forget the day

ut how I had reached this part

er had given me, for reasons best

d the woman who ha

Aunt Sharon. I was never made to forget that I was living off the charity of my relatives. Harassed Aunt already had four of her own kids and the fifth

Uncle Bob was a pastor and he would look at me disapprovingly if he felt my clothes or 'my demeanour 'were 'inappropriate" His words. The mirror revealed that I was

ard. I had no boyfriends in this fast-paced city

hool, he had been as much a misfit as I with his dysfunctional family, father and brothers in and

so my fir

st time with a boy... unfortunately for me, Jake had moved away when his mother

fully, his voice apologetic and even more distant over the phone than

nk this will work...long

had found someone else. But I stayed single,

focus was on

avewell and its claus

district but I was desperate to run away. This was my last chance. Away from the smell of soiled diapers and wet laundry, the endless screamin

ysitter/ cook and everything else that I was in their household. He had made str

we were alone, she had furtively pressed a

ob know abou

th emotion, I had

lowford and an unknown future, leaving behind a part of my li

a flat with turned out to b

had applied, for a lark since I was desperate and staying in a large Yout

et me pay a fraction of the rent, provided I helped with the cooking since they had no idea how to go about the basics even something as simple as how to boil an egg. As I was an excellent cook- all that training at Aunt'

where I had grown up. They attended parties and their boyfriends came over to stay the night very often. The enthusiasti

djust to it when Brad W