Chapter 2

All my life, the only person that I had was my grandmother. We didn't live a glamorous life but we lived a moderately happy one. It was just she and I, ever since I was a kid. I have no knowledge of who my mother is, and honestly, I’m glad that a woman that selfish is not a part of my life. After leaving me with my grandmother since I was a baby, my mother was as good as dead because my grandmother become my mother. 

She raised me all on her own with no outside help and that is why I’m certain I’ll probably never love anyone as much as I love her.  

She died peacefully in her sleep- I was in the room with her, desperately clutching her hand and unable to fight back my sobs and pleas because I knew life would never be the same after she was gone. It was painful, but I knew it was time. She was 97 years old, and she was in a lot of pain before that, so I was glad that it all finally came to an end.

After she passed away, she'd left me everything of hers. Her insurance pay out was $60,000 and I gladly took the money- happy that I didn't have anyone to share it with.

She passed away during my senior year and the second that she had died, I dropped out of school and sold everything of hers. I sold her house and got $100,000 from all of her possessions because I wanted to get rid of anything and everything that reminded me of her.

It hurt too badly to remember her.

After I'd sold everything, I settled all of her debts and at the end I had a little over a hundred thousand dollars and I decided to get on the road.

I'm a singer and I love performing, but I didn't want to be bound to any kind of contract and record label. I wanted to be free especially after all of those years of taking care of my grandmother. I just wanted to be out there in the world.

So that's what I did. I bought my beautiful car. It was small, and very affordable with gas.

I wasn't into the materialistic things of life. I just wanted to travel and sing, and I had the money to do it. But that didn't mean I was spending it recklessly.

I was wise with money, maybe too wise and stingy with it. I still slept at gas stations in my small car, I performed on street corners to be able to buy food and I rented out rooms in shifty looking motels and shopped at thrift shops.

I was traveling the United States, but not the big cities. I needed a break from that life, so, I explored the small towns. Those places you stumble upon by accident- that's where I went.

Life is so much simpler in small towns. You don't need so much money and you can just live life and not be in the rush that people in the city are. 

Vityhill, that's what the board read. 

When I arrived, I started looking around for motels, but I met this lovely older lady at this other small café when I told them I was new in town and needed a place to stay and she overheard. 

She told me that she had a place for me and told me that I had to pay only $50 a month. I jumped at the opportunity because I didn't care what kind of slum it was, I just needed a place to stay. 

She took me back to her house. Her house was a house that was in good condition (which I was glad to see) and she led me into her basement and told me that I had two other "roommates" staying in the basement. 

Her basement was divided into three different living spaces. Each living space had a bedroom, a bathroom and a mini kitchen. 

When I moved in, the place wasn't in good condition at all, the floorboards were all wet and damaged and there was this old dirty mattress on the floor but I dealt with it for one night. The next morning I asked the old lady (her name's Georgia) if I could fix up the place and she told me that I was free to do as I pleased because I was the one staying down here. 

So I put in some work. I removed the floorboards, that didn't cost as much as you'd think that it would because everything was so affordable. I spent a few hundreds to replace the floorboards, and I did a cute little renovation. 

There wasn't a lot of space down here so that helped me with renovations because that meant I didn't have to spend a lot of money. I bought a used fridge and stove for the kitchen and put in brand new subway tiles because all the tiles were rotten and broken and there were termites all over the kitchen so I didn't have a choice. 

My bedroom was the most fun I had and it was pretty simple too. They just put in some fairy lights for me, a new bed and sheets and I had a bedroom where I felt safe and secure in, and I was excited about it because my bedroom is my safe space. 

As an artist, it's important for me to be comfortable so that I can create beautiful music. 

My roommates were pretty cool people. There was Amelia who works two jobs, at the café during the day, and at night, she works at another restaurant as a waitress. She's rarely free but I love everything about her. She's only 16 years old and dropped out of school two years ago. She didn't tell me why and I didn't ask. 

She’s got brightly coloured yellow hair and yellow eyebrows, her skin was a concerning pale and her eyes were a soft brown. She looked so dainty and innocent. 

My other roommate is Lexy, and she works at the gas station. Lexy is a stoner and she seems to just go with the flow. 

Lexy’s got short brown hair in an untidy and messy bob that I can tell she had done herself. Her eyes were a beautiful blue and she loved to tan to the point that I’m certain she might need an intervention.

It was like I'd found my friend soul mates because I connected with them a whole lot more than I did with previous friends I'd made this past year and a half. 

My first week here has been alright, but now I'm ready to start performing once again. My fingers tingle in excitement as I prepare myself for the day. 

I make sure I have my mic and speaker as I close the trunk of my car and climb into the driver's seat. I was going to look for a spot where I can perform today and hope that I may get some tips. 

But in order to find a spot, I must explore, and explore, I will. 

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