Have you ever heard the expressions “White trash” or “Trailer park trash?” and even the simpler “trash” when referring to a person? Well, I have. Almost every day of my freaking life.

I was born of an unknown father to a mother who had an on and off relationship with chemical distractions and who had managed to miraculously remain sober for the 8 months it took for my body to build itself in hers. Yes, 8 months, I was premature as if I knew I didn’t stand a chance inside of her.

Well, she claims she was sober.  I was worried when I was 12 that I wasn’t as tall as the other girls in my class, but by the time I was 17, I had made peace with my fate. I would be 5 foot tall all of my life. Yes, five tiny feet. Weighing only 88 pounds it’s almost a miracle I managed to get B cup breasts and never flew away on a strong wind.

People often joked that my long brown hairs, which reach almost to my navel, probably only took 3 or 4 weeks to grow. Kids can be so mean…

And mean, they were, especially after my mother died of an overdose when I was 8, leaving me in the excellent care of my step-father who probably had said only 12 words to me up to have point, not that he spoke to me much more afterward…

Living in a trailer park is hard, but living dirt poor in one is worse. Not only was my stepfather always broken (he was on welfare), but he didn’t care at all about my wellbeing or education. I rarely had all of the books and supplies I needed, and even more rarely an actual shampoo to handle my hair. It’s a miracle I even managed to survive and had I needed more calories, would have probably starved.

I didn’t so much study in school as attend school. My grades weren’t great: how could they have been? Between the bullying and the lack of parental support, it’s a miracle of epic proportion I made it as far as I did, but I still had to drop-out of high school.

I worked odd jobs, not always on the fully legal side of the rules, but I survived in a better condition out of school: without other students to laugh at me, I managed to buy the few supplies I needed and get some routine.

That is until I turned 18 and I was kicked out of my step-father’s trailer.

Yeap, I was kicked out of a trailer park… just my luck!

I hitchhiked a ride to the closest big city, in the hope of finding something, perhaps a homeless shelter, a job, something to live by. Luckily for me, that was Miami…

I slept twice on the beach, in a secluded spot, and three times in an alley when I met Greg.

Greg had a job offer for me. I could work on a cruise ship, which included free food, free lodging, and a decent pay. Nothing to be excited out: the food and lodging were deducted, but it was reasonable. $1500 per month for personal expenses. They had me at free food and lodging…

“We even supply the uniform and will pay you a hotel room for the next 2 days until you can leave.”

I asked what the job was about…

“Serving food, cleaning up, perhaps be part of the show. The staff all pretty much do everything, but you’ll get to pick a specialty like perhaps work in the onboard casino or be a lifeguard at one of the pools. Nobody will force you to do anything you don’t want to do, it’s important in our values. All we ask is that you wear our uniform pretty much 24/7, smile, and be helpful. We have some employees who all they do is welcome guests to some events. I am not saying one of those positions is available, but the more you want to do, the more money you can make.”

It seemed like a perfect job…

“You work 6 months on the ship, and then, you can either take another 6 months, rest a week or two at our exclusive resort, or even return here with your money. In fact, each time we visit our resort, you can work on the resort until the ship leaves so you get a change of scenery.”

It was rather exciting, so to give me time to think, he gave me a hotel room key and $200 and suggested I visit a hair salon, and that I clean up real nice. I could wait for the next departure, in two days, to think it over.

As soon as I saw the room they picked, I was in. It wasn’t a crummy motel room: it was more like a suite from a movie! I soaked in the therapeutic bath for hours!

Yes, my life was turning over a new leaf…

 

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Faith Chapter 2: The Uniform»