Here I am, standing at the top of the water tower with my back to the wind and my arms stretched waiting to take off like the crow before me. But, that was the problem, I'm not the crow, I don't have wings, I cant just fly away. So the only way for me to actually be able to mimic the actions of the crow would be to let myself fall off of the tower , and I did. I felt the wind pushing on my back as if it were trying to force me back on to the tower but it was too late, I was already falling the closer I got to the bottom the more fearful I became as I thought of what was waiting for me below. I screamed just before I was enveloped by the cushion of the air filled bouncer, people cheered and screamed as I made my way off and the next person climbed up to the top.
" See Tura, told you it wasn't that bad." my friend Alex said as he helped me off.
That is my name, well a shortened version of my name, Artura Valentina, named after my father Arturo Valentina, meaning that I am Hispanic, it's usually harder for people to notice given that I am also a little dark skinned girl.
Alex and I made our way across the field to the rest of the people watching the tower divers. This was not an official Southern sport, this was actually this first time we'd actually heard about it in Georgia so we had to try it,Alex had gone first and told everyone how he'd almost wet himself, this ironically made people want to try.
"So, where's your boyfriend?" I asked Alex.
"With his girlfriend, still undercover." he said shrugging it off as he looked across the field to where the love of his life stood making out with his girlfriend.
I hadn't noticed until I followed his eyes, Alex made the painful mistake of falling for the captain of the football, basketball and track team at our school, Jared Crosby, and this wasn't like Alex just sat and daydreamed about a day when Jared would come and profess his love to him, this day came 8 months ago. But, of course Jared wanted to keep it a secret for the sake of his reputation , he never broke up with his girlfriend, he'd spend most of his time with her and Alex got whatever was left over. I was the only one who actually knew.
" I don't understand why you keep doing this to yourself." I said looking back at him." There are plenty of openly gay guys at our school and you fall for the one guy who who wants to keep you in the dark just to save his reputation." I continued.
" He's not like those guys, those guys cant give me what I want and Jared does." he replied.
Just as I was about to respond Jared and his girlfriend,Candice,walked to where we were standing. Jared and Candice were the "power couple" at our school with him being captain of everything and her being captain of the cheerleading squad, so it was safe to say that Alex was treading dangerous waters with this one. Disclaimer, Candice doesnt like me, at all, she thinks that I have some secret crush on Jared, because he always approaches Alex and I but doesn't even suspect him of being gay.
" Hey Artura, Alex." he greeted us.
"Hola Jared, Candice." I replied smiling at Candice.
They literally stood there for two minutes and she leaned over and whispered something into Jared's ear, not even noticing that Jared hadn't taken his eyes off of Alex since they'd been standing near us. It was like he was undressing him in his head,it was weird to watch. He finally spoke up to tell us that they were getting ready to leave, per Candice's request.
"I'd give anything to have a boyfriend who stares at me in public." I teased.
"Har har bitch." Alex said pushing me.
We stayed for another twenty minutes and Alex's phone made a noise, he reached into his pocket and read something on the screen and his eyes got wide and he was smiling like an idiot. I knew that smile and I knew that it was time to go. On the drive back all he could do was talk about what he thought what going to happen, or what he'd hope would happen when Jared got to his house. I was used to the night being cut short because of Jared so it didn't really bother me as much as it did in the beginning. My best friend was in love and all I could do was support him no matter how much I disagreed.
We pulled into my driveway and I turned to Alex.
"Remember to wrap it up and be safe." I said.
"Oh please, I'm always safe." He said waving his hand.
"Alright I'll see you at school in the morning nd please make sure Janet doesn't take my seat again or there will be tears." I warned.
"Yeah yeah, I hear you barking but we'll see if you bite, Chihuahua." He said as I climbed out of the car.
I walked up to my front door and turned around waved to Alex as I made my way inside and he sped off to seal the deal with Jared.
Going into my house I had to be very quiet even if it were only 11 p.m, I didn't want to risk my mom's boyfriend hearing me come in, I wasn't really fond of him. Obviously, my mom and my dad aren't together, my dad left when I was born, he was one of those guys that had children for all the wrong reasons. He willingly had sex with my mom to get her pregnant , he wanted a mixed baby, but when my mom gave birth to me and I came out dark, he left and hasn't been heard from in 17 years.
My mom has been dating every guy that tells her how beautiful she looks, meaning she's been in some bad relationships, she's let all of them live with us, so needless to say I've been "victimized" by a few of them.The guy who she's with now is by far the worst. He's a terrible drunk and he hits her whenever he thinks she needs to be " taught a lesson". He hits me too, but only when I'm trying to pull him off of my mom,which is every time he hits her and when he's done she goes to fix dinner like nothing happened. I try my hardest to stay out as late as possible so that I don't have to keep watching her let this guy do whatever wants to her.
I make my way to my room and notice that the door to my mom's room was cracked open and the t was on, this usually means that her boyfriend is gone, because she'd be asleep right about now. I sat my bag down on the table in the dining room and walked into my mom's room t jump into bed with her but when I opened her door, all I could do was scream.
My mom laid there, her sheets soaked with blood. I ran to her side and tried help her, hoping that in some way she'd still be alive. But deep down inside I'd known that I lost her. I pulled out my phone and called 911, the operator could barely hear what I was saying because I was hysterical, so when I finally calmed down I gave her all of the information she needed.
In about 15 minutes the police, paramedics and the whole neighborhood were gathered on my front lawn as I watched my mom being carried away on a stretcher in a body bag, wwhle sat on the porch swing trying to make sense of how and why.
" Do you have any relatives that you can stay with?" asked one of the officers.
" No, all of my relatives live in New York, we moved here when I was two. Where am I supposed to go?" I replied breaking down once more.
The policeman calmed me down and told me that they would have to place me with a temporary foster mother until they could get in touch with one of my relatives in New York. I was allowed to go back inside to get some of my clothes, which didn't happen to be much. I got into the back of the police car and broke down once again but this time because my life had been ripped right from under me in one night.
The next two weeks happened to be the worst two weeks of my life. The day after I found my mom I had to go to school and return all of my books and clean out my locker. Every time I walked into a classroom, the students would go dead silent and everyone would stare at me, I had no doubt that everyone knew, it wasn't the town that was small, it was the mouths that were big, so words spread like wildfire.
The hardest thing that I had to do that day was say goodbye to Alex, we'd been best friends since the second grade and up until now we were waiting for that day when we threw our graduation caps in the air at the same time, sadly we'd only made it two months into our senior year.
I had lost my mom and my best friend in 24 hours, but the worst part of the past two weeks had to be the foster home. Ms. Gertrude, the foster mother, had a 6:30 curfew, meaning that I had to get home, eat, do my homework, chores, and shower before 6:30 and when that time came I was locked in a room all by myself until 12:30.
"You will not eat anything in your room. You only have the tv or the light on, never both at the same time because you're not paying the bills are you?" she said.
She had the most ridiculous set of rules, but that curfew had to top the cake. Everyday I hd to practically run home because the school and her house were no where near each other and most days I would've had to go to the library to do homework because Gertrude didn't have a computer at her house.
Sad t say that one day I was actually slumped with literature work and missed curfew by 20 minutes. I had always been good on following the rules of her house, so of course I thought that she was going to let me slide, especially since I was late because I was doing homework.
I tried putting the key into the lock but it wouldn't go in, knew for a fact that this as the right key because it as he only key hat I'd had on my key ring.
"I changed the lock." I heard from the other side of the door.
I looked up and saw Gertrude peering from the window.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked.
" You will not question any accommodations that I choose to make to my home, you are just a guest and as a guest I expected you to abide by the rules of my home and you did not." she said sternly.
"I know Ms.Gertrude, but I had a bunch of homework to do and I lost track of time, I really am sorry for being so late, but I had to finish my homework." I said.
She turned her nose up and still refused to open the door, a few seconds later a key fell from the mail hole n the door.
" This is the key to the basement you will be staying there until you learn how to abide by my rules and own up to your responsibilities without making excuses. Goodbye." She sad and with that she closed the curtain nd walked off.
I looked at the key in my hand and couldn't even begin to make myself believe that this woman wanted me to live in her basement, I stood on the porch for another five to ten minutes and finally walked around back looking for the door to the basement, but I didn't see one. There was supposed to be a door back but all I saw as brick, until I stepped over something.
I retracted my stepped and kicked up some dirt and thought to myself that Gertrude really has lost her mind, she was crazy if she thought that was about to go into her cellar, it was a cellar, underground.
"I suppose you were looking for something more accommodating? Like your bedroom? It's a privilege my dear that you have lost until further notice and into the basement." Gertrude said out of her bedroom window.
"You're crazy if you think I'm going into this cellar." I replied.
"How rude of you. Now you will be down there longer and I'd hurry and get down there if I were you, it' getting dark soon and the coyotes will be out." she said closing her window.
Coyotes? What in the hell! I had no choice because as soon as I heard something moving in the woods behind me I snatched that lock off the door and practically ran down that ladder.
Inside the cellar there was a cot, a candle and a lighter. This is where I spent the next week with only pb & j sandwiches and water that Gertrude would bring down to me like I was a prisoner of war or something. I'd be lying f I didn't say that I cried when down there, it was like solitary confinement and I felt like I was going crazy.
After she let me out, I started coming home at 5:30 instead of 6 and I kept my mouth shut because winter was slowly approaching and I didn't want to die in that cellar from hypothermia.
I was sitting on my bed when I heard keys on the other side of the door, I looked at the clock and i was confused because it was only 8, Ms. Gertrude opened the door and told me to get my things together, I didn't question her I just rushed and packed all of my things. When I got down to the living room there was a police officer standing there with an older woman, when she saw me she walked forward with her arms stretched towards me, when she hugged me she started crying.
" Oh my goodness,you look just like your mother." she said.
I pulled away form her and looked at the police officer then back to her, " How do you know my mom?" I asked.
The woman smiled and hugged me again.
" I'm Magdeline, Maggie for short." she replied.
" Yeah, but who are you?"I asked again.
"Well,I'm your grandmother." she said.