Until about the 9th grade when I failed terribly; 3 E's and 2 C's, and had to go to summer school. There was a lot of racial problems in high school, including several times of defending myself, and running from this school that was in a predominantly white neighborhood. There was a day that was proclaimed "n*gger day" twice, and the first time I did not go to school, but the second time (the following year) I went with a baseball bat on the "g" bus in hand. No problem. In the 12th grade I did it again (grades) and this time she (mom) took away my tv for six months until I passed (with summer school courses). That year was rough for me, because four years earlier my brother was put out of the house and I knew I was next.
I later went into the armed forces after a brief stay at my grandmoms, my grandpas, and in Harrisburg. My mom and I got into it alot in the last year that I lived there, including a push (on her part), as I only tried to defend myself by putting up my hands although she questioned me " are you pushing me?" Which of course I was not. Anyway I was told to get a job if I wanted to stay there and help with the bills, I landed a real job (besides drying cars) at Roy Rogers which is now a McDonalds. It did not really matter as she was determined to live without her children there. And before I go any further I'd like to say that I, along with three of my friends were detained at the upper darby police station for nothing other than trying to make a dollar. The worker at the car wash told us to get off his property and so we began to pull the cars onto the painting store parking lot. No sooner did a policeman on a motorcycle come at us like we robbed a store or something; we bolted in three different directions. I was the last to be caught and our moms were called. Well I did not receive a criminal record, but did go to court with a citation in hand. And also I'd like to say rest in peace to a childhood friend who as it turned out I was suppose to accompany him to the carnival at which he was killed.
Needless to say I'm glad I had to stay after school that day and returned home late only to see him and another neighborhood friend go. Some say he (other friend) actually saw what happened, and I think that is true because he has never been the same since (mentally unstable). But getting back to the home situation, she asked me to call my grandma to take me in and she said yes, although later my mom would tell me that she asked her not to take me. And she also would tell me that as I was walking out that she begged me not to leave, which is not true at all and to this day would deny that she put me out. And for what? I was not a problem child at all, and neither was my brother accept that he was not hygienic, and could not save a dime nor tried to make one. Well I stayed at my grandmother's for some time and then had several jobs (mainly security) and a stint somewhere in Chicago (you figure it out), came back and now grandmother won't even accept me, so I stayed at my grandfather's church in Harrisburg until my other grandfather (on my father's side) in Philly let me stay.
