It was nice day
in May, unlike the rest of the hot Atlanta days, mostly because of the white
clouds that where rolling by. My sister, Ariel, was vacuuming the living room
floor. I was washing the glass table in the living room when there was a hard
knock at the door. Ariel and I rushed to
finish our chores before opening the door - we both knew from the knock that
mom was home. My mom demanded the house to be clean from head to toe when she
came home. When Ariel opened the door, my mom pushed passed her saying “move, I
got to use the bathroom.” Soon afterwards our mom sat us down and said “Listen,
we’re moving!” The words stuck in my head repeating over and over again. “What?
Where are we moving to? Where to?” I asked. “California“, she answered.
School in Atlanta was fun for me,
my friends was always coming up with different kinds of pranks to play on each
other. The biggest prank the boys ever pulled was a stink bomb that exploded
when one of the boys opened his locker during fourth period break. The bomb had
the whole school smelling like hot garbage. The smell was so bad that the
school let all of the students go home for the rest of the day. Middle school
was turning out to be the best thing in my life.
My mom had tried to make going
away special for us by buying me and my sister our own cameras to take pictures
of our friends. These were not any fancy camera just throw away cameras but it
was better than nothing. From the way my mom stopped spending money we knew she
could not afford for both of us to get yearbooks or even one for us to share.
This was her way of showing us that she felt bad about moving us away from our
friends and family.
On the last day of sixth grade the
idea of moving became a reality. Saying goodbye to my friends was one of the hardest things I’d
ever done. My best friend, Brikia, was the hardest person to say goodbye too.
She always stood by my side, even when people laughed at me. Because I wore
glasses people would pick on me but not Brikia. When I told her I was moving we
both cried like babies. I first met Brikia when our mothers decided to take
both of us to see Grease on ice at the Atlanta civic center. We had so much fun
at the show but Brikia and I really didn’t really talk until afterwards. When
our families were leaving the show, we found out that Brikia’s mother’s car had
been stolen from the car lot. That night Brikia and her family spend the night
at my house. That’s when Brikia, Ariel, and I stayed up talking and becoming fast
friends. I thought me saying good- bye was going to be the hardest thing to
accept but this was just the start of my day.
In my last class my whole mood
turned around when the boy I had a crush on the whole year finally asked me to
be his girlfriend. I was so happy the breath left my body until I start
thinking of my mom’s voice saying “We’re moving!” I looked Chris in the eyes
and told him I’m was leaving. Right then my teacher announced it was time to go
to the gym for the end of the year pep rally. When we got into the gym the teacher
disappeared and the class spread like a wildfire. Students left to find their
friends and I decided to do the same thing. I started to look for Brikia but
found my friend Samiah. During the whole
pep rally I tried to kept a look out for Brikia but I did not find her until
the show was over. When I saw Brikia I was heart broken, upset, and confused.
Brikia was kissing my crush, the boy who just asked me to be his girlfriend,
the guy I have been telling her I liked since the beginning of the school year.
I could not believe it. That was the last time I talked to Brikia, I rode the
bus home with Samiah that day.
On the ride to the airport my
heart started to race. It was going to be my first time on a plane. I had never
even seen a plane up close only in the movies. I had never even been to the
airport. As I exited my grandparent’s car a plane took off right over my head. We
began to walk into the airport, I pulled
my little sister Ariel close to me and said “We’re starting a new life. Let’s
not let anyone in California punk us.”
As we landed in California my
ears popped for the first time. I was in so much pain. I didn’t know what to
think. I thought I was going to be deaf. The thought of not being able to hear
again scared me. I cried to my mom and she simply handed me a piece of bubble
gum. I thought to myself “Really mom? A
piece of bubble gum? What is this going do?” As I started to chew the gum, my
ears started to pop. I thought to myself “Wow a little piece of bubble gum.”
My mother’s choice to move us to
California changed my whole life. Many of my old friends have ended up in jail
or haven’t finished high school. Atlanta crime rate has also went up since me and
my family left Georgia. California has turned out to be a great place. I have
found real friends that I considered to be sisters to me, my daughter was born
here, and I will be graduating from here. Moving has also taught me not to
judge a book by its cover. When I first thought of moving I only saw the negatives.
I only thought about losing my friends, moving away from my grandparents, and
leaving everything I knew about behind. I never looked at the positives: new
friends, warm days, beaches, and new family members to meet. This move helped
me realize that I was too nice to people, that I allowed people to push me
around, talk about me and I never did anything about it. I was weak but never
again will I allow myself to let someone bully me or Ariel. Now I have courage
to stand up for myself, the strength to
not let anyone stand in my way and the knowledge to know that if you want
anything done, you have to do it yourself.
