Anna; Drug Dealer, Gang Leader and Mother
http://www.pix-aid.org/articles/7/1/Anna-Drug-Dealer-Gang-Leader-and-Mother/Page1.html
By Terry Winn
Published on 03 November 2006
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My name is Anna. My mother was a drug addict. I never knew my father. I went from institution to institution and I never adapted to anything. Finally, when I was 12, I went to live in the streets. |
Anna; Drug Dealer, Gang Leader and Mother
My name is Anna. My mother was a drug addict. I never knew my father. I went from institution to institution and I never adapted to anything. Finally, when I was 12, I went to live in the streets.
It’s not so bad in the streets. I liked living in the streets. There was no fixed time to eat or to sleep. If it were up to me, I would still be in the streets. The street is a house… a house without walls, without a mother, without a father. It’s where you have all your friends. The street is part of me. I left the street for my kids.
At 12 years old, I took drugs and I sold drugs. At 14, the police arrested me for dealing drugs. In prison, they took some tests and told me I was pregnant. I didn’t know that.
Marianna was born in prison and afterward they took her to the hospital. She was put in an institution and I went back to the streets. It was very painful for me. But life was a vicious circle for me. I had to sell drugs so I could have drugs for my own use. I never stole or begged though.
When you sell drugs, you know certain people; you are strong in the streets. No one dares to mess with you. I never had a gun though. If you sell well, people have confidence in you.
One day, the father of Marianna took all the drugs that I should sell. My dealer told me, “You give me the money or you die.” I had already seen him kill five people for the same reason. That’s the thing that scares me the most. I couldn’t pay him so I had to hide for months. Finally (Anna gives a little snicker), lucky me, he was killed before me.
I have three children. Two were born in prison and the other in the street. I hope to recuperate all my children, because they aren’t all with me now. I want to give a better life to my kids… a life that I never had, you know… go to the movies with them; take them to a little park. That’s all I want.
I see now that I was living like a vegetable. I lost a lot of time. I’m still studying in primary school. I am 26 years old. I could have studied. I could have become someone… anyone… a doctor! Now I only wish to work for a good company, maybe something that isn’t just an office cleaning company.
It’s not so bad in the streets. I liked living in the streets. There was no fixed time to eat or to sleep. If it were up to me, I would still be in the streets. The street is a house… a house without walls, without a mother, without a father. It’s where you have all your friends. The street is part of me. I left the street for my kids.
At 12 years old, I took drugs and I sold drugs. At 14, the police arrested me for dealing drugs. In prison, they took some tests and told me I was pregnant. I didn’t know that.
Marianna was born in prison and afterward they took her to the hospital. She was put in an institution and I went back to the streets. It was very painful for me. But life was a vicious circle for me. I had to sell drugs so I could have drugs for my own use. I never stole or begged though.
When you sell drugs, you know certain people; you are strong in the streets. No one dares to mess with you. I never had a gun though. If you sell well, people have confidence in you.
One day, the father of Marianna took all the drugs that I should sell. My dealer told me, “You give me the money or you die.” I had already seen him kill five people for the same reason. That’s the thing that scares me the most. I couldn’t pay him so I had to hide for months. Finally (Anna gives a little snicker), lucky me, he was killed before me.
I have three children. Two were born in prison and the other in the street. I hope to recuperate all my children, because they aren’t all with me now. I want to give a better life to my kids… a life that I never had, you know… go to the movies with them; take them to a little park. That’s all I want.
I see now that I was living like a vegetable. I lost a lot of time. I’m still studying in primary school. I am 26 years old. I could have studied. I could have become someone… anyone… a doctor! Now I only wish to work for a good company, maybe something that isn’t just an office cleaning company.