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I grew up in a shborhood, just my dad and me My old man worked a blue-collar job with shit benefits I can’t cory and always had a roof over ht or read bedtiht, but he fed me, clothed me, and didn’t knock me around That’s rateful I hadn’t known then, growing up, that there was anything more in life to want
I was fifteen when arettes He never ca lot after he gave the wrong guy the wrong look He walked down to get some smokes and didn’t take his wallet, just five bucks for the cheapest pack he could get He was shot at point-blank range, no cigarettes or money found on his person
He was listed as a John Doe at the ue There was no burial and no identity when he moved from this life to the next
I was on my own for a week before anyone realized I was alone I was so to school every day I figured I had at least three or four , but the nosy bitch across the street hadn’t seen the old an my life in the system It’s not like on TV; when you’re an orphan in an after school special, they ship your ass off to a relative and everyone lives happily ever after In real life, though, if you don’t have family that wants you - or family at all, you become a ward of the state Sure, they have foster hoet to live with, but there are a shit-ton of homeless kids and few foster families available Many foster parents are in it for the money, so they aren’t exactly the best option, either Typically, you’re stuck in a group home with other kids in the saivers However, I had a bed to sleep in, clothes on my back, and I was not a victi with hteen, Children’s Services kicked my ass out There were lots of kids to take care of and not a lot of rocery store as a bag boy at sixteen and began saving I wasn’t stupid or naive enough to think the state was going to take care of h school before I got the boot; so school in addition to being homeless
My father told me many times I couldn’t depend on anyone but ht he was before the day I was truly on my own
With ot my first place It was the cheapest place I could find in a neighborhood without bars on the s It was sunshots whizzing by ht, so I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the ed , walk to the grocery store, clock in, work a ten hour shift, clock out, coain the next day
I don’t have friends because they create lots of co at the custo my job Co-workers ask me out from time to time, but the truth is I don’t have extra irl on a date I’m always careful withanyone’s feelings when it’s not necessary Plus, it would lead to questions I’ alone atdown at a day-old cookie It’s my twenty-first birthday today I don’t have any plans, and there are no cards indessert for breakfast, a treat to myself, and I’m thankful for what little I have
It’s sad as hell, but I don’t have any candles so I light a match and jam it in the middle of the damn cookie I don’t even make a wish before I blow out the tiny flame so it doesn’t burn down and ruin one out, there’s a knock at my door I look at my dollar store wall clock and see it’s only nine I can’t iine ould be at hbors sleep in after a late Friday night
Even though I’m twenty-one, I tend to think of e, so when I open the door and see a girl, petite and fragile in appearance, I autoe, er, but my experience irl toas if she doesn’t have a care in the world, obviously not knowing people around here don’t sh the ripped screen of my front door as the heat and humidity of the day filters in
"Hey, what’s up? I’m Emily I just moved in next door"