My Ma got off on whipping me mercilessly. Ma whipped me with a strap until I bled. She lifted the prongs on the strap to create greater punishment. She'd beat me within an inch of my life. This occurred time after time from when I was four years old until I was sixteen and mature enough to stop her. She didn't care how much blood was on my face or head or arms and legs.

Most of the time, I didn't know why I was getting whipped. She loved to whip me. She didn't want sex with my Dad, so she got her rocks off whipping me. She had an orgasm whenever she whipped me. When Ma was having her orgasms, she'd start singing praises to Jesus and would get high from inflicting pain on me. But I never flinched. I took it and never cried or yelled out. I steeled myself each time to the abuse and pain being inflicted on me. I never surrendered. I forged myself into a Woman of Steel.