You Don't Know me

Untitled Part 3

It was around 7:00 P.M. when my mom knocked on the door. I flew into her arms immediately. I was so excited that I could visit her for a month; I started throwing clothes and a few toys in my bag. We drove back to St. Charles the night. We arrived home around 11:00 P.M., so when I got there I went straight to sleep. The next day we had a family get together to welcome me home. I saw all my family that I had missed so much. 

Within a week of being home I got into my first fight. I made a new friend named Cody, but he was a bad influence. I am not sure what happened with me only staying for a month, but somehow my mom got custody of me. Although I was happy to live with my mom and be around my family, it may have been a bad thing. Cody was a "bad boy," and he quickly rubbed off on me. He would steal from the gas station up the streets so I stole from there, too. He would take bikes out of random yards and strip them, so I did the same.

My fourth grade year started and I started school without him. Cody moved in with his dad, so I had no friends. I was one of two new kids in my class, but I was just too different. I would fart in the middle of class and laugh about it. The class would call me weird and smelly. I didn't have that many friends, but I was no longer being called "Clunker." Throughout that year I did well in school, I was smart, and I stayed out of trouble, I was just very strange. One day close to the end of the year I was really sick. My teacher did not believe me and refused to send me to the nurse. We were about to play a game, and I puked all over the floor; it was so much that the janitor asked "How many kids threw up?" That summer was good, too. I stayed out of trouble and I began to make new friends.

When I started fifth grade I was part of the first fifth grade class to start middle school at Jefferson Middle School. I was still acting like an immature kid, but it was ok, I was still young. I fit in more because all the elementary schools sent their fourth grades to Jefferson. I was not really getting bullied anymore, but people would always tell me that it wasn't the 80's anymore. That summer Cody returned to St Charles, and well, that may have been the end of me.

I began to misbehave in my neighborhood. I would bully the younger kids, I would tear up other people's yards, and I would even set fires and walk away. It got to the point that the cops would always be called on me. I started sixth grade, and I met these three new kids. There were two boys named Donny and Nathan, and a girl named Kristian. The two boys quickly became friends with Cody and I. We influenced them to do what we would do, and well, we were always in trouble. I got halfway through sixth grade, and one day the four of us were hanging out and Donny brought cigarettes with him. We all agreed that we would smoke and keep it a secret. After that day everything got worse.

The summer after sixth grade I started to live the high school dream. I would go to parties that older kids would throw, and I would drink a little here and there. When I started seventh grade I moved middle schools, and I attended Hardin Middle school instead of Jefferson. Jefferson only had fifth and sixth grade while Hardin had seventh and eighth grade. Home was bad; I was always yelling at my mom and sisters. It had gotten to the point that I would fight them all. I would throw them; I would punch then, and worst of all, I would hit my mom with everything I had. School was not bad. I stayed out of trouble, and I had good grades. This was the entire year, but when school ended I was just awful.

That summer my crew, Donny, Nathan, Cody, and I were all talking about how we could embarrass the "hottest girl in the school." We decided that we would trash her house. One day we all cut school and we met up at my house. We managed to rustle up a few items. He had two egg cartons, a ketchup and mustard bottle, and some spoiled liver. It was around 10:30 and we decided to move in. We got to her house and made sure that everyone was gone. After confirming, I sprinted to her front door and quickly picked the lock. We barged in and went straight to work. We threw food everywhere, urinated on everything, broke glass dishes on the floor, Nathan pooped in the sink, Donny pooped in the tub, and Cody threw dead animals all over the place. We were there for about an hour, and boy did we do a number on the place. We all ran back to my place and got some rest. We later found out we trashed the wrong house. We got caught within a month.

Later on that summer a couple of my friends thought it would be funny to get their little brother to lose his virginity at ten years old. About a month after this happened I got dragged into court and hounded like never before. I was accused of vandalism and rape. I got through it, and I was charged with breaking and entering, vandalism, and theft. Many other things happened that ranged from fighting, stealing, and even got to the point that if people did not break up one of my fights, I may have killed someone. The worst fight I got into that summer was when I got jumped by six other boys. It was bad, but I fought like a warrior, and I came out of the fight with eight bite marks all over my body, a minor concussion, and a fractured hand.

When eighth grade started my family began to struggle really badly. My mom lost her job and my sisters were beginning to move out. I was not living well at all, I barely had clean clothes, I barely took showers, some days I would not eat because people in the neighborhood would be in my house and eat it all before I could get to it. In school I really showed my colors. I beat this kid so bad in the hallway I fractured his skull in three places, busted up his face, dented a few lockers, and I even hit a teacher. That year went downhill from there. I was suspended again and again. I continued to get into fights, I would argue with teachers, and one time I cracked a confetti-filled egg on someone's head. Outside of school I was taking anger management and street law classes. When I would get suspended from school I would go home, or I would sometimes go over to the people across the street, and I would smoke and drink. The year ended badly for me. There was three days left in school, and I got into another fight. I went to court for that fight, and that was by far one of the most important days of my life.

We went into the court room, and I was being all negative. My judge lady said that it would be short because there was a cop coming to get me. I was being shipped off to DYS (Department of Youth Services). My mom then yelled wait and fell down to her knees and grabbed my hands.

"Dew, I love you with all of my heart, through all of the kids that I had, I wanted you the most. I begged and borrowed so that I could see you, I have put up with your crap, I have paid all your fines, Dew, I love you. You are my pride and joy and I don't want to lose you. You are my boy, I wanted you so bad, and I got you. You have put me through hell and back, but I am still here. Dew, please!"

I looked down at my mom's face and saw the tears flowing. I began to cry with her and picked her up off the ground, and I made her a promise. I promised her that I would change my ways and the judge was crying, too. She said she would give me one final chance, and I said I would not fail her.

That summer I was not allowed to attend any summer camps because my suspension was still in session. I was not allowed to go to orientation my freshman year. And when everyone else started school, I was stuck at home. I was suspended my first five days of school. On my first day of school, I came to school 25 minutes late. One of the principals told me that I should be ashamed of myself and that he could not wait to throw me out of the school. I said I was going to class, and then I got lost. When I finally got to class there was only 20 minutes of class left. School was rough that day; I even had to get a schedule change. At the end of that day I did get hopeful, though. Sra. Reese told me that she felt I was too advanced for 1 one and sent me to the office to get switched into Spanish 2. After school I went down and talked to the football coaches, and I was ineligible to play.

I kind of struggled in school academically, but I was doing great behavior with my. My family got evicted from the apartment we were living in, so we went to live with my aunt. My aunt was a very strict woman who got her way whether she be wrong or not. It was winter and that meant basketball time. I tried out for the basketball team, and I got cut. I was one of the last people to be kicked off the team. I was so mad about it because I really wanted to be part of something. I asked the head coach if I could be a manager, and he said yes. I went to every practice and every game as if I was a player. Basketball season ended and someone told me to try out for track and field. I said why not, I have nothing to lose.