Seeking a Home.
Seeking a way to Chicago
My alarm went off. It was 7 a.m., on the 12th of August; it was the first day of my 8th grade year. I went across the hall, into the bathroom, washed my face and brushed my teeth. Then, I threw on my oversized, warn out T-shirt and my old ripped up blue jeans. I walked downstairs leaving a note on the fridge. I put on my black high-topped converse on, and then walked out of the empty house with my overly packed black backpack.
I walked to school alone, just like I have been for the past 5 years. While I walked, I listened to my IPod. I has an old classic one that I stole from one of the boys that bullied me my 6th grade year; it contained about 400 songs. As I walked to school, the bus passed by me. Ever since the 3th grade, I stopped ridding the bus; the students would always pull my long brown pigtail, that’s the reason why I always keeps my hair down. The fact is; is that no matter how I have my hair, or what I wears, or how I talk, the way I walks, or even the way I look at the world, it doesn't stop the constant abuse I goes through every day. The kids would always stole everything in my backpack, make fun of the way my left foot goes in when I walk and would tease me about how my mother was a stripper and how they always told me that I would end up just like her mother, worthless and a tramp.
But this year was gonna be different. In my backpack I had $1,200 cash with a pair of shorts and my Bring Me the Horizon T-shirt. Also I packed my Camera that I stole from a garage sale (it was a Canon) and a MacBook that my mom’s sister; Tia Lucy got me before she passed away. I planned on showing up to school hoping things might not be as bad as all the past years. Wasn't planning on leaving until November 24th; my 14th Birthday, But another day in Arizona would be hell.
Finally, I was at school, after almost a 15 minute walk. I stepped into Sunset Valley Elementary school, and walked into my homeroom class.My homeroom teacher was new to our school. She was an old white woman with snow white hair; she was squinting at the paper trying to read through all the names as she was taking roll call.
“Kylie Sanchez”
“Here”
“Ra-ber ber-to ? Gomez”
“Roberto. Its pronounced Roberto….. Here”
“Isabel Francis”
I raised my hand.
“It’s Isavel”
“I can’t believe that freak showed up. Why does she even come to school? Hookers don’t need an education everyone knows that.” Everyone burst out laughing and staring at me.
I got up, grabbed my backpack and ran out of school with tears running down my face, while everyone just stared, pointing and laughing. Why did I even show up? Why gave me the idea that this
year was going to be so special?! I know when I’m not wanted. Once I got out of the school I turned around and took one last look at Sunset Valley. I wasn’t surprised that no one ran after me to try to stop me.
I walk a mile to the nearest city bus stop. I waited about 10 minutes and then a taxi driver pulled up. He rolled down his window, I could smell his cigarette breath and I was only a couple feet away. He was a skinny black man with beautiful blue eyes. The taxi was playing old R&B music.
“Miss, I can give you a ride if you’d like, the next bus doesn’t come till noon.” I stared at the ground, wondering if I should trust him.
“How much would it cost for you to drive me to the nearest Airport?” He gave me a blank expression. He looked a bit confused.
“The nearest is in Tempe, so from Goodyear to Tempe would be about $58. The city bus wouldn’t be able to take you all the way over there… “
“I know I was gonna hop from one bus to another” I showed him my pages of the bus schedules and got in the taxi.
“You look a bit young too be traveling alone. Are you running away?”
“No, I need to visit my very sick aunt; she only has a couple days left to live. I have to get there as soon as possible. My mom had to go to work early and isn’t able to take me to the airport and my father is off at a business trip. My aunt can pass away at any minute and if I don’t get a chance to see her one last time I’d just be so devastated.” Lying, I got that from my mom. One of the only perks of being a wanker’s daughter is that all the lying and fake sob stories she tells really do rub off on me.
“That’s terrible! Good thing you aren’t running away, I’d have to report you to child services. You have no idea how many runaways I reported this summer. It’s so sad that kids these days don’t feel comfortable or safe around their homes or schools that they run off to the city or live on the streets just so they don’t have to deal with any of it.”
“Yeah… I could only imagine what they’re feeling to wake up every day wanting to escape from their reality.” I wiped a tear away.
The rest of the car ride was nice, but listening to Usher for almost an hour was terrible. Being around his positive vibes was nice, I felt safe and sane in the taxi. On my way there I took pictures of the street art we passed by and all the places I was leaving behind; Also I was downloading more music from my MacBook into my IPod so I would be entertained the whole plain ride. I still have about $200 of iTunes money that my Tia Lucy left for me. I Downloaded Bring Me the Horizon’s recent album Sempiternal. Also the album Collide with the Sky from Pierce the Veil. After about an hour, we drove up to a large building with, in bold letters South West Airlines. I thanked him and he wished me good luck, I watched him drive off, and then walked in the airport with nothing but my backpack.
