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Non-fiction / Life Journal 1
The First New House
I don’t know how many times I’ve began to try and tell my life story but I always feel that it is best to begin with the very first memory I have. The very first thing I can remember is the first time we moved into a real house. We had been living in an apartment since I was born and it was the very first day that we were going to move into our very own house:
Tisha sat in her grandmother’s living room waiting for her mother with a feeling of excitement bursting in her chest. She was moving into a real house today. It was a good feeling since it seemed like she was the only one of her friends who hadn’t had a real house up to this point. The excitement built as she looked out the window.
“You wanna go outside and play,” she heard asked. She turned to her uncle who was sitting next to her on the couch. They’d just finished watching a movie together and as usual her uncle Anthony became bored very easily when there was nothing to distract him.
Anthony was her uncle but they were only a year apart in age. At times it seemed like they were more brother and sister than uncle and niece, and they had the sibling rivalry to prove it. Tisha felt that Anthony was always trying to prove that he had everything better than her and in most cases it was true. He was the first to get a Nintendo, the first to get the newest clothes, and a skateboard.
Tisha tried to hide it but she was jealous of him most of the time except for today. Today she would have her very own new house, better than this old place that was her grandmother’s house where her uncle lived.
“No, I don’t want to play outside. My mom is coming and when she gets here I’m going to my new house,” she replied and flipped one little braided ponytail over her shoulder. She really did want to go outside. In fact she had wanted to go outside before they had sat down to watch a movie, but when Anthony wanted to do something, that was usually what they did.
Anthony shrugged and picked up his skateboard. He opened the screen door and slammed it on the way out. Usually the front door stood open with the screen door closed to keep the flies out at her grandmother’s house. You did not want to be the one to leave the screen door open to let the flies in. Anyone who did that was sure to catch the wrath of Ester Lucas. It was always hot in the dry dessert of Las Vegas Nevada, but there was a cool breeze out that day so her grandmother had left the doors and windows open to catch the fresh air.
Tish was glad of this because her grandmother’s house usually had the smell of bug spray and mothballs. There was no shortage of mice and cockroaches in the old house either. It wasn’t a rare event for one of these creatures to make an appearance in broad day light and march right across a nearby plate of food or the rim of a glass. There was always an abundance of discarded scraps of food and what not for them to live off of due to the fact that Ester Lucas was not the most industrious of housekeepers. She would rather have a block party than a cleaning one any day.
Of course Tisha had become accustomed to this after years of staying the weekends at her grandmothers. When her grandfather was home from work he would throw a fit and make them clean it up but her grandmother was more laid back about it. Her grandmother had suffered a chemical imbalance that had left her in some odd stage of mania that caused her to spend her days either ranting at something that wasn’t there, or in an alcohol induced trance.
Tisha looked away from the trash littered table and stared once again out the window. Anthony was now playing on his skateboard. He was riding it down the driveway and laughing when he nearly fell off at the bottom. After waiting all day the yellow truck that belonged to her mother’s boyfriend finally turned the corner and headed up the street.
Unable to control her jubilation she ran to the screen door and threw it open with a cheer. Her mother stepped from the truck with a smile and scooped her up as Tisha ran and threw her arms around her. Tisha happened to think that her mother was one of the most beautiful women in the world. Her mother had been a young mother and because of this she was considered a hip mom.
“Hey kiddo, how was your weekend,” she asked as she set her back to the ground.
“Fine mom. Anthony got a new skateboard and he wouldn’t let me ride it,” Tisha complained.
“Nu uhh,” Anthony disagreed as he rushed to greet his older sister. She swooped down and placed a kiss on his forehead. “She tried it and she feel and then she didn’t want another turn,” he told her mother.
“That’s not true, you just kept telling me that I couldn’t do it because I feel. I could do it if I wanted to,” she argued back with her hands on her slender little hips. She hardly reached her mothers hips and her mother was not a very tall woman.
