To begin, my sister and I were staying over night at Jane and her sister's for a sleepover. We drank soda, ate chips, listened to music, and tried to stay up all night. Of course, we rarely made it the whole night without falling asleep. That morning we were awakened to loud screaming. Jane's parents were having an argument, then Jane's father yelled at us to come downstairs and clean up the kitchen, saying we had left a huge mess and we should know better than that. I can't say I was scared when he was yelling at the top of his lungs, just more confused about all the ruckus going on. Jane and I began washing and drying the dishes while our sisters cleaned the table and swept the floor.
Then out of the blue, Jane's father suddenly backhanded Jane across the face. He said the dishes weren't clean enough. I felt stunned, even though I didn't fear he would lay a hand on me. Jane's sister started crying and he started cursing at her. I glanced at my sister and I think she was afraid even though I wasn't certain at that time. Jane's mother started yelling at her husband to stop and leave the kids alone, but it just made him more infuriated that she was trying to undermine his "so-called" discipline. He then charged at Jane's mother, but she ran into the bathroom and quickly shut the door. That didn't stop him - he just busted it down and went in after her.
I remember her screaming and crying. I heard the sound of someone being slapped and the sound of the shower rod and curtain hitting the floor. Then all of a sudden - silence. A few minutes later Jane's mother came out of the bathroom with her eyes red and mussed up hair. She acted like everything was fine now and prodded us along to finish up with the kitchen. Even Jane and her sister went about cleaning the kitchen as if nothing happened. I believe there was no reaction from Jane and her sister once the domestic violence ended is because they were accustomed to the regular occurrences. However, my sister and I were not. My sister and I never told our parents what had happened because we thought they would keep us from spending the night with our best friends in the future.
That was just the beginning of the things we saw and experienced in our friend's home.
