Thirty-thousand Feet

“Amalia, I asked you a question. Why do you fear Father Accardi?”

“He and my mother abused me my entire life. Everything from putting sewing pins between my toes, to tasing me, to beating me with a flogger and a paddle. My uncle liked to put me over his knee and spank my bare bottom with a paddle. He touched me inappropriately and his abuse is never ending. I cannot go back there.”

The man cleared