2014:
My landlady was very nice to me in Biloxi, and she even wanted to sell the 3 bedroom I rented for $850, to me. Obviously, I normally split the rent with roommates. Unfortunately, it was myself and my 1-year-old baby, with no guardianship of my sister. I couldn’t put my sister in school, and I couldn’t leave her to home school while I worked, because she had no focus as a 14-year-old. If I had a helper it may have worked out. However, with no help, family, or friends, I had little choice but to move back to Douglas St. LEAVING MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE.

2013:
I packed up my sister and daughter and brought them to Douglas St. via Greyhound. It was too expensive and difficult to move us down from Biloxi, therefore this was our adventure to our family. My mother had promised there was room for a baby and welcomed me, however, the “others” did not want me here. I felt it would give my mom another chance to be a mom so I left my daughter in her care. At the time my Uncle who owned the house had lost it to the bank.

2011 June:
I returned to Douglas St. after being away for a few years. My grandfather had died from a Toe infection which never seemed to get better while he had it. His feet were directly in front of the vent in his room and he worked part-time as a bagger in Publix for a few hours a week. So there had been no reason for what happened to him and it was complete carelessness. My mom took it on herself and was depressed about it as she was his primary caretaker whether she realized it or not.

2005:
We all shared one bathroom, all 5 of us. That is a lot of bathroom and water usage, so when I noticed the tub started to stain in black I scrubbed. 16-year-old me scrubbed every inch of the bathroom, for 4hrs every weekend. I even tried to mix chemicals which weakened my respiratory system because I could not get out the black sludge stuck on the bathtub. We only had bleach, which was ineffective on the sludge. I even got my mom to buy a steamer, that I saw remove debris on an infomercial, but it did not work on the sludge. The only thing that worked was hours of back-breaking scrubbing.

2004 December:
I noticed huge roaches coming out of the window stills at Douglas St. So when I cleaned I used these thick napkins my mom brought from New York and stuck them into the cracks of the window stills. My aim was obviously to stop the roaches from entering my bedroom from the walls.

2004 November:
I had been living with my Aunt who had taken me in to watch her son while my family was separated to live in New York. The official reason for this had been “not having enough room”. I thought this was a lame excuse, why couldn’t it be because of the real reason, that they didn’t want me around my molester? My mom and siblings did well in New York. I was also good where I lived with my aunt. One day randomly my bipolar Aunt was on the phone with my mom, telling her to pack up her life and come down to live at Douglas St. My mother was doing well in New York. Her children had health insurance, and she worked and was in school to be an RN. I saw her grades and they were all As. Within days of that phone call my mom packed up her life and my siblings to move to Douglas St. here in Florida. I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t want to go to HHS, but I didn’t mind being with my family. Grandpa already lived at Douglas St., so we were basically moving in with him.