My parents are the rebels in my family, especially when it comes to my well-being and my future. It makes me lose the self-confidence I have in myself.

My mom was a perfect mom at first, easy to talk to, understanding and my best friend. Things changed when she started to side with dad. Now she has turned into a stranger.

It’s just so painful to have people choose for you which school you must attend and which subjects to study. The life you have to live and the friends to hang out with. Ever since I became a teenager, my mother has always been on my throat, making decisions for my future and career.

I’ve been longing to be in matric so that after matric I’ll just vanish. For so long I’ve been a prisoner in my own house, with my own family. At first I thought they were protecting me, but now it is more than just being overprotective.

On the other hand it is my father; the controlling, aggressive and stubborn father I have. Always threatening to throw me out of the house if I find a job. Telling me that “I’m the one who controls the house and if someone fails to listen, then the door is open.”

He never gave me money to buy girls stuff, but always promises and doesn’t fulfil his word. He treats me like I’m the black sheep of the family. Sometimes he comes back from work with a frown on his face and an attitude as if we’ve done something wrong, and he takes it out on me.

I don’t even remember when was the last time I went to buy my own clothes.

I just remember on my birthday the circus he made. He confronted mom for cheating at work and he tried to break things in the house. That made me panic and I cried a lot, like someone had just died. Seeing my mom being tortured just hurt me.

Sometimes I feel like I could have a different father. But that’s the family I have, who always rises in opposition of my decisions and there’s nothing I can do about it. But I love them and I’m just glad they’re alive.

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Tell us: How is your relationship with your parents?