Wednesday, October 17, 2007

week 5

That fall, Jeanette started 7th grade which meant she went to the High School. She didnt feel as left out there because many people dressed like her; Torn shirts and holes in their shoes. Looks started becoming more important. Since jeanette didnt like the way her teeth looked, she wanted to get braces but couldnt efford them. So she tried making her own by using rubber bands and metal hangers to put her teeth in place....and it worked.
In her 7th grade year, she started to write for her school newspaper.
Her mom got a new job as a teacher, but her mom started to have melt downs and freaking out all the time. Her mom then had to go away for 8 weeks to renew her teaching certificate and left her with 200 dollars for the kids and jeanette. Her dad kept asking her for money for beer and cigarettes and jeanette had no option but to give it to him. Once her dad brought her to a bar and let a man take her upstairs, but she managed to get away before nothing bad happened. she told her dad but he didnt really mind it considering he won 80 bucks of the drunk that tried to rape her. Since she was short on money, jeanette got a job at a jewelery store and got 40 dollars aweek. To get the job, jeanette had to lie about her age. She said she was 17 when really she was 13.
When her mom returned from her 8 week trip, she was very stubborn and didnt go to work. Jeannette back talked her mom and told her that she had to go to work and that she'd better start acting like a mother. When jeanette arrived home from school that afternoon, her dad told her that he needed to appoligize or he'd whip her with his belt. Jeanette didnt budge and got 6 hard whips to the back of her thys. Thats when she decided if she could, she was going to make something with her life and leave welch before highschool. She started saving up her money with her brother brian and sister lori. Lori was an amazing artist and people would pay her if she made them signs and pictures. Brian cut peoples lawns and jeanette tutored people and did homework for others. The money would go into their "escape fund." On day jeanette returned home from school to find all the money they'd been saving was gone. Their dad took it and didnt even appoligize. When lori and jeanette confronted him, he grinned and gave them a couple bucks back.
That summer lori went to nanny her neighbors. At the end of the summer she would get 200 dollars and a bus ticket back to welch, which would give her the money to go to college in new york.
Jeanettes junior year of highschool, she became the editor and cheif of her school newspaper. She started to make friends and more people accepted her for who she was.
When jeanette finished her junior year she saved up enough money to go to new york city. And thats where she wanted to start over.

No comments: