第7章我的姐妹金纳MySisterGina(2)
Inthebegiledateachotherontheschoolbus。Ginawasatoughkid,andIguessasadefensemeism,shealutonthattoughkidarmorwheeraweekorsoofschool,westartedtalking。Andsiheonlykidintheareaofmyage,wereallykiogether。Myfolksweredivordbarelyspokeuo。I’djustmoved600milesfromtheonlyhomeI’deverknowninMississippiandIwashomesidshehadnorealhome。Oncewerealizedwebothhadwoundstolick,itdarable。Shewasagradebehme,sowehadher。Butassoonaswe’dboardtheschoolbusiilitwastimeforbed,weweretogether。
Welivedowasafive-minutewalkfromwherewelived,justamattertheroad。Ifitwaswarm,I’dgetoffthebusandhurriedlydomychoresthathadtobefinishedbeforemymomgothomefromwork。Thenquicklygetintomybathiupwithourtowelsandsmokesahesand。I’djuststartedsmokiGina。Shesmoked,nly,andithher,Ididn’tthinkaboutwhatmymomwoulddoifshefoundout。Inaway,IguessIwaeherfreespirit。ItwaserthatIrealizedtheintensesadhavefelt。
Aboutmidwayintotheschina’ssisteraskedhertoeahemi。Ioodwhyitttoask。SheknewGina’sdwhereshewasliving。Gina’smomstayeddruime,andIthinktheyhadabigfailingout,ahat’swheolivebehindme。Hermomdidn’twaleastthat’s>
SoGime。Iwasheartbroken。Butatthesametime,Iythatshewasgoihhersister。Ithoughtthatifshewaswithfamily,she’dbeOK。Wewroteeachotherlettersatleasttwiceaweek,butfourmonthslatershecameback。Igotseveralstinaastowhyitdidn’tworkout。Ihavemyowntheories。
&on,theschoolyearwasingtoay15thbirthdaywasjustaroundtheoma。Ginastayedbehiherpersonsomewhereincorpus,butwewroteletters,aouch。Taftwasonly18milesaway。Afterwewerethereabout6months,Ginawasagainlacetolive,andthenunswerelookingforsomebodytotakehersoshewouldn’tbeplaafosterhome。ThestotisGinastartedhavingathingwiththelady’s,thatshelivedwith,19-year-oldson。Ginawasjustfourteeime,andsheaskedGiually,shesawthisguyoffandonforawhile。Ginawasloose。Sheeratelylookingforsomebodytoloveherintheonlywaysheknewhow。Anditcosther。Sowebecameherfosterfamily,ofsorts。Iwasworried。MymomandIwerelivingsoskimpilyasitwas。Webarelyhadmoopaythebills,andaeswehadourelectriedofffor。Iwasworriedabouthavingaofeed。ButIlovedher,andmymomfeltsorryforher。Shecouldseealittleinatoo。Wehadsomu!Webothsooes,aogethereveryweekend。Weeveotce,utiionforawholeday,andwemissedhavingourschoolpicturestakenthatday。Intheschoolyearbook,forthatyear,wheremypictureshouldbe,there’salittlecharawithabarrelaroundhismiddleandasignonitthatsays:“Photonotavailable。”Actually,IbelieveitwasoorsthatstartedthebeginnioGina’sstaywithus。Ithinkmymomwasafraidshe’d“ruboffonme”。I’mamomnowandIbetteruand。
Ginawaswild,andyou’tcageawildanimalf。Shewaswithusabouteightmowaswinteragaiight,andfoodwassalikedthewildlife。Mymomdidn’tallowthetypeoflife,fegirl,thatshewasusedto。SoGinaeoneelsesheknew,andmadearraoleaveus。
&hewasthelasttimeIeversawher。We’dsharedaroomforsomanymonths,andittyaftersheleft。Imissedherterribly。Irememberherputtiuffintothebackofawhiteeverfetwatghershuttheliddown,aomewithasmileandsayihisisit,Iguess。”Ireplied“Yeah…youtakecareofyourself。Don’tdrinkaoomuch。”Welaughedandhugged。Shesaid,“Speakforyourself!”Thenwecried。She’dbeefrieerpartoftwoyearsahingihatIwouldneverseeheragain。
Ididmaime。Justoheplattofromours。Thenabouttwoyearslater,Igotaletterfromher,andshewasinMissouri。She’dhadababy,byamarriedman。“Buthelovesme,”shewrote。Ifeltverysad,andwonderedifshe’deverreallyfindwhatshesodesperatelywashethoughtshewanecessarilywhatsheneeded。
Ineverheardfraihesedletter。IwrotebaevergotarespohisdayIdon’tknoeoher,ifshe’salive,orwheresheis。Wheookpartofmewithher。WebecameliketasgolikeI’dlostsomethihi-like。Shewassofulloflife,anddidn’tdwelloiooutwardly。Andwewereclose,wesharedeverything。
Istillthieheseyears。Twoyounggirlsreaanhoodohs。Yeteachpathisfamiliartotheother。Shestillhastheabilitytomakemesmile,aeallthatIhaveandallthatIam。