Cloud Stories

Chapter 1-3

          I still hear my mothers voice, constantly saying "you'll be who you're meant to be" in her soft, smoker voice. We grew up in Camden, New Jersey,  in the Whittingham area. We were constantly moving though, never staying in a house for more than 3 months at a time because we'd usually get evicted before the month was over because my mom usually was having sex with the landlord so she didn't have to pay; until the sex became boring for the guy which it usually did after 2 months, then getting the eviction notice. My dad was a piece of work though, he didn't live with us or even payed some sort've child support for me. He was a huge womanizer, I have more step-siblings than I do actual siblings. He took my brother because my brother wanted to live with him and wanted to get away from my mother who as you could probably tell wasn't the best of mothers. 

         Eventually, we moved to Philadelphia, to Kensington. and thats where we lived for most of my childhood. We were still broke but my mom finally had gotten a job as a secretary (though she was crazy, she still was a competent worker...when she wanted to be) and it was a decent wage. My father also finally started paying child support since he had so many kids he had a payment plan and was forced to thanks to a judge. We were doing well, I was 15 and I had gotten a job as a babysitter for my neighbors kids. Things were "good" for the most part, except for my moms drug problem. 

         With money, my mom noticably was more different. It was odd to see her struggling to being comfortable with such a small amount of money, even with me making money I knew to keep it and not spend it. This is when I really learned of my moms drug addiction and overall "whorey-ness" that my mom was. She was origanlly addicted to percocet, then she was addicted to that and crack, then from those two to include meth. It sucked, my mom was either wired out of her mind or uncontrollably sleepy from working and lack of doing drugs. She also drank a lot to, she always a heavy drinker but she wasn't a bother when she drank, she was pleasent and easy to get along with. Now, with the concoction of drugs, alcohol and lack of sleep, she was barely human anymore.

             When I was 17, I met a man named Daniel Carter. He was from the oxford area and he is a strong willed man. He got me out of the house after yelling at my mother for the shitty way she treated me. By this point she had lost her job and was on a downhill spiral. I still haven't talked to my mom since then, she died 5 years later from an overdose.