History
2,016 Words Total
"Even though I have the IQ of a genius, I still managed to fall down the wrong path."
Written in First Person
I made some mistakes as a child. Well, a lot of mistakes. I grew up in what people call the systems. I was passed around from home to home, not really staying in one place for too long. I never meet my parents and I never did find out why I was placed in the foster care system. But I do remember when I was little, I fantasying about finding a family. I always imagined my future father being a firefighter, like the ones I saw on the news that saved people. My future mother was supposed to be a writer. In this imaginary family, I would have a little sister to protect, an older brother to look up too, and a fluffy dog that would sleep at the foot of my bed. But as I got older, and traveled to more and more homes. My dream family slowly started to fade away from my memory.
I remember being in middle school. I was desperate for any type of family. I just wanted a place that I could call home. A place where there would always be the same people waiting for me. At this point in my life, I didn't care who or what that family was. One night, when my current foster parents forgot to pick me up from after-school robotics practice, I meet a stranger. He told me he was from a group called the Black Dragon.
I didn't know it then, but this stranger, his voice would become a demon I could never forget. The stranger told me his name, Liam. At the time, Liam seemed nice. He offered me a ride home. The next day after practice, he was there waiting for me again. He started to become a consistent person in my life. It got to the point where I would look for him when I got out of school or on the weekends when I wanted to escape from the house I was living in.
It was in seventh grade. Liam had come to pick me up again from school. On the way back to my foster family's house he had asked me if I wanted to meet his "family" because they wanted to meet me. I remember getting excited. There was a family that wanted to meet me. I don't remember when the last time someone had said that to me. I agreed. This family turned out to be the violent gang that ruled the surrounding areas; Black Dragons.
And before I knew it, I was a member of the black dragon gang. I hate to admit it, But I enjoyed being in the black dragons. I enjoyed the feeling of being apart of a group. The feeling of being needed and the feeling of being in charge. I would do anything that they asked me to. I would pick locks, steel things for them, vandalize properties, bully other, hot-wire cars, and other activities I'm not too proud of. I was lucky though, I was smart enough not to get caught. I would use other people, let them take the blame for something I would do. I climbed the ranks black dragon. By my Junior year in high school, I was already serving the head boss. I become rude, cruel, and mean to others. I often skipped school. I found it to be a waste of my time. Overall, at this point in my life, I thought I was unstoppable, that I was better than other people. The gang I belonged too, they encouraged this thinking of mine. I was content with this life, or so I thought. But then I meet Gramps, and everything changed.
Gramps was an elderly man that owned an old auto body shop in town. I thought it would be funny if I broke into his shop and poked holes into all the tires in the shop. But one thing I didn't expect was to find Gramps in the shop working on an old car restoration project. Of course, I was shocked when I broke in to find someone there. But what surprised me more was that instead of yelling at me like other people did, he glanced over at me and asked if I could bring him over a socket wrench. I was shocked so I complied with his order. Was I returned with the wrench, he took it from my hand and continued to work on the old car. He worked in silence for a little bit as I awkwardly stood there. He glanced back up at me and said, "Well, if you're going to stand there like a goof, the come over here and give me a hand you good for nothing kid." I spend the next four hours sitting there passing Gramps tool after tool that he needed. I would then lessen to him ramble on about how you fix this and that.
I found myself outside Gramps auto body shop more than I would care to admit. The big garage doors where open and I could see a few workers inside. Gramps was sitting on a chair observing one of the workers and commenting on everything that the person did. Gramps then glanced over my way, a smile formed on his face. "Well if it ain't the good for nothing kid again." He said as he walked over to me. Gramps was a kind old man who was a bit aloof. He invited me into the garage part of the shop and I sat there watching the workers work. Every now and then Gramps would try and get me to say why I wasn't at school. Normally I would have taken pride in being suspended because of a fight, but when I would look at Gramps to tell him that, I felt, ashamed of myself.
It was near the end of the day. The shop had already closed and Gramps was working on that old car again. "You know, you don't talk much." He said in the middle of his ramblings. "I don't even know ya name." he glanced over to me. He scrunched his face. "You got a name right?" he questioned as he stopped working to focus his full attention on me.
"Not one I'm proud to tell you off," I mumbled as I looked at the ground. Whenever I was around Gramps, I felt ashamed of my actions outside of the shop but I also felt free. Like I could be myself, I enjoyed lessening to Gramps and joking around with the workers.
"Well, if you ain't got a name, I'll give ya one!" He exclaimed as he turned around to look around the shop. I watch his eyes land on Ryker's Motter Oil. "Ryker, I'll call you Ryker for now."
"After the Motter Oil?" I questions?
