Dear Abby: My parents divorced when I was 6, and my father remarried when I was 8. My father got custody of my brother and me. A year later my half-sister was born, and that's when my stepmother began physically and mentally abusing me.

My brother told family members about the abuse, but nothing was done. My father didn't believe us kids. The abuse finally ended when my grandparents -- my mother's parents -- saw the marks on my body and took me to an attorney. My mother got custody of me when I was 12.