"It was important to my dad to look perfect. He used to give us pep talks before going anywhere—about how to act, what to say—so that we wouldn't embarrass him."
Sydney's father was "a man of extremes" who beat her but also brought her presents when he went out of town. "I talk about him as if he's dead," she says, "because in a sense who he was, is."
A NIGHTMARE
Sydney was napping the day her father was arrested. A police officer woke her up. Her father was going to jail.
