house she was physically abused but then she was fed up and then ratted him out to the police and he was arrested. She went back to her mom’s place and gave birth to a baby girl name Tamika. When Jack came out of prison he claimed his right to see his daughter, but he was turned down. Jack kidnapped Tamika but Stephanie did nothing because she thought that it was his right to see his daughter. When Tamika came back, her grand-mother realised that Jack had sexually abused his daughter and she was only three years old. They failed to prove to the court that Jack had sexually abused his daughter. Stephanie’s aunt took Tamika to her home so that she can be far away from Jack. Stephanie still acted up and she was now 19 and claimed her rights as an adult so no one could stop her from doing what she wanted. Some even tried to hit her but were stopped by her mom. She did not want anyone to hit her daughter, she would deal with her daughter in a way that no one understood. Everyone thought that Stephanie was a spoiled child. Everyone saw her as a wild brat, no one wanted their children to play with her. Parents from the colony would discipline their children when they saw them with Stephanie but her family stuck by her. She kept contact with some of her family members from her father’s side. She was the bad child of the colony and was the drug supplier of the colony. She has reports filed against her at the police station for assault, disruption of peace, abuse and robbery. She stayed low for some days and others thought she had changed but little did they know that she was just hiding from the police. One day she came home with a clothing filled with blood and no one said anything she burnt the clothes and left. Shortly after the police came looking for her she was nowhere to be found. People thought that she would change and her family from her mother’s side stuck by her. A year later she had another child and eloped again with a mechanic and traditional dancer. She seemed to have settled and was happy. Her husband started having an affair and after two years she left him. She had two kids no source of income or anything. Her aunt took care of Tamika and her mother went to South Africa to find work so that she can take care of Kiara. Kiara then started living with her father. Eight months after she left her husband, she found a rich boyfriend who started to pay for everything she did, she involved him in drugs and made him move from Borrowdale to Highfield so that he can live the life she lived. Four months later her mother returned from South Africa. She became sick and passed on two weeks later. Everyone accused Stephanie of killing her mom and she was not allowed to cry at her mother’s funeral. Everyone told her brother that his mother was killed by his sister, this enraged Sam and he fought with her at his mother’s funeral but she did not fight back. Stephanie realised that her shield that protected her was gone and she had to live on her own now. She was not given any of her mother’s possessions. Everyone hated her and called her names, some even went to the police to tell them where her location was but she managed to escape. It was later on discovered that Stephanie has a bipolar disorder and her mother was the only one who knew. Stephanie would act out when she had her episodes but people still did not believe her. Some started seeing the reason as to why Stephanie’s mother supported her and stood by her through thick and thin. Her brother Sam realised his mistake and apologized to her and they became closer than ever.

Her mother’s sister ‘Christiane’ took her in so that she can grieve her mom. She was the only person who stood by her, everyone else turned else their backs on her. Stephanie then confessed to her aunt that she was pregnant and would not terminate the baby, she also confessed that she had terminated five pregnancies previously. She then realised that she only had 1 person who she could call family and cut ties with the rest of her mother’s family and she also cut ties with her dad’s family.

She eloped with her boyfriend again and no one knows where fate will lead her. No one has heard from her since.