Chella

The home where Chella grew up, in the ghetto of Liberty City Florida, had beige carpets so old that pieces of the tuft and twirl would come out of the backing under-foot. The apartment window shades were white floral plastic rectangles cut from an old shower curtain. She shared a bedroom with two younger siblings and the overhead lights were naked light bulbs. she grew up in the a noisome ghetto of Liberty City Florida she never knew her dad she won’t talk about her mom she hated the flaw of things nothing worked, not the dishwasher or the air conditioner they couldn't afford to run. There was no wi-fi for the no computer Her mother worked two or sometimes three part-time jobs They added rice to hamburger-helper to stretch it. Maybe you got a pair of shoes for Christmas and chicken, not turkey. They were poor, used clothes poor, food assistance poor, third world poor. She got a used bike once, for Christmas. It was stolen. At 14, she babysat for months to get a Rihanna mini-backpack. It was stolen. But they lived 2.5 miles from the beach. It was a 53 minute walk. She couldn't afford the bus. She knew not to hitchhike. She kept a knife in her right front jeans pocket. She studied at school or at the beach She practically lived at the beach Her wardrobe was a one-piece swimsuit under cut-off jean-shorts and flip flops. What friends she had were at the beach. A wino, who couldn't really talk, looked out for her at the beach because she once gave him a dollar. One night he pulled a knife on a pimp who was bothering her. The police came and took his knife. “I’m SO sorry,” she told him, “I’ll get you another one,” but he mumbled in his incomprehensible way, and waving the idea off, he shuffled over to a garbage can, and leaned it up to reveal eight other knives under it. We were looking at some of our high school pictures together and we realized that my designer, high-school freshman prom-dress that I bought with my allowance (on sale, with no fitting) cost more than her mom’s car. . . A mini playlist for this: Baxter (These Are My Friends) by Fred again.. & Baxter Dury Runaway by Slick Rick Redemption Song by Mitchell Brunings Breakout by Swing Out Sister . . Our cast: Chella - A tall, lithe black girl, from Liberty City (Miami) Florida with a ‘Bachelor of Science in Global Affairs’ from Yale University who is currently a Harvard Master's candidate. She had it rough growing up - she was buying skin-care at Trader Joes! I'm showing her some things. Your author, a simple trust-fund baby from Athens, Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale, currently a Harvard Master's candidate.