I'm fat, I'm thin, Don't laugh at me,
I'm short, I'm tall,
I'm deaf, I'm blind,
Hey, aren't we all?
Don't call me names,
Don't get your pleasure
from my pain
I was born in New Orleans, the poor part of town. My dad worked real hard tryin' to make ends meet, and when I was 6 it got the best of him. He had a stroke while workin' out in the hot sun and he died not long after. The doctors said he should've lived, but that he gave up. Guess that's cause he probably wasn't gonna be the same as he was, bad as it was. So my mom got herself a couple of jobs, workin' real hard too. But she always made sure to make time for me, we spent as much time together as we could.
Well, when I was 10 she met this guy named Mark. He was nice enough and he made her real happy. I hadn't seen her smile like that since daddy died. I got along real well with him and I guess I figured that sooner or later him and my mom would get married and I'd have a new dad. Wouldn't ever forget my real one, though. Then came a real bad day. I was 11, almost 12. I got home from school one day and Mark was there. He wasn't in a good mood cause he'd just lost his job. And I could smell booze on his breath. But after awhile he started bein' real nice and took me out to the kitchen to get a snack. I sat down and then he came over to me and started actin' real friendly. Friendly in a way I didn't like. I started to feel real uncomfortable and tried to leave, but he wouldn't let me. He even tried to kiss me.
Well, at that point my mom walked in. I never saw her so mad. She started yellin' at him and told him to get away from me. Then she went for the phone. When she picked it up, he freaked. He pulled the phone line out of the wall and started yellin' at her. And before I knew it, he'd taken out a knife. He just started stabbin' her and he kept stabbin' and stabbin'. I couldn't move, I was so scared. Finally, he calmed down and looked at the knife and then over to me. He did the weirdest thing then. He smiled at me like nothin' happened. And he walked over to me and put his hand on my cheek. Left my mom's blood on it, shaped just like his hand. Then he told me that him and me was gonna join my mom, that she wanted us to come. I knew he was gonna kill me and them himself. Then it was my turn to freak.
I started to try and get away, gettin' real hysterical. And somewhere in there I grabbed the knife from him. And next thing I know, I was standin' over his body. And the cops were comin' in the door. They saw me with the knife and saw my mom and Mark and just thought I did it. They took hold of me and arrested me, I didn't even try to stop 'em. I couldn't say nothin'. They took me to the station and everyone was ready to blame me, but somehow Miguel found out. He came to see me and talked to them. Pointed out that I had Mark's handprint on my face so he was alive at some point after my mom died. I finally got to explain and they let me go. Didn't have nowhere to go, I only had one family member left, an aunt in Boston I never met who was pissed at my mom for some reason and she wouldn't take me. So Miguel offered to be my legal guardian. Courts didn't seem to mind, they didn't have a lot of foster families to put me in. Miguel got to be like a big brother to me. He's the best friend I ever had. And when me and some others got grabbed by Richard's side and tortured, Miguel gave himself up to them to get us out. Ain't nobody better than Miguel.
Not too long ago I started roamin' around the realms. Met some people, thought they was real nice. Till they let me be stupid and leave with some tequila. Then one of 'em, Alysh, told Jeremy that she took that away from me and gave me wine. Said I got the tequila they found me with later somewhere else and that I lied when I said I didn't. Almost died from drinkin' it, too. But I ain't no liar and I ain't gonna be trustin' people like her anymore. People that blame kids when they fuck up. Don't matter, I guess. I got the people I trust and I'm stickin' with 'em.
Wasn't very long ago that those Chaos sisters decided to stick their noses into my life just like they have a lot of people. They pulled Mark back. Raised him right from the dead. The night they did, he came to the arcade where I was playin' pinball with Galaxy and pulled the plug on the game. I turned and looked at him after he said somethin' and I felt like my heart fell right out of my chest. I don't remember exactly all that happened, it's all kinda foggy. I know that he stayed only a little while and that Galaxy tried to keep him away from me, but it didn't work. Then I ended up seein' him again sometime later. He said some stuff I really didn't like and then.. then he did some stuff. I don't wanna talk about that, it ain't somethin' I wanna think about. But the next time I saw him, he turned me into a vampire. Said I was his. He made Dare watch, they locked her up in some kinda magic cage and she couldn't do anything. After he did it, Cristov showed up. Got me out after a bit. Since then, I've been usin' one of the powers I got from bein' turned to help out when I can. Least I can do somethin', although the sisters made it harder for me to use it. But I'll do what I can to help, even if it don't end up bein' much anymore. Haven't seen Mark much lately, either. He started pickin' on Lupé real good. I'm sorry she's gotta go through all that, too. But he's one everyone wants to deal with real bad. And I think they will, sooner or later. Someone threatened him with something so that maybe he won't do some of the things to kids that he's been doin'. I hope not, it just ain't right. But I trust Miguel, and Miguel says that Mark'll get his. And I wanna watch.
Whoever walked behind anyone to freedom? We must all learn to live together as brothers.
If we can't go hand-in-hand I don't want to go.
-Hazel Scott
Or we will all perish together as fools.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
