The Woman in Red | Teen Ink

The Woman in Red

September 28, 2008
By JusticeJohnson SILVER, Pine Junction, Colorado
JusticeJohnson SILVER, Pine Junction, Colorado
7 articles 0 photos 5 comments

I never knew who or what the woman in red was, and I’ll probably never will. She came to me as I was lying on the bathroom floor crying, my nose bleeding, staining the white tile floor…
People think they know how to make foster homes a safer place, but really, that was all just a lie. I wasn’t being feed right, I only had one small meal a day. I wasn’t getting the proper care to help me with my past; I was instead being used as a tool to fulfill the sick pleasures of Rose and Dan.
To fix my bed-wetting problem they would wrap me in the sheet I wet myself in, put the Pull-up on my head, and leave me all day with nothing to eat or drink, and I would have to use the bathroom were I was. In the dark cold basement.
In addition, they would stuff my head into the toilet, and half drowned me, I would scream under the waste, but that never helped my cause, it would just create bubbles at the top. I tried to breath, but instead I choked on the chunks of waste.

So there, I was lying there with the nosebleed, and tears stinging my eyes, the taste of urine in my mouth that made me puke on the floor. Rose stepped in. “Justice, I love you. You know that, right? I mean your real mom gave you to us, so please understand this is all to help you. Clean yourself up.” And left.

“What did I do?” I would cough up in sputters of hiccups and tears. “Why?” I lifted myself up onto my knees and flushed the toilet. I put both of my hands on the seat and watched the twister of brown disappear into the hole at the bottom, and be replaced with clear water. The ripples wouldn’t let me see my face, and I was afraid to see my eyes red and swollen and my nose bashed. “Help me.” I asked the toilet, trying to imagine God there. “Please….”
The toilet water settled and there I was dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair. And there she was. A lady standing over me with her hand on my shoulder looking into my eyes of my reflection smiling. She had black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin like me. I jerked back hitting my head on the wall behind me, I started to cry. Did I really see a lady in the toilet? I started to shake.

I told Rose about this on the way to therapy, and she told me it was my angel watching over me. I smiled at the thought of that, a angel with me every step of the way.
I walked into the building and looked around at all of the sleek items that made me so comfortable. Rose got on one knee, looked me in the eye and spoke. “Justice, don’t tell this man anything about what goes on in our house ok? I don’t want to hurt you again.” I nodded and walked into the room.

“Justice?” The small bald man asked, and I nodded. “So how’s your new home?” I froze. I told myself not to say anything. “Justice?” I looked at him; I looked into his glasses and saw my reflection. I saw her again to, her hand still on my shoulder. She smiled at me, the most beautiful smile I ever saw, and I understood. ‘Justice? How’s home?” I looked at my hands, and cried as I tried to tell him the story.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked.

And here I am, 9 years later, adopted and still a little scared of my past. I still see the Lady in red, though not as frequent. But I know she helped me and still does. She also gave me the safe home I live in. The lady in red was my angel, and she’s always here by me. If I wake up from a nightmare of Rose and Dan’s house, she would be there hand still on my shoulder.

Her hand will always be on my shoulder.


The author's comments:
When I was in foster care, I had a stress problem witch caused me to see things. I belive my head made the Woman in Red.
I was in a total of 31 foster homes until i got adopted my the Johnson family whao has adopted around 15 children and had 7 of there own. I hope that this will show people what happens in foster homes, and how it can effect us.

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This article has 12 comments.


ebonnie said...
on Dec. 6 2009 at 5:53 pm
luv u justice ur such a great writer i wish i could explian wat happend 2 me there

ali_ said...
on Nov. 20 2009 at 9:55 pm
omg! Justice! gah, why did u never tell me that u have been in so many homes? i see u every day!! ohh, i feel so bad for ya =[. Anyway, see ya mon

on Jul. 14 2009 at 2:24 am
Like all your stories justice they are beautiful. No matter how disturbing the story is it never freaks me out. You have a gift with words and you should take advantage of that. You are truly talented and i believe that this should be a good outlet to let out your feelings about those nightmares... You are a great writer and i will always envy that =]

rachel <3 said...
on Mar. 2 2009 at 5:11 pm
what besides wow can i say? this was amazing, honest, and oh god - you're so talented. i'm seriously jealous.

be safe.

BkRosario said...
on Dec. 4 2008 at 12:57 am
Wow.. first off i just want to say thank you so very much for the comment you left me. it made my day. secondly, i just want to say wow. when i read this it felt like my heart just crumbled. To read all those terrible things that you had to go through was deplorable! i just dont understand how people can be so cruel! I hope that now you are happy and out of harms way. May your future be full of great things and much happiness. Your an excellent writer. Best wishes..

on Nov. 8 2008 at 12:29 am
justice... im so proud of how far you have come!!! i love you and i hope you continue this writing and continue to have hope... i love you

on Oct. 20 2008 at 1:05 am
you need to start trying to get other stories published because this is amazing!

bricaslarson said...
on Oct. 12 2008 at 4:09 am
What a heart wrenching story that was very bold and courageous to write. A story that was disturbing to read because of the evil that people are capable of, but one that was also filled with great hope. Hope that gives one the ability to endure such great challenges. Justice I am very proud of you! Well written!

on Oct. 8 2008 at 7:15 pm
Justice this is such an amazing story. This really shows your true talents! Congrats on getting it published!

JIMMY said...
on Oct. 6 2008 at 8:02 pm
Wow, thats crazy

on Oct. 5 2008 at 4:03 am
That was really good, im glad i had a chance to read it :D

Iluvhim2 said...
on Oct. 5 2008 at 1:51 am
Wow justice this story is so amazing. it really truly took my breath away. writing is my passion i love it so much. i think that its great that you can write about what happened.