Abused by her father from as far back as she can remember, Leilani has never been sure what true love is-not unless it is someone trying to molest her one minute, then beat on her and emotionally blackmail her the next. Though she tried to tell her mother what her father was doing to her when she wasn't around, she wasn't believed and the beating she got for lying broke a rib, by "accidentally tripping and falling down the stairs" - she was nine. From this 'lesson' she was taught that the best way to deal with this 'love' was to keep quiet, otherwise, things got worse.

Although Leilani's mother contracted Hepatitis C she was strong for years, until she got pneumonia and died, Leilani's mother passed away when she was 11, leaving Leilani in her abusive father's care, and things inevitably got worse and the sexual abuse started. As the abuse became more intense, her only escape was her imagination that she would one day be free to be someone else...Imprisoned in her father's 'care' until her 16th Birthday.
Though she had no qualifications and skills Leilani was a talented girl, she was a great artist and one day dream of owning her own tattoo parlour. She met a man who took her in off the street and taught her how to tattoo people. He fed her, was there for her, looked after her and loved her like she was his own. She was on the right track, and going places. Until he died, stabbed during a mugging on his way home. This changed Leilani forever, she turned to a life of drugs, sex and booze to numb the pain that had been the last twelve years of her life

Four years of her life has passed and Leilani now 22, has ended up in Hathien, addicted to anything to numb the paint that reality brings. Vulnerable and alone, she tries to move on with her life, whilst escaping her past demons...

See my blog @
http://thecrackden.com/blogs/leilani-siamendes