This morning I was working on my second book, “Homeless in Flatbush”. While describing the real life heroine of this true story, a ten year old girl RJ, wanting to escape the grips of her prostitute mother and the life that was potentially her future, I could not help but compare RJ to the young lady of twenty that was the subject of my first book, “Loved to Death, Meagan’s Story”.

While Meagan worked tirelessly with me over the internet through my web site,as we built a Support Team in her home town, she struggled to accept that she had been but a puppet with her Sociopathic father who was grooming her to be a replacement for his wife who he had manipulated to near-death. Meagan was so very bright intellectually, but emotionally, although she knew there was something terribly wrong, she was too dependent on her father to fully realize and accept that she was being abused. Key word is “dependent”. It took the extreme efforts of her support team to help her face reality and take steps to take on her abuser.

Along the way, Meagan introduced me to RJ, and as I mentioned, was a child of ten. Meagan and RJ became friends, which was hard to believe as they were complete opposites. RJ was very bright, ten going on twenty one. She was not at all dependent, as life was tough and her emotionless mother was not one to care or be a mother to her only child. RJ had to fend for herself and learned early that she had to leave or become a prostitute to help pay bills by the time of her tenth birthday. She faced many challenges that would break the average child, even adult. I was so proud to be a part of her Support Team and see her live her dream. By the time she found herself safe and with a future, she had adopted me as her pretend grandpa.

As I said, RJ’s story, “Homeless in Flatbush” is a work in progress that will be available soon. Check my blog for when we will publish.

“Loved to Death, Meagan’s Story” is available now as a Kindle e-book, but is also available in our Blog at www.RuledbyFear.com.

Gene Benedetto, Psychologist Emeritus