by Christina Carapinha
When I was living in Gilroy our neighbors sold their house to a mother (Nancy) and her two children (Adam, Val). Where we lived all the neighbors were friends and hung out all the time, except for the new neighbors. Nancy’s children were five years older than the rest of the kids on the block. After a few months of them living there Val came over to Ashley’s, another neighbor, house holding a snake around her arm. At first sight I thought she was a little hardcore for living out in the country. But then I really got to know her and before you knew it we were inseparable. Val and I have been best friends for almost four years now. I found out that she didn’t have the best past and her parents got a divorce when she was two. She has pretty much raised me to appreciate the things I have and to work hard for what I want. She is the first person I go to for advise because she is good at knowing what’s best for me. I believe Val’s story is important because growing up with her hard life has made her who she is today and if she wasn’t as luminary as she is now we might not have gotten so close.
When Val was little her mom would take her to Garrod Ranch down the corner from their house so they could look at the horses that they wish thy could have. After a while Nancy made friends with Chris (the trainer) and he gave lessons to them for a discount. They had to take seven lessons in order to enroll in summer camp. Nancy had to save up money all year so that she can send Kim and Val to summer camp. Their Grandpa past away in a jet with six other people in the air force. When he passed away they got money from the settlement money so they got the buy thirteen horses! To help her mom pay board (rent) on the horses, Val cleaned and took care of other peoples horses and then work with her horses. As well as other jobs that she could come up with. When she got older she had to drive up to the barn so she could ride some horses before school. When they want to show the horses they would just go to the smaller shows and would work to pay off the cost of the show.
Nancy worked four jobs at dealerships to keep their family on their feet. She had to get up really early and get home really late. Their uncle would come over at night to watch them until Nancy got home. The kids walked to school every day because Nancy wasn’t there to take them. The dealerships to keep at dealerships would send home thousands of brochures and they would get a pizza and invite friends over to put the brochures together and staple them. When they finished all of them Nancy got extra money on her paycheck. The girls wanted a bird but they couldn’t afford one. When Nancy was at work a Finch flew into the window and she caught it and they kept it as their pet.
Because Nancy was always gone the kids got left with the chores everyday. Their chores insisted of; sweeping, mopping, vacuum, dusting, laundry’s (everyone’s), picking up dog poop, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, and doing the dishes. To get through their chores they would make it a game. When they had to mop the floor they took the spray nozzle from the sink and sprayed the floor and ran and slide to clean it. One time her mom got off early and caught Val as soon as she started to slide and she grabbed the refrigerator door and it popped open. She flew under the table and hit her head. It left a huge bump on her head. Then they got in trouble and that was the end of slip and slide!
Val felt like she did really good in school until she got into seventh grade. After seventh she became very rebellious because she was mad at her mom and dad. Her parents were always talking smack about each other to the kids. Then she stopped doing her chores because she was tired of having to do them everyday she got home. In eighth grade she was smoking cigarettes, drinking, and getting into drugs. She had friends that were in gangs and she always had to wear blue when she was hanging out with them. But she did graduate from eighth grade after all of her fights. In high school all the action started. She started drinking at school, if she went. When she picked up a friend from her house she was so stoned that when she parked at school she took up four spaces and got called into the office and they told her to move it or they were going to tow her truck. Then she was getting kicked out of class everyday then she started cussing out her teachers. “I had no respect for anybody.” That led her into suicidal attempts because it was making her and her mom fight and none of the teachers liked her. When she was sixteen she tried killing herself three times by taking a bunch of pills and vodka. Her brother found her and made her throw everything up. Then she tried to cut herself but she is really scared of razors so that didn’t work. The last time she tried was when her brother pissed her off she grabbed her gun. “ I was going to kill him then me. I had so many issues because of school and my parents.” Then she was drinking and doing drugs very heavily and got sent to continuation school. She threw a textbook at her teacher because she was making her do a project. If you fought at continuation school then you don’t graduate. On graduation day a chick threw her over the line and she almost fought her but the principal grabbed her and told her to go home or she wouldn’t be able to graduate that night. Graduation night she almost died because she was on acid and almost walked off a cliff and her friend Steve grabbed her and threw her back on the land. After that night she really wanted to change.
While Nancy was working the kids lived on top roman and hamburger helper. They only got soda if the had coupons for it. Her uncle came once a week and would treat them to steak and mashed potatoes. They had such cheap plates that when her mom heated up the food the plate shattered everywhere. Her grandma would pay for school supplies and clothes if her mom couldn’t. afford it. Her friends would always give her stuff or they would give/pay her food when they went out.
Val felt like it was a reality check. “ I had to go through all that shit to be the person I am today.” Her mom and her wouldn’t be so close if they didn’t go through the shit they went through. I wanted to write my essay on Val because I thought she had the best story to tell. It made us closer also because I got to know her real feelings and learn more about her. I didn’t know half the stuff I do know.