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a sweater for disguise and my next stop was Dunkin Doughnuts’ to get a chocolate iced doughnut and a cup of coffee. I didn’t have doubts about getting out of the facility but I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy this time. My past excursions all began with an abrupt struggle sometimes ending in a brutal state of affairs after being pepper sprayed and fastened into some painful lock by forceful men four- times my size, then tossed into solitary until | saw my next chance to desert. I got to know the guards real well, as I spent a lot of my time being dragged down to the white room by them. There was Jim, a large black man who could’ve doubled for a “Miami Dolphin’s” defensive linebacker. John was another big man with a ponytail and a mustache, and he looked like someone who definitely owned a Harley. The last guy Scott had a smaller build but made up for it with his steroid injected muscles bulging out of his neck and their was the added height from his curly fro. When they weren’t restraining me and holding me captive in solitaire, they were actually pretty nice guys, not afraid to have a laugh after some explosive incident and I held no contempt towards them either, they were just doing their jobs. It was de’ja’vous all over again, free at last but where would I go now. With Ron’s scouts on the lookout for me, and now the authorities being notified I was a runaway again, | would have a lot of people searching for me, so | knew I had to be careful where I went. My last stop before leaving the shopping center was to use a payphone to call my parents, my Dad answered completely surprised to hear me on the other end, I] wanted to sarcastically thank him for breaking his promise to me and I hope he is happy now, he just lost his daughter for good. I stopped to listen to what he was trying to say and he told me "I was getting you out in a few days, I found you somebody to stay with, she’s a good person who has got teenagers your age, | was just trying to convince your Mother to sign the papers to get you out of there”. I was so outraged at her ability to put her own wants before the needs of her own flesh and blood daughter. I told him to come pick me up and bring me to the house so | could speak with her for the first time in over a year, but if I felt threatened for one second I will be on my way quicker than a blink of an eye and on my own for good. He wasn’t overjoyed at my proposition, knowing what position this put him in as her husband but as my father he decided to put me first for once and take me home to confront my mother. Larrived at my house for the first time in a long time and everything looked different. My parents refurnished and renovated the house. I didn’t even have a room anymore, my old belongings and bed were removed and it was now the office. Of course my Mom didn’t meet me at the gate or the front door like her long lost offspring reunited. No, instead she 21 Ci Copyright Protected Material waited for me to come find her outback smoking cigarettes and having a beer. She stood up from her seat and squinted her eyes loathing in her hatred she coldly slapped me hard in the face. The slap stung, but I matched her look with a familiar stone-coldness that only she could understand. Immediately we both started to cry and we washed away our anguish and resentment through our tears and consolidated our feelings for the first time since the chaos first affected our lives. She didn’t want to know much of my whereabouts and she still had a lot of anger to get over but she asked me to stay home at least. My little brother ran through the back door and hugged me so tight, 1 started to cry again and was saddened by how much time I had missed the time | had lost just hanging out with my brothers and it took me even longer to realize how precious time really is. We were never going to be the average Joes next door but at least this was better than nothing. I loved being with my family again. We had BBQ’s and bon-fires with each other and life began to slowly piece back together. It was bizarre how normal it was when I first got home. I turned fifteen that year and it was the exact cup of tea that I had needed to boost me up and get me on the right track. I decided to go school to acquire my general education diploma or G.E.D and got a summer job with my Dad at Mar-A-Lago, Donald Trumps exclusive country club in Palm Beach. Surrounded by lush acres of tropical landscapes, manicured gardens, and a mansion made into a beach club for the rich and famous it is known as the “Jewel of Palm Beach”. I was in sheer awe at the gold arched ceilings and the grandeur ballrooms. The spa where | worked was world class, not only oozing in style but in the way each and every clientele was treated with the upmost service. My focus was now set on becoming a massage therapist, and working my way into a luxurious spa like the one I worked for now, only I was a locker-room attendant there. I studied many books about the anatomy of the human body and how you can affect a person’s well-being and health for the better through a simple healing touch. It was amazing to me the way the body responded to massage. I was more than just interested. | was determined to become a therapist. It was one of those anatomy books that I had my nose buried in one afternoon on a quiet Tuesday and it could get pretty lonely in the locker room, so if I weren’t busy I’d sit outside by the spa’s reception and read my books in the warmth of the Florida sun. A lovely looking woman in her late thirties who spoke with a proper English accent approached me. | assumed it was a general question, “like where’s the ladies room or was that the famous model from so-and-so?” but she was more interested in the book | was reading. Only believing at first we were just making small talk she was really intrigued at my choice of reading. She then asked if 1 22 £) Copyright Protected Material HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021155 GIUFFREO04 155