Our whole lives we strive to stay out of trouble. From the time we are born, our parents constantly instill in us the morals and ethics that have an impression on the independant person we become. I was raised that way, my parents still together, neither one ever been to jail. We were the "all american" family. Growing up, I have no memory of my parents ever struggling to take care of us (me and my little brother who is 4 years younger than me). My parents always displayed a strong marriage, if they ever had issues, we were never subjected to it. So, growing up my parents did everything right, the rest was up to me.
It started toward the end of middle school, peer pressure to be something that you're not. I was a natural at conforming to my environment. I did everything in my power to be anything except the "All American Girl" my parents expected. The first time I got in trouble in my entire life was on December 5 of eighth grade. A friend of mine smoked weed (I had never even seen it) and she had some rolling papers. I told her I needed some so I could smoke so she gave me a few. I had to show everyone so that they thought I was cool, someone told on me. I got called to the principal's office, they searched my stuff and found the rolling papers, I got suspended for three days. The look of disappointment in my daddy's eyes will stay with me forever, the first time I ever saw him look that way, but unfortunately, not the last.
A lot of people learn from their mistakes, that is a part of growing and evolving as a human being. I am not one of those people, I repeatedly made the same mistakes over and over. In ninth grade, I was in Biology Class. An associate of mine informed me that he had some LSD. I passed him the cash for two "hits." The teacher saw him pass something to me and grabbed it from me. She walked out of the classroom into the hall, opening the paper expecting to read whatever the note said we were passing. She realized this was no note at all and immediately contacted the administrator. I was in real trouble then. I had to appear with my parents in front of the school "panel" and they suspended me for the remainder of the school year. I went to alternative school for more than half of my ninth grade year.
I learned something from that incidence. I learned not to trust people, so I didn't. My life remained as a teenager's life should, boyfriends and driving. I graduated high school in 2000 but not before my first arrest. My first job I worked as a pharmacy tech at the pharmacy up the street. The kids at school all took Xanax and pain pills and I had access to all of that. I started stealing the pills off the shelf in the pharmacy and selling them to the kids at school. I was making so much money, you couldn't tell me I wasn't rich. I will never forget the "Precious Moments" figurine I bought my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary. My mother looked at me, knowing I didn't afford this by my part time pharmacy job. One day, I went to work and a guy with a suit was waiting on me. He explained that he knew I had been stealing pills. Around 30 bottles were unaccounted for. I wasn't arrested at that moment but turned myself in a few days later. My daddy was waiting to bail me out as soon as I was booked in. Walking through the last door to freedome, my father was standing there waiting on me. It was the middle of the night but he wouldn't leave me there if he could help it. At this piont, the disappointment was gone, he was heartbroken and confused.
This is my first Mug Shot, the "B" is because it was posted in the local "Bad and Busted" newspaper with other people arrested in the same time frame.
I went to court on the charges a few months later and was placed on probation for five years under the "First Offender's Act." Under this act, as long as you complete probation with no other issues, the felony will not be a part of your permanent record. My parents paid a lot of money to hire an attorney that played golf with the District Attorney to keep me out of prison. Four years and nine months later, I violated the probation with a new, more serious felony. I sold one and a half grams of cocaine to an undercover police officer. My father came to my rescue, hiring another attorney. This time, prison couldn't be avoided. I was sentenced to ten years to serve one and five years to serve one, they ran it concurrent. I was incarcerated for seven months, being released from the worst female prison in Georgia.
These events cover the first half of my life. I turned 21 while in the state penetentiary. I am, now forty. It took me going through pure hell and back before I finally decided to live as a decent human being. The other half of my story is coming, depending on how this one does. I love to write, especially poems. I will post one of my favorites some time in the near future. See you next time and stay out of trouble!
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