PregnancyNovember 20, 2009
15 years ago...I make the headlines
IN "RAIDING PARTY," POLICE SWEEP CATHEDRAL
Boston; November, 1994
In a collaborative effort, police officers from several law enforcement agencies swept through the Cathedral Housing Development Tuesday, arresting about a dozen suspects believed to be involved in drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
- Tags: Drugs, Crime, Urban Life
November 17, 2009
Hustling
Shizz had a customer. He spit a crack rock into his hand.
I sat nearby, in the playground.
A police cruiser stopped.
I wanted to walk away.
I had crack rocks in my mouth, underneath my tongue.
- Tags: Drugs, Urban Life
November 16, 2009
Tanisha Messes with God and Me
She yelled, "Bitch!" just before something slammed into my head, glass shattered all over me, and I hit the ground.
At the time God was new to me. I’d known of Him before but this time was different. This was new. I was new.
November 10, 2009
The stash
I snuck into my bedroom.
I made sure my sisters weren’t around.
I took the picture off the wall.
I packed away my crack behind a poster framed picture of me rapping.
November 9, 2009
A letter from my attorney
May 19, 1995
Dear Talia,
I was happy to receive your letter and hope that everything is going well for you. I’m sorry that it took a little while to write back to you, but my schedule has been as busy as ever. You seem to be adjusting OK and to be trying to make good use of your time at South Bay.
- Tags: Jail, Prison Life
November 4, 2009
Life on the unit
My cellmate, Michelle, was one of my uncle’s hoes.
He was a pimp.
She would say, "I love your uncle. But he ain’t got no stroke."
November 3, 2009
"What do we do?"
Suddenly, Porshai began to cry.
Danny and I slept on a mattress in the middle of his uncle’s living room floor, with Porshai, only a few months old, lying between us.
- Tags: Teen Pregnancy, Parenthood, Colic
October 28, 2009
A teenage birth
A sharp and unbearable pain suddenly pierced my side.
"OUCH!" I yelled.
It was early in June, starting to feel like summer.
Like any other teenager, I was hanging out at the playground, leaning against a fence.
"What’s wrong," asked my friend, Julie.
"I don’t know," I said, innocently.
I was seventeen years old and nine months pregnant.
- Tags: Labor, Delivery, Pregnancy, Baby, Teen Pregnancy
October 27, 2009
Looking for somebody who cares
"I don’t feel good. Can I go to the nurse’s office?"
"Yes," said my teacher.
I slowly walked to the nurse’s office, holding the hallway pass, an old piece of wood with the word "Pass" and our homeroom number "102," carved into it. The hallway was hushed and chilly. I knocked on the school nurse’s door.
"Come in," she said.
October 26, 2009
My fathers
"Frankie is your father," my grandmother said.
Looking through my mother’s photo albums I found a picture of me with this man, Frankie. I’m a toddler in the photo. Frankie wears a shabby brown leather jacket and a fisherman’s hat. He holds me in his arms. I’m wearing a brown coat with rainbow colors on the sleeves, and a fisherman’s hat like his. We’re both smiling. Frankie looks like a nice guy.
