Max Goof has achieved many things during his time in college, with the College X Games among his achievements, but there's one part of his college life that isn't talked about enough: the relationships he had at college. Let's find out more about th...
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Then Roxanne told me the part of the story when she finally left San Siesta. By the time May 2005 arrived, Roxanne couldn't take any more abuse from Roger or Gavin because no matter what she did, they never appreciated her work and always gave her more work to do and never increased her pay wage – they continued to pay her twenty dollars per week, which the same pay wage she and her dad got in 1997 – and they even sold her motorhome – no, not sold, traded it with one of Gavin's friends for a helicopter just so he could buy a helicopter to impress his friends as if that was his to do and not Roxanne's at all – and forced her to live in the tool shed for her to live in. On the morning after Gavin's twenty-first birthday, she knew that he and Roger would still be sleeping after their very late birthday party and they would expect her to start cleaning. She did go into the house, but not to clean up. Instead, she wrote a letter saying that she quit whatever they were keeping her there for and that she was leaving. Then she finally left.
Roxanne kept walking from town to town, looking for a place to stay and work. She was completely homeless and hungry and had no family or friends, but it was still better that she did this than stay in San Siesta. At least, she wasn't getting abused. She tried all she could to make her way in the world, but she failed at starting a new life. When she was hungry, she went to as many soup kitchens as she could to eat and drink whatever they could. She tried to go to homeless shelters to sleep for the night, but whenever she went, they were always full, so she had to sleep on empty benches wherever and whenever she could find one. She tried to make money whenever she could like car washing or becoming a sex worker, but she had no success. Though she wasn't completely penniless, she knew she didn't have enough to survive for a long while and she had to be careful with how she spent it.
By the time she reached Mouseton, which was less than a week ago, and tried everything she did in the other towns since she left San Siesta, Roxanne felt like giving up on herself completely and went to live in the Mouseton Forest all by herself so she couldn't be a nuisance to anyone. She tried to live in the wild, but she even failed at that. She failed to build a hut for herself, she failed to fish, she failed to harvest wild berries and she always ran from the wild animals. The only thing she could succeed in doing was collect fresh water to drink.
Then on this day, Roxanne went to drink fresh water, but something scared her – it was a freshwater crocodile! She immediately ran for her life before it could eat her. She managed to jump up onto a tree branch and waited for the crocodile to walk away from her, which it did. Then she jumped down again and started to continue to walk away in case the crocodile did come back for her. She didn't stop moving until she fell into the bog I found her sinking in and rescued her from it.
I was up to date with her life story since she left Spoonerville. After she finished her entire San Siesta story, she wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back as she cried her eyes out.
"What did I do to deserve this life, Max?" She sobbed.
"Nothing, Roxanne," I replied, as I gently patted her back. "You didn't deserve anything for what you've been through."
"It really is so good to see and be with you again, Max," Roxanne said. "I'm just so sorry that I have to leave you again."
"Have to leave me? Where are you going?"
"I don't know, but I can't stay here because I don't have any money at all, let alone enough to stay here. I lost all my money I ever made in that stupid bog."
"But you can stay with me, Roxanne," I said. "My family and I are staying here for two weeks. I'll pay for your stay and my family and I would love to spend this vacation with you."
"But I don't want to be a burden to you and your family," Roxanne said.
"You won't be," I said. "In fact, you are quite the opposite. You are such a pleasure to be with. Always was and you still are and you always will be."
Then Roxanne hugged me again and even kissed me on the cheek. I did my dad's laugh and she laughed too. That was when she stopped crying and started to smile more.
Then it was time for bed. I gave her my bed and I spelt on the pull-out bed from the green couch. After she changed into Sylvia's white nightie, she gave me another kiss on the cheek and thanked me for everything I did for her that day, including rescuing her from the sinking bog, taking her into my hotel room, giving her food and listening to her painful story, before she went to sleep. And for the first time ever since the day I found out about Mona cheating on me, I slept very well all because Roxanne was back in my life and I was pleased that she missed me as much as I missed her.
Before we go to the next chapter, if anyone is wondering why I'm telling Roxanne's story in this book instead of her writing it herself as you've read this chapter and the last three chapters or will read the next chapters, here are the reasons why:
A. Roxanne kept telling me that she wasn't a good enough writer and her story wasn't worth telling, no matter how many times I kept telling her otherwise.
B. It was the most painful period of her past and she doesn't like talking about it anymore than she has to.
C. She trusted me to tell it and she approved of how I wrote it before it got published and I wanted to say how much her permission for me to include it in this book is very much appreciated.