Noticing that she’d lost her audience Tisha ran after her mother who was on her way into the house to greet her own mother. Tisha loved to tattle tale but if no one was paying attention to her then there wasn’t much point. So intent was she on following her mother that she hadn’t noticed her uncle sneaking up behind her. He hooked her foot and she tripped almost falling. She caught herself and turned to glare at him. He just smiled and shrugged.
“Opps,” he said and ran ahead of her into the house. She tried to hook his foot as he had hooked hers but he ran too fast for her. It always annoyed her to loose at anything and she now owed him one. They entered the kitchen where Tisha’s grandmother had been flouring chicken for dinner. She looked up and smiled as they all entered the room.
“Hey Sandra,” Tisha’s Grandmother greeted in that high sing song voice that always put Tisha at ease. No matter how strange her grandmother’s behavior could get at times her gentle voice and smile always put people at ease. At times it seemed like her grandmother was singing more than she was speaking.
“Hi Ma. I’ve just come to pick up Tish. Do you need anything before we go,” she asked with a look of concern. She was always concerned that one of her mother’s episodes might lead her to harm someone or herself. Ester had good and lucid periods, but some days she had very bad episode. She seemed okay today.
“Nooo,” she said in her singsong voice. She had been drinking heavily that day and her eyes were lidded. Sandra went to the stove near her mother and dropped the chicken in the hot grease for her mother. Tisha’s grandmother didn’t fight but gave up the task gladly. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out another keystone beer and poured it in a glass. She sat at the table and took a sip and laughed as the bubbles tickled her nose. Neither Tish nor Anthony said anything but sat and waited silently. They stayed long enough for Sandra to cook the chicken to ensure her mother didn’t burn herself.
“Okay Ma, we are headed home now. If you need anything call me,” Sandra offered as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel.
Tish’s grandmother seemed to not be paying attention to her mother but was intent on a small water bug crawling across the table. Her hand flew with a quickness that belied her inebriated state. The bug never stood a chance and her grandmother laughed and looked back to her mother. “Okay,” she replied with a smile as she stood up unsteadily to walk them out.
Tish’s mother stopped near the archway in the living room that led to the den. Her sister, Ethel, was sitting in the den watching TV with a hazy film over her eyes.
“Hey Ethel,” her mother greeted.
Tisha’s aunt Ethel was born with a deficiency that made her the age of a child. Her deficiency made her fun to play with, but it also made her the subject of much ridicule from the children in the neighborhood. Because of this she spent most of her time inside playing with Barbie dolls or watching television in a darkened room. She also had an affinity for magazines and paper games she could play alone.
“Oh, hey Sandra,” she greeted with a smile that she hid behind her hand. Her gums and teeth were larger than normal and her teeth had begun to rot long ago so whenever she smiled she hid it behind her hand. They continued on their way to the front door and were out in the yard when Anthony turned to his mother.
“Ma, I wanna go with Sandra to see her new house, can I go,” he asked.
“Really,” she asked in her sing song voice. It was summer and they didn’t have school the next day. She looked to Sandra. “If Sandra says you can that’s okay with me,” she answered with her customary shrug. Anthony could get anything he wanted from his mother being that he was the youngest child, and Tisha was jealous of this as well. He turned his big pleading eyes on his sister and waited. One side of Tish wanted her mother to say no so that Anthony didn’t get his way again, but the other half of her wanted to rub her new house in his face. The second half won out.
“Please mom,” she pleaded adding her big eyes to the mix of pleading.
“Okay, go get some clothes together in a plastic bag, we’ll wait out here for you,” her mother replied. Anthony jumped with a little whop of joy and ran back into the house. Tisha secretly was happy too. There was nothing she loved more than to have people come over and stay the night at her house. It always felt more fun and special that way, and since this would be her first night in her new house she felt doubly happy.