I ran into an old music teacher, Mr. Martinez. He’s about 35 years old and divorced. He walked up and said hi. He was surprised to see me. He was fired for having a relationship with the assistant principal; he was also dating my mom for the longest time. The last time I saw him was two years ago, he was in my kitchen with my mom. They were yelling at each other, Mr. Martinez wanted my mom to leave my dad and move to El Paso with him. I told him my plan to run away from here and he tried to talk me out of it but he knew why I was leaving, the man knew how I was treated at home and offered to help me get on my plane. I never been on a plane and honestly had no clue as to what to do or where to go. I took his offer and we ended up sitting together on the plane. He was also going to Chicago for a music festival that he and his brothers were going to perform at. Mr. Martinez was the kind of guy that you look at and would assume that he’s a loving man and loves the world but behind that smile is a bitter prick. He treated my mother no better than my father. He has a lot of hate bottled up.
“So, what do you plan on doing when we land Isavel? “He said, trying to look at me, but I was just staring out the window.
I panicked
“My Tia Lucia, she’s supposed to pick me up” He just smiled; I guess he doesn’t know about her passing.
“I’ll walk you out then; I haven’t seen Lucy in almost 2 years. Damn she was a beauty wasn’t she?”
I nodded. They were best friends, but when my Tia Lucy when back to Connecticut to finish law school, she made sure she kept herself every distant from everyone; Tia wanted no distractions. I’m pretty sure something else happed between them; a part of me feels like she really loved him.
“Are you still playing the violin Isavel?” He was touching my arm.
“No Mr. Martinez “
“Mija, please were like family, call my Anthony” He was such a creep. I forgot how close and intimate he could be without even trying. Then, it hit me; the flash backs, looking into his eyes brought back painful memories. The name Anthony would always come out of my Tia and mom’s mouth.
Anthony. Anthony. Anthony.
He was my mother Manstress before me was my teacher. He ruined my life in away. When people found out at school that they were dating they took a look at her and saw trash, a gold digger, they knew he wasn’t my father and knew where my mom worked. That’s when the rumors started about my reputation. I was only a 6th grader.
The pilot then announced,
“Ladies and gentleman’s, if you could turn off all electronics; we’ll be landing in 10. Thank you for choosing South West Airlines”
10 minutes later, “We’ve Landed in Chicago, I hope you all enjoy this magnificent city. God bless you all, till next time”
We stepped off the plane, Anthony went to baggage claim and as I walked to the bathroom I was thinking of a plan to get away from that prick.
I walked to school alone, just like I have been for the past 5 years. While I walked, I listened to my IPod. I has an old classic one that I stole from one of the boys that bullied me my 6th grade year; it contained about 400 songs. As I walked to school, the bus passed by me. Ever since the 3th grade, I stopped ridding the bus; the students would always pull my long brown pigtail, that’s the reason why I always keeps my hair down. The fact is; is that no matter how I have my hair, or what I wears, or how I talk, the way I walks, or even the way I look at the world, it doesn't stop the constant abuse I goes through every day. The kids would always stole everything in my backpack, make fun of the way my left foot goes in when I walk and would tease me about how my mother was a stripper and how they always told me that I would end up just like her mother, worthless and a tramp.
But this year was gonna be different. In my backpack I had $1,200 cash with a pair of shorts and my Bring Me the Horizon T-shirt. Also I packed my Camera that I stole from a garage sale (it was a Canon) and a MacBook that my mom’s sister; Tia Lucy got me before she passed away. I planned on showing up to school hoping things might not be as bad as all the past years. Wasn't planning on leaving until November 24th; my 14th Birthday, But another day in Arizona would be hell.
Finally, I was at school, after almost a 15 minute walk. I stepped into Sunset Valley Elementary school, and walked into my homeroom class.My homeroom teacher was new to our school. She was an old white woman with snow white hair; she was squinting at the paper trying to read through all the names as she was taking roll call.
“Kylie Sanchez”
“Here”
“Ra-ber ber-to ? Gomez”
“Roberto. Its pronounced Roberto….. Here”
“Isabel Francis”
I raised my hand.
“It’s Isavel”
“I can’t believe that freak showed up. Why does she even come to school? Hookers don’t need an education everyone knows that.” Everyone burst out laughing and staring at me.
I got up, grabbed my backpack and ran out of school with tears running down my face, while everyone just stared, pointing and laughing. Why did I even show up? Why gave me the idea that this
year was going to be so special?! I know when I’m not wanted. Once I got out of the school I turned around and took one last look at Sunset Valley. I wasn’t surprised that no one ran after me to try to stop me.
