Community

All I wanted growing up was to be a part of a community.  I just wanted to have friends.  My parents seemed to have different thoughts on how I should live my life.  I went to school.  Came home from school.  Was expected to be quiet and stay out of their way.  With so much time spent being forced to stay quiet and home, I started to find out new ways to entertain myself.  And most of the time I spent entertaining myself outside the house.  When my parents wired the house with their homemade alarm system, for whatever reason, the wires around my bedroom window were faulty.  Almost like someone knew I needed an escape. 

I was a natural night owl while my parents were in bed by nine every night.  I climbed out my window most nights and sometimes just walked around town in the moonlight.  Sometimes I went to the local park.  Sometimes I bought junk food, but most of the time, I ended up at Brett’s house.  Brett was the only one who understood what I was going through and did everything he could to help.  I stashed my extra clothes at his house and he left his bedroom window unlocked so I could slip in whenever I wanted.  It wasn’t until the night I was sneaking out my window at the same time my mom was sneaking out the back door that I knew I had to follow. Followed her right to the strip club.