Her mother turned back to her grandmother and asked her a few more questions while they waited and Tisha knelt down to play in the dirt. There was an interesting looking worm making its way across the yard and she followed it until Anthony reemerged from the house carrying a plastic bag with clothes in it.
Sandra made sure he had underwear, tops, and bottoms and then they piled into the truck. “Hey Larry,” Tisha greeted her mother’s boyfriend as she climbed inside the little yellow truck. She scurried across the couch style front seat and planted a kiss on his cheek. People looked at them odd sometimes when they were together because he was a white man and they were black, but Tisha didn’t care. Her real father was a white man and she loved Larry like a father so it wasn’t awkward for her. He smiled as he watched her and Anthony take the middle seatbelt and snap themselves in.
Her mother got in and shut the door and they were on their way. Both Tisha and Anthony bombarded Sandra with questions about the new house and Sandra only kept smiling and saying that they would just have to wait until they got there to see it. With every turn of the wheel Tisha imagined what kind of house it might be. Would it be like the mythical castles of old?
She imagined herself standing at the highest peak of the tallest tower waiting for her prince charming like the princess’ from the Disney movies did. She was so excited that she couldn’t sit still and Larry only smiled at her. Soon enough they pulled into the driveway of the house and a look of concern passed over her mother’s face as she looked over at Larry.
Tisha looked between them and then back to the house. It wasn’t anything particularly spectacular. It was a one story brick building that was painted white. There were plenty of trees in the yard. Some might have even called it bland and lifeless as houses go, but to Tisha it was in fact a castle. It was a house and that was good enough for her. She wanted to jump out of the truck and run inside right away but her mother stopped them.
“Why don’t you let Larry go see what’s going on first,” her mother instructed. It was nighttime and Tisha could see that there were lights on inside the house, and people inside.
“Why do we have to wait mom? Who’s that in the house? Isn’t this still our house, did someone get it before we did,” she asked in that childish way as tears gathered in her eyes. She didn’t want someone else to have her house. It was supposed to be their house.
“No, no one else got our house. We just have a few unexpected guests,” her mother replied. Finally Larry came back to the truck.
“It’s Bill,” he said with an unpleasant look on his face.
“What do they want,” her mother asked her eyes now rounding out in worry.
“They want to stay for a few-“
“How did they even get in the house,” her mother interrupted.
“They said the side door was open-“
“Well that doesn’t give them the right to just go on in. Not without permission,” her mother stated the anger apparent in her eyes. It was always a little jarring to Tisha how quickly her mother went from being fine to angry. It was as if her mother had some internal button that she pressed and no one wanted to be standing in her path when she pressed it or they might get mowed down.
Her mother unbuckled her seatbelt and didn’t have to tell them to stay put. Tisha wasn’t moving a muscle until her mother had disappeared inside the house, Larry on her heals. As soon as they were in the house Anthony undid the seatbelt and they were both glued to the windshield of the truck trying to see what was going on inside.
There weren’t any curtains inside so it was easy enough to see her mother standing there with one hand on her hip and one hand pointing a finger at the intruders who had made themselves at home in their house. Tisha recognized a few of them from the parties her mother had thrown in the past but besides Bill she didn’t really know any names.
Both Anthony and Tisha hid giggles behind their hands as the interlopers gathered their things and quickly exited the house, taking their overnight bags and whatnots with them. Her mother’s curses followed them as they made their hasty exit and loaded up on motorcycles that they’d parked in the car port. They started their bikes and drove around the truck and out of the yard.
Tisha and Anthony watched as her mother continued to hurl a few curses around inside the house as she gathered the trash that they had left behind. By the curses flowing out of the open front door it seemed that the intruders had not only taken a nap while waiting for them but also eaten food from the refrigerator. It was a good half an hour before Larry came back to the truck to tell them to come in.
