To have no one and no where to run to. Drugs was my escape from reality, friends and family. Coming from a small town outside Chicago leaving all of my family members behind and not knowing anyone in Denver, Colorado was no different from where I started. I know in my heart that being in bad relationships led me to a life of drugs and crime. At this point I had never experienced drugs. I was a single mother with a two bedroom apartment in the low income housing projects outside Chicago. Working two jobs, in which both were fast food restaurants one was at, “The Mark of the Quad Cities”, and Rudy's Tacos. Doing my very best to provide for my daughter and I. Being surrounded by drugs, sex and gang members. Being lonely at the time having a very limited social life. Just the mere thought of a date with a man was something special to me. Finally, meeting a man for the first time in a while since my daughters father. I went out on several occasions and I enjoyed his company and the way he treated me knowing I already had a child by someone else and not being judgmental made me feel really secure with him. Even though I worked two jobs having very little time to get out often and enjoy the presence of his company. This man never seemed to have had to work a day in his life. Dressing as though he was from an up-scale family leaving me with thoughts that this man was just born into the life of a wealthy family. The more I had to work the more he was saying, “I Will Take Care Of You,” there's no need for you to work. My curiosity seemed to have captured the best of my comprehension to grasp his intentions. Every man wants a hard working woman and every woman wants a hard working man, especially when one or the other has a child tha... ... middle of paper ... ...eaving my face dismantled. I needed to get back on Eric's good side in order to take care of my drug habit. Word on the streets was that people wanted to rob him and find out where his stash was. There was a knock on the door late at night. Looking out my peep hole, afraid thinking it was one of Eric's rivals. Only to see that it was the neighbor from across the street. Only this time she came to tell me that Eric had been arrested. This was my only chance to provide a better life for me and my daughter. So I ran away to Denver, Colorado. Educating myself to be a better role model for my daughter. I am now attending college to become a nurse and find higher education as a break through from the struggles of every day life. So that I no longer have to worry about taking any short cuts in life. Through education anything is achievable for me and my daughter.
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
Eric is a 6-year old African-american male who was raised in an impoverished inner city neighborhood in Chicago. Drugs and violence surrounded his daily life. With a single-mother who involved herself in a series of relationships with abusive boyfriends, Eric found himself beat with a belt, and may have been sexually assaulted. His mother was not home that often, and he was forced to sit outside on the stoop so that his grandmother, that also lived with them, could sell drugs. His mother was uneducated and supported the family with her public assistance grant. He has never met his father, and his uncles are in jail. His father was convicted of robbery and drug charges but Eric was told that he was shot to death in an attempted robbery. He dreams of one day avenging his father's death and acts it out when he plays alone. He has a history of terrorizing animals and killed the family cat. He also did poorly in school, being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He is constantly involved in fights and has no companions. When home, he mostly involved himself in action movies and cartoons. Eric b efriends a boy who lived next door to him. One day he steals the boys bicycle and when the family comes to claim it, Eric threate ns the boy by saying that he was going to kill his baby brother. A few weeks later, Eric broke into the apartment and assaulted the baby, beating him nearly to death.
...he was able to make it. Ever since relationships were openly discussed in society, women have really only been given the roles of the house wife, mother, or “prize” but it seems as if those roles are becoming harder to obtain since men do not feel obligated to commit. Therefore, the purpose of this book, even though some might not agree with the stereotypes presented or advice given, is a step toward hopefully allowing women to really understand men and find love.
Since most men have mothers to cater to their every need up until the time they move out, they have outrageous expectations of how a wife should act and what duties she should perform. Judy Brady, who is a wife and mother, wrote the essay "I Want a Wife" to explain what men want in a wife. She discusses the different skills a wife needs to possess for a man to consider her a good wife. Brady’s use of repetition, constant sarcasm, and defensive word choice throughout her essay makes it successful by relating to women’s frustrations of being a wife.
“Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is look- ing for another wife (Brady),” which led Judy to reveal the treatment and roles of women defined by men. The male friend of Brady is looking for a wife despite the child that he had is with his ex-wife. This proves that not only children are dependent on women, but men are too because of their selfish reasons to get food, a clean house, kids, and other physical needs from their wife. As Brady states that, “I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complains about a wife’s duties,” (Brady) it proves that men’s expectation are so high, because of their selfish character who tends to eliminate the concerns of a wife. As a
I took the typical road an eighteen year old fresh out of high school would take, I went to college. I went off to school with an independent spirit and sense of freedom. I was young and ready to take on the world, but there was one problem, I had no real idea my purpose!
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
Who I am today and my story all started to form from the day I sat on a plane to the Great White North back on September 16, 2001. My family’s journey to Canada was a rough trip. We were all alone in a new world ready to start all over, with no language skills fitted for the place or a place to stay. Back then it was only; baby me at the age of two, my bigger brother David who was just turning six and my two lovable parents. However, we made it, moving to Toronto, Ontario. We all managed to find our places in the world until we got suggested to move due to legal reasons a place called Saskatchewan, they told us Saskatoon would be a good place due to it being small and friendly, so we did as we were told. Saskatoon turned out to be just as good
I went on the road and lived as a tramp. Without any place to stay I was soon
... moved to NY to study Fine Art, thinking I would enjoy being a painter for a living. This led to meeting a lot of inspiring fellow artists, friends, and mentors that enlightened me of the potential of our world, art, and change. It has been a steady snowball effect and I'm always excited to see what’s next.
I stepped out of a life where I was put through a lot. I've been through foster care, through so many arguments with my family, and I have done a lot of mistakes throughout my life. It made me the confident and strong minded person I am today. I experienced failure many times, but moments like those made me realize that I needed to protect those who are in my shoes and take a step back into my own life and be a leader. It pushed me to learn things I never knew and to be a police officer have showed me these standards. You protect, help, and understand the people in need and I wanna pursue a dream that will come true.
As I am looking out the window, the train passes by for the last time. We live directly behind the railroad tracks; everyday we hear the same annoying train pass by. I am happy that we are moving out of this neighborhood. It's sad to say, but there were days when I didn't want to walk across the street because I would have to deal with the low-life drug dealers and crackheads. All day long the crackheads would stand across my street in front of the store, drink, act foolish, and waste away to practically nothing. The drug dealers would stand out there from the time I went school until late at night. They never tried to sell drugs to me, but I hated looking at them. They thought that selling drugs was the only way to make money, rather than getting an education. While I look out the window I notice them standing across the street wasting away. "Tiffani, come bring this box to the car," yells my mom. I guess I have to take some boxes down.
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I
This amounted into years of heartache for me and my two sisters and I was left with trauma.
perhaps the most important event in anyone’s life. But for many men and women, what