Peaches

I grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. Now please don't think that just because I grew up in Newport means I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. There are ghettos everywhere! Even Newport. My mother left my no-good father when I was nine. For nine years I lived in Hell and got lots of beatings from my dad. But my mom finally got sick of it and kicked him out. I thought it took her long enough. Now, back to the projects. I grew up in this two family duplex in Tonomy Hill. It was me and my four brothers. We lived in a four-bedroom house. It was always a little cramped. We tortured the hell out of each other for good fun, and we would feed sea gulls Alka Seltzer. My mom was a bitch and put me in state custody when I was 11. Then I bounced around for a while from group home to group home. Luckily I got emancipated from the department of social services when I was 16. I was holding down a full-time job and going to school. I took very good care of myself.

When I was 18 I woke up one day sick and tired of my life and packed a bag and came to Boston. I've been here ever since. I fell in love with the culture and the history and people were different from where I had come from. But it was hard to get a job, and as time went on its just become harder and harder.So, I finally joined the Spare Change paper. Not only do I have a job, I have a job that I love and believe in. It's still a struggle getting by, but the paper gives me hope and something to look forward to.