After the initial disturbance Tisha felt the excitement return to her. They entered the house and there were still boxes of stuff everywhere but most of the big furniture was already in place. She checked the kitchen which was right behind the living room. The kitchen and living room were separated by a wall but there was not a door that led to the kitchen, just a large space in the wall.
She ran from the kitchen back into the living room and into the two bedrooms at the end of the hall. The first one had a long window that overlooked the back yard. The closet seemed to be huge to her as well. Her bed was in here so she supposed this was her room. She then went into the other room and all Larry and her mother’s thing were in there. It didn’t seem as large as her room to her and their window wasn’t nearly as big.
She shrugged. If they wanted her to have the better room she wasn’t going to say anything. After inspecting the bathroom, which to her wasn’t anything spectacular, but then bathrooms never had been worthy of note to her before so why should it matter now, she ran back into the main room where everyone was gathered.
“I had some food here for us kid, but we are going to have to order something,” her mother said her voice laced with an undertone of regret. Tisha hated to hear that hurt in her mother’s voice. It was as if by not having food in the house for them her mother felt that she had somehow failed her so Tisha acted doubly excited.
“Oh yeah, can we order Philly Cheese Steaks,” Tisha asked with excitement and at hearing the mention of one of his favorite sandwiches Anthony’s eyes lit up as well.
“Oh yeah, can we,” he asked lending his excited weight to the pleading. When Sandra finally smiled and nodded, both Anthony and Tish jumped up and down and did a little happy dance. Her mother laughed as she went to get the phonebook and order out. Even though it was very late in the night to be eating once the food arrived they all ate with relish and none of them got much sleep that night so anxious were they to get up the next morning and further explore the house. It was the beginning of a good era for Letisha, but there were also many confusing things ahead that she would not fully understand until she was much older.
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AutumnDragon reviewed Version 2 -
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Your story is very interesting and I look forward to reading more of it. The descriptions of your characters and their personalities are very clear and make them all the more real to me.
Especially the relationship between Tish and Anthony. I find their sibling rivalry to be realistic and natural, as well as Tish’s feelings of jealousy towards Anthony always getting his way.
I think you have a knack for this style of writing and I look forward to seeing what lays ahead for Tish and her family.
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SwordMistress reviewed Version 2 -
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I really enjoyed this. You have a great flow to the piece. It was an easy and quick read and I found myself really wanting this first experience of Tisha to go well. Tisha is a very likable little girl.
You did a great job with all the characters. I got a good feeling of what they were all like.
“she heard asked.” Something’s missing here.
“There was always an abundance of discarded scraps of food and what not for them to live off of due to the fact that Ester Lucas was not the most industrious of housekeepers.”
This is awkward.
“and she feel” fell
“very bad episode.” Episodes
pariah reviewed Version 2 -
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The character development and descriptions are very well done in this piece
it felt it very easy to relate to the characters
Tisha’s and the others actions and thoughts are very logical
which all pretty much makes sense considering this is nonfiction
although i find it very difficult to capture the essence and sheer beauty of real life experiences in a detailed and novel like way
you have accomplished this, quite well i might add
another challenging thing about this is that you are writing about yourself from another’s eye
which is difficult and theraputic
i like this piece and it was a great read
regards
-kyle-
polkadot_princess reviewed Version 1 -
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You have written this as though it is a story and it does read well. You manage to explain everything clearly even the boring but compulsary details. There are a few missing words and spelling mistakes so just have another read through it. Im not sure if you meant induced instead of ‘alcohol educed trance’. Some of your sentences are also really long, I used to do this all the time. I still do sometimes! A long sentence isn’t a bad thing but try to break it up with punctuation. Overall its coming together nicely, I would like to continue reading it.
Mystified reviewed Version 1 -
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It was a very enjoyable read but you had a few spelling mistakes =
You put feel instead of fail and i found a few more but ive forgotten, sorry XD
I got a little confused at how you laid out the speech, maybe you could leave a space in between them. I love the realation ship between Tisha and athony, its very accurate. Well done
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