Lea's Story

Lea Before Shaun

                                                Lea Before Shaun

There was loud screaming. Donnie was covering Lea's ears. He kept saying, "It's okay, it's just another fight, it will end soon, it always does". Their dad left for the second time that month. Every time he left; Lea feared he would never return. Lea ran to her room as she always did after her dad left. She held the toy car he gave her for her 6th birthday close to her heart. Lea didn't know it, but after leaving this time, he was never going to return. Lea was turning 10 the next week. It was not the first birthday she had spent without her father. But, she knew that she would never spend another day with him again. Lea's grandpa Rod came over with a special birthday present. He drove his 1975 Ford Gran Torino down the street. She had been waiting for him to finish fixing it for months. She said "Hey, look Donnie, it's the Striped Tomato!" Grandpa Rod came out and asked if they wanted a ride in it. Lea screamed "Yes" and jumped right in along with Donnie. They headed to their favorite restaurant, The chocolate Avenue Grill. They came back with full stomach's and plenty of leftovers. Grandpa Rod dropped them off inside only to find Lea's mom very angry with him. She told them to go upstairs, and so they did. Lea and Donnie could hear them arguing from their rooms. Lea heard her mom say, "You can't spend that kind of money, I can barely pay the bills without their father as it is." Lea was scared of what might happen to her family if the bills couldn't be paid. All she could think about is when her family was happy. She knew that her life would never be happy again. Over time, her mom started taking more and more shifts at the diner waitressing. Donnie had to stay home to watch Lea when their mom was working. Donnie started to resent her. He did not want to watch his little sister all the time. He wanted to hang out with his friends. Unfortunately, that was not a possibility at the time. Donnie and Lea started to get into fights and at times would not even speak to each other. Lea's mom started to take prescription drugs to relieve stress and anxiety. But, eventually became addicted to them. She realized that she had a problem and checked herself into rehab. In the following months, Donnie and Lea moved in with their grandpa Rod. He taught them many things about cars. Lea and Donnie became very interested. He let Donnie use the torque wrench to tighten some bolts on a car. Lea watched very intensely. She asked her grandpa Rod if she could help. He agreed quicker than she asked. He appreciated how interested she was in cars. Donnie said, "You're only 12, I'm 14, you aren't old enough to fix cars." Lea got very mad. Grandpa Rod intervened saying that a 12-year-old can do anything a 14-year-old could do. Grandpa Rod always believed in Lea. He knew she could do anything she set her mind to. In later months, Lea's mom came back home. She was clean and willing to get her life back on track. She was still working long hours at the diner, but found other ways to cope with anxiety and stress. Nothing really changed other than her mom being clean and Donnie working at their grandpa's shop. Lea was left alone a lot. It made her hate everyone. Nobody paid any attention to her, not even her grandpa Rod. As the years went by, she continued to feel left out. On her 18th birthday, Lea found out she got accepted into Grove City College's automotive engineering program. She left home as soon as she could. She worked so hard to earn her degree. Lea did not know if it would have mattered had she got it or not. She didn't think her family would care. Lea felt misplaced at home. She did not want to leave college. But her time there was done. She graduated. After graduating she spent a few years working at various automotive shops, never sticking to one shop for too long. She got a call from Donnie, which she ignored. He kept calling, but she kept ignoring the calls. Eventually, she answered. She was not prepared for what Donnie was about to say. He said in a very angry voice, "Grandpa Rod is dead. I called you tons of times. He was in the hospital for three days. You could have said bye to him, but instead, you decided to be the b*tch you always are and not answer the phone! In his will, it says you get the striped tomato and I get the shop." After he hung up, Lea went to the shop to pick up the striped tomato. She decided that there was nothing left for her in Hershey, so she packed up all her stuff and drove away and went where the car wanted to go. She ended up driving all the way across the country landing her in San Jose, California. She got a job and an apartment. She swore after coming to San Jose she would never trust anyone ever again. That was until she met a man named Shaun Murphy.