So we became her foster f***ly, of sorts. I was worried. My mom and I were living so skimpily as it was. We barely had money to pay the bills, and a couple of times we had our electricity turned off for nonpayment. I was worried about having another person to feed. But I loved her, and my mom felt sorry for her. She could see a little of herself in Gina too. We had so much fun! We both soon had steady dates, and we went out together every weekend. We even played hooky together, even got caught once, was put in detention4 for a whole day, and we missed having our school pictures taken that day. In the school yearbook, for that year, where my picture should be, there’s a little character man with a barrel around his middle and a sign on it that says: “photo not available.” Actually, I believe it was one of the factors that started the beginning of the end to Gina’s stay with us. I think my mom was afraid she’d “rub off on me”. I’m a mom now and I can better understand.
Gina was wild, and you can’t cage a wild animal for long. She was with us about eight months. I remember it was winter again. Money was tight, and food was scarce. Gina liked the wild life. My mom didn’t allow the type of life, for a teenage girl, that she was used to. So Gina called someone else she knew, and made arrangements5 to leave us.
I remember the night she left. It was the last time I ever saw her. We’d shared a room for so many months, and it was so empty after she left. I missed her terribly. I remember her putting her stu