I walk a mile to the nearest city bus stop. I waited about 10 minutes and then a taxi driver pulled up. He rolled down his window, I could smell his cigarette breath and I was only a couple feet away. He was a skinny black man with beautiful blue eyes. The taxi was playing old R&B music.
“Miss, I can give you a ride if you’d like, the next bus doesn’t come till noon.” I stared at the ground, wondering if I should trust him.
“How much would it cost for you to drive me to the nearest Airport?” He gave me a blank expression. He looked a bit confused.
“The nearest is in Tempe, so from Goodyear to Tempe would be about $58. The city bus wouldn’t be able to take you all the way over there… “
“I know I was gonna hop from one bus to another” I showed him my pages of the bus schedules and got in the taxi.
“You look a bit young too be traveling alone. Are you running away?”
“No, I need to visit my very sick aunt; she only has a couple days left to live. I have to get there as soon as possible. My mom had to go to work early and isn’t able to take me to the airport and my father is off at a business trip. My aunt can pass away at any minute and if I don’t get a chance to see her one last time I’d just be so devastated.” Lying, I got that from my mom. One of the only perks of being a wanker’s daughter is that all the lying and fake sob stories she tells really do rub off on me.
“That’s terrible! Good thing you aren’t running away, I’d have to report you to child services. You have no idea how many runaways I reported this summer. It’s so sad that kids these days don’t feel comfortable or safe around their homes or schools that they run off to the city or live on the streets just so they don’t have to deal with any of it.”
“Yeah… I could only imagine what they’re feeling to wake up every day wanting to escape from their reality.” I wiped a tear away.
The rest of the car ride was nice, but listening to Usher for almost an hour was terrible. Being around his positive vibes was nice, I felt safe and sane in the taxi. On my way there I took pictures of the street art we passed by and all the places I was leaving behind; Also I was downloading more music from my MacBook into my IPod so I would be entertained the whole plain ride. I still have about $200 of iTunes money that my Tia Lucy left for me. I Downloaded Bring Me the Horizon’s recent album Sempiternal. Also the album Collide with the Sky from Pierce the Veil. After about an hour, we drove up to a large building with, in bold letters South West Airlines. I thanked him and he wished me good luck, I watched him drive off, and then walked in the airport with nothing but my backpack.
I ran into an old music teacher, Mr. Martinez. He’s about 35 years old and divorced. He walked up and said hi. He was surprised to see me. He was fired for having a relationship with the assistant principal; he was also dating my mom for the longest time. The last time I saw him was two years ago, he was in my kitchen with my mom. They were yelling at each other, Mr. Martinez wanted my mom to leave my dad and move to El Paso with him. I told him my plan to run away from here and he tried to talk me out of it but he knew why I was leaving, the man knew how I was treated at home and offered to help me get on my plane. I never been on a plane and honestly had no clue as to what to do or where to go. I took his offer and we ended up sitting together on the plane. He was also going to Chicago for a music festival that he and his brothers were going to perform at. Mr. Martinez was the kind of guy that you look at and would assume that he’s a loving man and loves the world but behind that smile is a bitter prick. He treated my mother no better than my father. He has a lot of hate bottled up.
“So, what do you plan on doing when we land Isavel? “He said, trying to look at me, but I was just staring out the window.
I panicked
“My Tia Lucia, she’s supposed to pick me up” He just smiled; I guess he doesn’t know about her passing.
“I’ll walk you out then; I haven’t seen Lucy in almost 2 years. Damn she was a beauty wasn’t she?”
I nodded. They were best friends, but when my Tia Lucy when back to Connecticut to finish law school, she made sure she kept herself every distant from everyone; Tia wanted no distractions. I’m pretty sure something else happed between them; a part of me feels like she really loved him.
“Are you still playing the violin Isavel?” He was touching my arm.
“No Mr. Martinez “
“Mija, please were like family, call my Anthony” He was such a creep. I forgot how close and intimate he could be without even trying. Then, it hit me; the flash backs, looking into his eyes brought back painful memories. The name Anthony would always come out of my Tia and mom’s mouth.
Anthony. Anthony. Anthony.
He was my mother Manstress before me was my teacher. He ruined my life in away. When people found out at school that they were dating they took a look at her and saw trash, a gold digger, they knew he wasn’t my father and knew where my mom worked. That’s when the rumors started about my reputation. I was only a 6th grader.
The pilot then announced,
“Ladies and gentleman’s, if you could turn off all electronics; we’ll be landing in 10. Thank you for choosing South West Airlines”
10 minutes later, “We’ve Landed in Chicago, I hope you all enjoy this magnificent city. God bless you all, till next time”
We stepped off the plane, Anthony went to baggage claim and as I walked to the bathroom I was thinking of a plan to get away from that prick.