Hi, my name is Charlie,
and six years ago, I ran away from home in the middle of the night.
A video that I posted about two days ago has sparked a lot of feelings,
so let's talk about it.
People are pretty angry with my use of the word running away,
or ran away when I left at 18 years old.
I use the word running away
because if I had asked them to move out or to leave,
they would not have let me leave.
They would have physically prevented me from leaving
by locking me in the basement. Again,
I have received comments and DMs from people saying that I ran away
because I probably just didn't want to do chores,
which is so far from the truth.
I ran away from home in the middle of the night
with a backpack and a duffel bag.
That was it. Because I was being raped by my father,
and my mother knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
I didn't completely destroy my life for nothing.
I didn't lose all of my family members,
including extended, because of chores.
I didn't get to see my cousins having kids
because I didn't want to do chores.
People have also commented saying,
why didn't you just tell somebody?
I did. I tried.
I was so controlled by my former parents for years.
It's not easy to just go up to somebody and tell them everything
that's actually going On
when you've been conditioned for so many years not to tell anybody.
I told people the best way that I knew how.
When CPS was at my house
and they asked me to show them which door that I fell into
to get the black eye on my face,
I showed them a door with a handle,
hoping they would realize that that doesn't match.
And they didn't see it.
They never interviewed me alone.
They never did anything to help me.
That CPS report got sent in December 2017,
when I was still 17,
and they didn't come to my house till January 30th of 2018.
They didn't do anything. Me showing them the handle didn't work.
I was never interviewed alone.
My former father was in the room with me
while CPS and the police were questioning me.
They took pictures of my face and my arms and didn't help me,
and they left. So at that point,
what was I gonna do? Police didn't believe me,
the CPS lady didn't believe me,
extended family members didn't believe me.
What was left after all of that didn't work?
I gave up.
There was nothing more for me to try.
In early 2018, I had remembered a conversation that I had with Sarah.
She told me if things ever at home ever got to a point,
that I would always have a place on her couch down in Savannah, Georgia.
And so once I turned 18 and a few months after that,
once my father made that very real threat, saying,
when I get home, you are D E A D.
I remembered that conversation
and I reached out. Once my father made that threat,
I discovered the very last bit of fight that was still in me,
and I used it, and I got out.
I escaped. I survived.
Don't you dare tell me that it wasn't running away,
because I was eighteen.
It was running away. It was escaping.
It was survival. One more thing.
People on here get so angry with me
constantly sharing my story over and over again.
Every time I post a new video sharing my story,
I get flooded with DMs
and comments from people saying they found it validating,
that they found it helpful,
and that they discovered that they weren't alone
in what they're dealing with at home.
So don't tell me to stop sharing my story,
because I'm gonna continue.
If you don't like it,
then leave.
Block me.