Chapter 1
At a young age, I was on my own. My mother worked, my father never existed in my life. My mother would drop me off with our neighbor while she was at work. That is where I met my best friend (you could say we were sisters). Her name was Victoria. We were polar opposites. She was loud, outgoing, and very funny. I was very shy, quiet, and always to myself. Growing up, I spent more time at Victoria's house than at my house.
Until the day came that my mother never came back to me. I was about 10 when it happened. I moved in with Victoria and her mother Dolores shortly after, since none of my mother's family wanted me, since my mother burned all her bridges with them because of her drug problem. My mother tried to hide it from me, but I knew my mother was not OK. She would never have money, but she would always be at "work". Once, when I was 6, I walked into her room to find my mother and this man rolling this pipe in between his fingers while he lit one side and my mother sucked the smoke out the other side. Once she realized I was at her bedroom door, she yelled at me and threw the door in my face.
I told Victoria what had happened and she knew that my mother wasn't well and explained to me that my mother was doing drugs and the guy was probably her drug dealer. That night I cried and cried because I knew I was alone in this world. The next day, when I saw Victoria, she knew that I was not OK. She didn't ask, she just gave me a big bear hug and made me laugh the whole day. At that moment, I knew she would be in my life forever.