My name's Nicole, but everyone called me Nickie or Nickel. The reason some people called me Nickel is because I usually was cheap and gave a Nickel everyday to a homeless shelter or some type of pound. Only one person called me Nicole, and it was Da. Da never called me Nick or Nickie or anything different, he always called me Nicole. No matter how many times I told him he never listened, he still called me Nicole. I don't know if he just liked the name or if he had a different reason.
Life was hard. My Ma died at child birth and for while it was just me and Da. We lived a house for a year until the land Lord wanted us gone. Then we lived in a apartment. It was small and ordinary. It had three rooms. Kitchen, my room, and Da's room. My Da couldn't afford a bigger apartment so I had to live with the three room one.
Da never talked about Ma. He sometimes mumbled "What would Ma do?" But that was it. He said nothing else. I knew I got my blue eyes from her, and my long, curly blonde hair but I also knew
that I got my tan skin from Da. Nana told me that Ma was a wonderful woman and used to love to go on boat trips and walk with Da on the beach. She told how beautiful my Ma was, and that's all she could tell me, because she died that summer.
Papa was different. Papa was so sensitive if you said Ma or anything related to Ma would excuse himself and cry. I felt bad for him and wanted to comfort him but I knew I couldn't. Papa always had a strong connection with Ma. He loved her with all his heart and I was born and Ma died Papa hated me forever. No matter how hard I tried, he always avoided me. I still don't understand why.
