Family Ties

I don't really qualify as a runaway. I left my house legally when I was 19 years old. I traveled via Greyhound to Los Angeles from my home in Detroit. I left with one friend, well he's barely a friend. I left with him because I wanted to leave and not to hop into the streets alone. He had an obnoxious heroin habit that ate probably about $50 from me on our way there. I do not use drugs, but I can't stand to see people dope sick. We slept in an alley with the first bunch of punks we met there. My friend from Michigan ditched me to quench his hunger for his needle. I didn't really mind much. It put me at less risk for trouble with the cops. I eventually traveled up to Oregon with these guys and ended coming back when one of our crew got arrested. We had been staying in a cement bunker and I hadn't been eating well. I left quite happily with one of the other guys. The remaining kid ended staying there with his family. I respect his decision but miss him alot.

Meanwhile, I went back to LA. I ended up getting in a huge fight with the guy I came back to LA with. It was a stupid alcoholic fight. I stopped talking to him and he turned into a crackhead. He won't talk to me now. I hated seeing the streetkids there turning to drugs. I haven't been much better- I am an alcoholic, but lately I have been able to control my addictions. I ended up finally meeting my boyfriend in a squat on Melrose. Everyone staying at the squat lived a pretty much communist panhandling lifestyle. I know this sounds silly. Seriously though, we shared everything: the money that we "spanged," the house we stayed in, the things we groundscored, food, beer, and anything that got kicked-down to us. We were a pretty good group of squatters. I was the youngest one there, but we seriously were like family.

I ended going back to Michigan for Xmas. My boyfriend really encouraged me to. It was really hard. I thought my parents would find some way to keep me here. That's not the case though. I have shown them that I am not on drugs and that I am still quite healthy. It paid off- I am going back to my street family in two weeks. Coming to Michigan was probably the hardest thing I could imagine doing. My family still doesn't fully know why I originally left. They know I was raped by three guys, in fact their questioning made me basically relive it on Xmas. I spent Xmas crying. Its okay though. I am strong enough to handle my own tears. It is important to keep your ties with people. I wanted my parents to have a sound mind, even if I still can't deal with them very well. Another word of advice, when you are on the streets NEVER EVER let your addictions take over you AND NEVER PROSTITUTE yourself. I know it is tempting, but there are always other ways to make money- cute creative panhandling works, so do shelters if panhandling doesn't, if you don't have shelters- ask other homeless people- most of us would be quite generous with food and where to find assistance. Remember, we are like a family (sort of) and we tend to watch our own.

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