Crawl💫

1.Damsel In Distress

Magnolia Henderson looked outside her window as the first light shun through. She knew she should get up to get ready for school, but her spirit just wasn't in it. Her bed was just a bed base without a mattress and a thin dirty sheet spread over it. Her two sisters Tia-Marie and Mishana aged 10 and 6 respectively, slept together on the opposite bed. The bed was a single bed with a worn-down mattress and thin sheet. Her room is four plyboards held together with duct tape, while the main house, a waddle and dub structure which housed a kitchen and her mother's bedroom was opposite that.

The bathroom left a lot to be desired. A toilet seat without any covers, outside in the open, only privacy being the wall that separated the Haves from the Have Nots. The Maddison property next door was all that one could ever dream of. It was modest, probably two bedrooms and a bathroom. The Maddison was the perfect family. They had a dad, a mom, and a decent house, and their two sons attended one of the most prestigious high schools in Kingston Jamaica, Kingston College.

This was an all-boys school that had the highest CXC passes in Jamaica, nice teachers, and everything a child may ever need. Sports equipment, three fields, and a low student-teacher ratio. Courtney watched as they all huddled around and sat at a proper breakfast table. Something she was lacking in her own home.

As she catches a pan full of water from an illegal water connection as she made her way to the dilapidated bathroom. It didn't have a shower or a door to prevent anyone from seeing you as you bath. All Magnolia could do was put the pan over the toilet bowl and strip bare and feel the ice-cold water and wind wash over her skin.

At 5:30 am, the water was as cold as ice, nearly freezing point as the water comes from springs high up in the hills of Portland. At least, that's what her Social Studies teacher always said. Oh, how she hated Snowden.

Snowden was five miles from her home in Tivoli. She hated having to walk to school in such an area as bad as this. The streets are controlled by several gangs: Hot Steppas Gang, and Bad Bitch Gan,g and all were controlled by one man, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

The violence has escalated since his arrest in 2011 and criminal police shoot out happens almost every day. Her mother Kayla was always complaining about how the police are hurting her "business". It seemed that only criminals could afford to pay for her "services" since no self-respecting wealthy man would dare set foot in this area of Kingston.

She returned and wrapped herself in an old towel her mom gave to her. She tipped into her mother's room as that were her uniforms and good panties, (at least the ones without holes), she slipped into one trying her best not to wake her mother who was sleeping with some guy she brought home the night before.

As she slipped into her white blouse and tan tunic, she wondered if her mother would ever b her a comb or a brush so that she could use it to detangle her hair. As she ran her hand through her thick natural hair, she was resisted by knots.

Giving up, she took up her mother's with scrounge and tried to catch up her hair. But no matter how much she tried to make it presentable, she ended up looking like an idiotic three-year-old. She was ready to go as she turned to her mother.

"Mom, Tia-Marie, and Mishana need to get dressed, I'm off to school."

She said as she walked out of the house. She passed her mother's money back and took out $200. She knew that she couldn't take any more than that, since both Tia and Mish both needed $400 to go to school and money so that they could eat.

She wondered what she would eat, but she would eat, but she would worry about that later. She stopped the bus as the driver looked at her appearance. Her unkempt hair, ruffled and torn green uniform, and her dirt-white blouse.

"Sorry, I don't want you on this bus."

He sniffed the air and turned up his nose.

"The day just light today, you smell like shit already. Gwann down in the back of the bus."

The driver said as Magnolia as she swallowed her pride and went to the back of the bus. She handed him a hundred dollars for her fare. He took the money by the tip, making it abundantly clear what he thought of her.

As she disembarked with her textbooks in her hands. She only had six since that's all her mother could afford at the moment.

She also knew for a certainty that in Grade 11, she did 11 subjects. As she walked up to the gate a security guard stopped her.

"What are you doing here?"

He asked roughly as he pulled her aside by her white collar.

"I go to school here"

Magnolia said as the guard grabbed her by the collar.

"You look bad, your hair is I kept and your uniform looks like garbage. Do you have an ID?"

The security guard asked as Magnolia searched her stuff in her hand. It wasn't there. It must have fallen from her hand while she was on the bus.

"I don't have it."

Magnolia said as security called the principal Mr. Brown. After a few minutes, Mr. Brown came down to the security gate to see what the commotion was about.

A few other students noticed the principal and gathered around to see what the commotion was about.

"Mr. Wright, what's all the commotion about?"

Mr. Brown asked the security guard as he pointed to Magnolia. She was busier herself trying to prevent her shoe's bottom from falling off. She had applied tape to it is falling apart.

"This mad child is trying to enter the school."

The guard said as Mr. Brown looked at Magnolia .

"Child, why why are you dressed like that, you're uniform is a mess, your hair's trashy and your shoes are falling apart."

Mr. Brown said as he looked at Magnolia.

"But sir..."

Magnolia  started to explain as Mr. Brown held up his hand.

"After devotion, I expect to see you in my office."

Mr. Brown said as Magnolia sighed.

"But sir...?'

She started as Mr. Brown turned up his nose.

"Not another word. My office after devotion."