It was a green, chunky soap bar that smelled a bit weird, but Dad had asked me to use it, assuring it would help get rid of the unpleasant body odor.

His words made me feel so self-conscious that I had even stopped hanging out with my boyfriend, Henry.

I often found myself smelling my skin, clothes, hair, and even my breath, just to check what made my father feel so uncomfortable around me.

I followed his advice and used that soap whenever I took a shower. Or, if I may put it correctly, I took five showers a day just to use that soap and get rid of the smell that had apparently been haunting my father.

I scrubbed my skin so hard that I stripped it of the moisture it needed. My skin had begun to look dry, scaly, and so rough.

Even then, my father said I still smelled like rotten onions.”Did you use that soap, Amy? I don’t think you did,” he’d say. “You smell so bad.”

What shocked me even more was that my mother didn’t say a word when Dad humiliated me like that every day.

She didn’t say anything in my defense or stop me from being so hard on myself.Mom and I had always been close.

She was the only person I shared everything with since I was a kid. I’d always tell her about my latest crush, my new boyfriend, and even the new slang I’d learned at school.

I couldn’t believe it when she stood silently, avoiding my gaze, while Dad kept grilling me.

I won’t ever forgive Mom for not being there for me when I needed her the most.

I kept showering with the soap, and my clothes always clung to me because they were damp from the frequent showers.

Besides, I began avoiding my father. I’d always scurry up to my room and lock the door whenever he returned home from work.