Jailbait

By Barbara Kasey Smith

Emily, a maturing teenage girl, lives in a small town in the hills of West Virginia. Her dad is a coal miner and money is scarce in their family. In fact, the entire town suffers for the same reason – a lack of money and just enough to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Being born into a family of poverty has caused Emily to be bitter with her family. She’s so self-conscious of being poor that she actually becomes ashamed of her family and her home. She constantly daydreams of running away from home in hopes of finding a wealthy life. One morning Emily has a terrible fight with her mother. She leaves out the door in a rage without saying goodbye. On her way to school, as she approaches the forks in the road, she decides to run away from home. This decision drastically changes Emily’s life… She finds herself a prisoner in a world of torture and sexual abuse with a constant desire to go back home, only to realize she is someone's "jailbait." Can Emily get herself out of this mess and come back home?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329073685

Book preview

Jailbait

Jailbait

a novella

Barbara Kasey Smith

Copyright

Jailbait – Copyright © 2015 by Barbara Kasey Smith

Book cover – Copyright © 2015 by Lena Kovadlo

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people (dead or alive), events or locations is entirely coincidental.

All of the material in this book is the original work of the author.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the author.

First published 2015 by Lulu Press

3101 Hillsborough St.

Raleigh, NC 27607

ISBN: 978-1-329-07368-5

Dedication

This book is dedicated to young teenagers who leave home seeking adventure. It is also for those who have been sexually and physically abused by a family member, and are forced to leave home without notifying family members of their whereabouts, and then end up in the hands of sex traffickers, sex predators, drug abusers and controllers, their life spiraling out-of-control.

This book was written for the purpose of young teens to get a first-hand view of what can happen when they leave home and become controlled by an abuser.

Acknowledgment

Robert, it would be impossible for me to commence any sort of acknowledgment without first thanking you for all your support and encouragement during my many days of writing adventures. You continually encourage me to do what makes my life feel worthwhile and challenging. You’re my chosen one, my best friend and I love you bunches.

Lena Kovadlo, thank you for the publishing of my book, Jailbait, and for all the excellent advice you’ve provided. I not only respect your professional work but also your wonderful friendship; and I personally thank you for the great photographs you provided for my book cover.

I would be amiss if I didn’t acknowledge my Jack Russell terrier, Miss Daisy, for continually being my writing companion as I stroke the keys on my keyboard. She never grumbles nor does she leave my side.

CHAPTER ONE

Gusts cause noises against the windowpanes like there’s someone or something scratching at windows in the house, attempting to get inside. Emily Lawrence, an almost fifteen-year-old girl, lives with her parents in the hills of West Virginia. She believes she doesn’t have a normal life because her parents, Alice and Eugene, are poor Christians and her dad is a coal miner. Money is scarce in their home and they must fend for themselves to make it through life. She despises the fact that they’re poor and she resents her parents because of it. 

They all love the beautiful hills of West Virginia and the country atmosphere it has to offer them. The scenery is beautiful and low-paced life is marvelous. The people are especially nice and everyone is like family to each other. Emily would never want to leave the area but she realizes work is difficult to find in the coal mining town.

People throughout their small town often comment about Emily’s beautiful big brown eyes and dark thick brown hair. Some of her friends admire her figure telling her she’d look great in a feed-sack. She laughs to herself because she’s aware the majority of her clothes are actually made from feed-sacks and she hates it.

Emily’s been frightened ever since a young woman across the way was murdered, her killer never found. She sleeps with the blankets up and around her shoulders as she enjoys the softness of her warm bedding in hopes that the killer won’t attack her.

The feather tick bed molds to her shape and it requires fluffing to cause it to rise into a flat form every morning or it looks like she’s hiding amid the covers. She loves it when her mother hangs it out for an airing in the spring, giving it a strong aroma like the freshness of a spring day.  It provides Emily with a sense of security when asleep on the mattress because she’ll sink down into it and it feels as though it’s protecting her in a tiny solitude hole made in the feathers.

The whiffs of frying bacon and baking biscuits float into the bedroom and hang in the air. She’s aware it won’t be long before her mother calls her in for breakfast.

In the far-off distance the whistle of a train makes for a lonesome and sad sound. Emily loves hearing it but then she’s left wondering where the train is bound and how much she would love to be leaving the hills of West Virginia for a new place to explore and to get to know.  Her mind starts daydreaming as her mother’s high-pitched voice startles her.

Emily, it’s time for you to get up for breakfast. You’re going to have to hurry because I’m running late this morning. I burned your dad’s bacon and caused him to eat breakfast without any meat. I feel terrible about it! her mother says.

All right, all right, you don’t have to rush me. It’s your fault you didn’t call me earlier, replies Emily.

Please don’t give me a rough time this morning Emily; my day has started out badly already, her mother says.

Well, I’m not having a good morning either! replies Emily.

Her mother fixes her dad’s breakfast, before he leaves for work at four-thirty a.m., and then she prepares their breakfast. Her dad works in the coal mines and he has a long day facing him. He leaves before daylight and returns home a couple of hours before dark.

There are seven children in Emily’s family and most times they give their mother a difficult time at breakfast. All of the children get out of bed in grouchy moods and some do not want to get up at all. One will want fried eggs, another scrambled eggs, while another will want oatmeal with cinnamon or cream of wheat with plenty of milk. It’s a no win situation for her mother.

Alice does her best to pacify everyone’s needs and she never complains about it. She has patience in her. She strives to make everyone happy but often, they don’t respect the goodness of the moments provided. They’ll all sit there and wait for something to get mad at her about so there’ll be a big fuss going on to aggravate her to the point of madness. They’ll say, We don’t like this or we don’t like that.

All of the children make her life miserable most of the time. One will grumble about not being able to find one’s shoes or another has a hole in his socks or the clothes are wrinkled. There's no thanks to their mother at the breakfast table; only sneers without any show of thankfulness. She is often stunned that they give her no credit for the things she does.

Alice is a good kindhearted and Christian woman. She reads her bible to the children every night and then tells them stories about the chapters that she has read; or she’ll ask them questions about the chapters and they’ll have discussions about the meanings contained in those chapters.

Alice assigns verses from the bible for the children to memorize and then has them recite them to Eugene and the others at night while they’re enjoying a bowl of popcorn. This has become a nightly ritual as she asks her Almighty to provide her family with food, clothes, and enough money for them to make it through another day. Alice’s faith never wavers because there are always excuses for their poverty and Emily finds it hard to believe the words she reads anymore.

The coal miners go on strike fairly often in these parts of the country. When there isn’t any money coming in her mother goes hunting for meat to eat, picks wild greens and apples that lie on the ground from the late fall, or searches for any other food she can find to prepare for a meal. Her dad takes low paying odd jobs to pay the rent and utilities but many times the lowest paying jobs aren’t enough to make ends meet.

Other than the coal mines there are few jobs in this area. This is strictly a coal mining town and the only other businesses are the grocery stores and miscellaneous other businesses. Most of these jobs are held by family or kinfolk and there’s not a chance to get a day’s work at most of them. There’s barely enough money to make ends meet most of the time. People have a rough time during these strikes and it is noticeable that everyone worries about it.

Every Sunday morning, regardless of the weather, Emily and her family walk about two miles to church and her mother sits them in the front row and sits in the middle between them. They’re aware if she gives them a stare, they had better