Trying my best to find a hiding spot, I wasn’t sure which pantry to turn to.
I could have ran to the one where the bikes were stored or the other where all the bulk items were stashed.
Petrified, I hid away in the opposite spot to my sister Emma, then nine.
‘I’ll throw it on you,’ my stepdad Gary laughed.
As holding a huge spider in his hands, it was a game he would play with us both.
Chasing and taunting us around the house, he was absolutely relentless.
At just 10 years old myself, I was scared stiff.
However, it wasn’t the spider I was terrified of the most, it was the man who was holding it…
There was an odd occasion where we could have fun as a family, alongside my mum and our dog Lady, going on bike rides and feeding the ducks at the park.
Only, for the majority of the time, life at home would mean arguments, shouting and torment, too.
I knew that even if I’d been on my best behaviour, Gary would find something to punish me for.
That was a situation that I was scared of the most – the consequences at home.
From screaming to smacking me with a slipper or his giant hands, things would quickly turn physical.
The same for Emma, too.
But we had to do as we were told – there was no point putting up a fight.
I was terrified every time.
