Cherlon’s Life

I was born during my parents’ darkest year; my mom had to drop out her last year of college because she was having me, and my dad got thrown into a prison for selling cocaine. People made fun of my family’s history and now…. people at my high school think I’m the

“ queen of whores ” because the only group of friends that would hang out with me are boys. Most of the girls do not talk or play with me at all. I don’t know what I have done to them, but I didn’t choose it to be this way. All my life is full with dramas and it doesn’t seem like I could have a normal teen’s life just like the other kids do.

My mom told me I was born during her last trimester of her college. She was really well-known as a smart and friendly student in all of her classes. She impressed all of her professors with the hard work she put into their subjects. But one day, the news got spread by someone who didn’t like her. That anonymous person had spread two times worse news then it should be about my mom’s pregnancy. She tried to fight back those judgement by ignoring them and never listening to any negativity that would ruin her career. She always fought until her last bit of patience was gone. I know she tried her best, but people kept abusing her stronger and stronger everyday until she finally gave up. After she dropped out, she didn’t know what to do. All she knew was she needed to save some  money to take care of me. My dad’s mom offered her the family business, which is the clothing shop owned by my dad’s family. My mom couldn’t think of anything else to do, so she accepted that. She got married at the age of 25 and my dad was 30. She said it was the sweetest five years, but after that, they always went into a crazy argument every day. It seems like they could argue about the end of the world’s question like

“ What came first, an egg or a chicken?” Trust me, they would fight about that.

My dad is a drug dealer, always was, from when he was a high schooler until now. He has been to jail once for selling cocaine to the police while he was high one day. I know… Our family’s life is crazy. But if you think that is rough, just wait until you hear about my stories.

My high school life has always involved drugs and sex. They always thought I’m not a virgin, but I am. I kept telling that,but no one ever believed me. They would laugh as if I told them a joke. Alright, guess I’m going to be “Cherlon not the virgin” then. From 8th grade until high school, I was always surrounded by the people who did drugs, including my dad. Most of my friends were doing it, too. In 11th grade I started to do drugs because my life was going down the hill. It always was depressing.  Junior year was like a dead, dark, dried soul. I don’t know what it was… it’s like a mix of feeling everything. I missed my old self where I used to laugh and have fun with my friends, not being depressed and crying all the time. I wish I could pull those days back with my bare hands, but all I can do is look back at those days. Another reason that people might think I’m not a virgin is because all of my friends are boys. That’s the only group of friends I had. All of the girls wouldn’t hang out with me for some reasons. They even give me the title at school, “ The queen of whores.” I wasn’t surprise or offended by it.  I just got used to it because it was not the first time things like this had happened to me. It happened since I was in kindergarden. So, that’s why I got so tolerant about it. Isn’t it great when all of your life people think you are a whore? No, it’s bad! But if I ever experienced hate from all the mean girls, I probably ran away and found a corner to cry by myself.

I always believe that everything happened for a reason. Back in the day when I was a kid, I never knew that all of that shame and hate would shape me into  a strong and independent person. Also, many people might think that I am always ashamed to talk about my family, but they are completely wrong. I love my family, no matter how bad their history is. No one knows behind the scenes what was going on: my mom who they thought  was a “whore” because she was being really friendly around the people, but what they didn’t know was how talented she was. If I didn’t have her as a mom, I don’t know if I would have such a confidence, humor, and striving to learn. All of that, I got it from my mom. She raised me to be that way. She wants to see her new self being a success and to make sure I don’t walk the same path as she did.  My dad; people think he is just a retarded drug dealer who is not helping the family. I know this sounds terrible, but without that extra money that my dad made, we would have lost our house. It’s true that my dad is a drug dealer, but he never convinces anyone in our family to use it. Sometimes he would educate us about different types of drugs and how it affected you.

      Those are what people never see outside the surface. They only see the bad parts of us. But we are fine with that. We are thankful to have each other, and I’m proud of them.

What I have learned from these experiences is, when people try to bury you under the ground, you may slip or fail. But once you get back up, you’ll grow stronger and powerful. Don’t let the negativity hurt you. Use it to push you up instead.