Читать книгу The Struggle is Real, but So is Jesus - Tessa - Страница 14

Chapter 7

I wasn’t home long when they decided to ship me off to my uncle’s in Ohio. He was my favorite uncle, so I didn’t mind going, but I also knew he was very, very strict. If he couldn’t straighten me out, their only and last option was an exorcism. (I’m just kidding.) It’s a catholic thing.

Anyway, I got to my uncle’s. He lived in the middle of nowhere on a nursery my grandpa used to own. He helped my grandpa run it when he was still alive, then when he married my aunt, they built a beautiful house on the land. Our nearest neighbor was a half mile away. But I became friends with her quick cause I had to walk up to the street where her house was on the corner to take the bus to school. He signed me up for high school there. I was pretty excited since I hadn’t been to a real school in over two years. In the ward, they had an hour of school every day. That’s it. I don’t know how I retained anything between all the times I ran away.

Well, right off the bat, I couldn’t smoke (I assumed that much), and I couldn’t wear jeans or makeup to school. And if I missed school because I was sick, I had to help him shovel manure in the nursery. I was allowed two phone calls a day at ten minutes a call. Those were the rules so far. Of course, I just put my makeup and jeans in my backpack and would get ready in the girl’s bathroom. And my friend smoked Newport’s, so I just bummed them from her.

Soon, I met a freshmen I had the hot’s for; I was a junior. I ended up not coming home one night after school. I knew I was going to be so busted and it was a small town, so he found out where I was. When I got home that night, he made me take a pregnancy test. I was mortified. It was negative, though, and I never fessed up to having sex with the boy, but my uncle is far from stupid. And that was my first strike, and with my uncle, there were only two. So one more mess up, he would send me home.

I really didn’t care, though, because I wanted to go home; I got away with a lot more at home, even though I did love my uncle very much. I loved my whole family, I just couldn’t control myself. I didn’t mean to disrespect him either. I wasn’t really a bad person deep down; I have a huge heart, but I couldn’t control myself. It’s like I was trying to just run away from myself not them.

Then one night, a bunch of us at school decided to meet at the roller-skating rink. Believe it or not, I actually thought that’s what we were really going to do. So my uncle dropped me off and told me a time he would be picking me up.

Then the other kids showed, and most in my class had a driver’s license. One guy showed up with his parents’ car and beer. You would have thought that was the happiest day in my life; it felt like forever since I had any real fun.

Six of us ended up cramming into his mom’s Buick and going to a field to party; of course, we lost track of time and were an hour late getting back. I was sweating, I was so scared. I was never afraid of my parents, and he never whipped me or anything, but he didn’t play around. When he said jump, I said, “How high?”

So of course, he wasn’t there, and I had to call him. He wasn’t the yelling type at all either, which made him scarier. He didn’t even ask questions, just said he’d be right there. I knew he was pissed, though. All of a sudden, a cop car showed up, and he was looking for me! Oh, man, I thought I was going to jail. It turned out he was a friend of my uncle’s and came to escort me home and probably scare the other kids away from hanging out with me anymore.

I walked in, and he just told me to go straight to bed and we would talk in the morning. I already knew what was coming, though. This was strike 2.

I got up the next morning and basically was told to pack my bags, I was going home. I was pretty happy inside. I really wanted to go home, but I was really sad that I disappointed him and embarrassed my mom. That was her baby brother, and he was my godfather.

That would be the last time I was in Ohio, and that’s where all my relatives and cousins are. It was just Mom, Dad, and my brother back in the mile-high state.