For three years, I have been quiet. I didn't want to cause trouble, I didn't think it was the right time, and I didn't think anyone would believe me.

   But I'm done being quiet, I refuse to be intimidated into silence anymore, and I'm ready to share my story.

    Around three years ago, when I was fifteen, my mother left. There was no warning, no explanation, she was just gone and said she temporarily needed space. I was used to her being away, staying with my brother, housesitting, traveling for work, being away most of the time. But this ended up being different.

    Shortly after she left, a friend called my dad and me and said that my mother had contacted him and told him that my dad was molesting me. It was a shock and I couldn't believe it.
 
    I tried to talk to my mother about it, and she shut me down and denied ever saying such a thing. Over the next few weeks she had talked to friends and relatives all across Canada, the United States, and even in Africa. Neighbours started watching me and my dad. Old friends in town would avoid us, and my dad would get dirty looks behind my back.

   Once I got over my shock, I decided I needed to do whatever I could to prove this wrong. First off I went and talked to our family doctor. Then I went and saw my brother. He was afraid to let me in at first, and had been told all sorts of stories that I hated him, dad hated him, and that dad was violent and would hurt him. We had a good long talk, later my dad joined us. That would be the last time I was able to have a real conversation with my brother.

    When I got home he was already calling asking me to come back. While I was on the phone with him, my sister took his phone away from him, hung up, and blocked my number.

     From that point on, my brother completely shifted and told me not to contact him again.

     Neighbours began watching my dad and me, and one of them who had dealt with child abuse before came over and told us that he realized nothing was going on, and he had only been watching because my mother had asked him to.

   Child protective services were called on us a few days later. This time the accusations weren't just that I was being abused by my dad, but that I had sexually and verbally abused my older sister starting from when we were both young. The investigation was completed and the allegations were proven false. I came up with a plan of reconciliation for my mother and set some boundaries, the social worker told me they were very mature and reasonable.



   To this day, my mother has never admitted to me that she was involved in this, or told any friends such things - although many friends confirmed that she did. Instead, she told me that it was sick and disturbing that I would ask her about it and called me disrespectful and negative for asking questions.