"Well I always liked the name, besides, you're covered in it right now. I swear every time I glance your way, there a new spot of oil on your clothes. Honestly, you should be happy with it you good for nothing kid." He responded as he went back to work. He was silent for a moment which was odd for the old man as he never shut up. "You know, I always wanted a son." He said as he glanced at the engine of the car. "If I had a son, I'd of named him Ryker." My eyes widened as I looked at the old man.
"I won't make a good son," I said as I passed him another tool that he needed. I was at the point I didn't need him to tell me what tool he needed to work with next. "I hang around a crowd I'm not proud of, I skip school, have bad grades, and can be violent at times," I mumbled more to myself than to Gramps.
"You really are good for nothing kid." Gramps sighed, "I have a hard time believing your a bad kid Ryker. You're extremely intelligent, you even picked up on most of the trick of a mechanic just by watching my workers. You are kind and considerate of everyone in this shop. You even put up with an old fart like myself. You're still young Ryker, you can turn yourself around."
I watched Gramps work for another hour neither one of us said a word until Gramps spoke again. "If you really are in a bad spot, I could offer you a job here." He glanced back over at me. "You know how to do most of the basic stuff already, the rest won't be hard to teach ya. If you need a place to stay, I could put a bed in the storage room above the shop. Get ya a mini fridge up there. Make it all nice and cozy you know. But in exchange, you got to make better grades."
I look at Gramps. His eyes were kind, they reminded me of what home would look like. He wasn't a firefighter like in my dream family, but he was turning into the father that I always wanted. "Alright, I can make that deal with you."
"Alright! It's a done deal. But don't think because your ah high school students that you can get off with work easy." He said as he waved a wrench around. "I'm going to work ya to the bone you here."
I started to slowly lose contact with the members of the Black Dragon. I had stopped visiting as often when I had meet Gramps, but now I had almost completely lost all contact with them. I even ended up blocking Liams number in my phone. I started to go to school more regularly. I had also stopped getting into fights and picking on kids. I got more involved robotics again and I had pulled my grades up. Gramps and the other workers at the shop had spent countless hours with me working on homework and helping me catch back up with my classmates. I started to become more carefree. I goof around a lot with the other workers and started to genuinely enjoy my life. I got to be a new version of myself, a better one. I started to then forget my old life, I eventually forgot my real name. I ended up taking on Gramps last name and changing my first name to Ryker. I was a new person, a happier person.
I ended up enrolling in an out of state college with Gramps help. I had decided on becoming a teacher. I wanted to be able to be a person that can have a positive impact on the youth. Just like how Gramps was a big impact in my life. I wanted to be a mentor or a parent figure for a student that might not have one. Although my original degree was in biology education, I ended up at a school as a shop or mechanic teacher. Something I think I enjoy more than biology.
I ended up working for a correctional school. A school that specializes in students who are "at risk". I bet I was on the road to a school like this if it wasn't for Gramps. But if I could change my ways and succeed, then I know I can help other student succeed as well. Although I don't live in the same state as Gramps anyway more, I still call and talk to him and the other workers daily. My students enjoy being able to face time the workers at the shop and see how a real shop runs and operates. They also like it when Gramps tells them funny stories about things that I did back in high school, that and the fact he still is trying to figure out how to work face time. More often than not we get a nice zoomed in video of the side of his face. My students, they find it amusing.
"Even though I have the IQ of a genius, I still managed to fall down the wrong path."
Written in First Person
I made some mistakes as a child. Well, a lot of mistakes. I grew up in what people call the systems. I was passed around from home to home, not really staying in one place for too long. I never meet my parents and I never did find out why I was placed in the foster care system. But I do remember when I was little, I fantasying about finding a family. I always imagined my future father being a firefighter, like the ones I saw on the news that saved people. My future mother was supposed to be a writer. In this imaginary family, I would have a little sister to protect, an older brother to look up too, and a fluffy dog that would sleep at the foot of my bed. But as I got older, and traveled to more and more homes. My dream family slowly started to fade away from my memory.
I remember being in middle school. I was desperate for any type of family. I just wanted a place that I could call home. A place where there would always be the same people waiting for me. At this point in my life, I didn't care who or what that family was. One night, when my current foster parents forgot to pick me up from after-school robotics practice, I meet a stranger. He told me he was from a group called the Black Dragon.
I didn't know it then, but this stranger, his voice would become a demon I could never forget. The stranger told me his name, Liam. At the time, Liam seemed nice. He offered me a ride home. The next day after practice, he was there waiting for me again. He started to become a consistent person in my life. It got to the point where I would look for him when I got out of school or on the weekends when I wanted to escape from the house I was living in.
It was in seventh grade. Liam had come to pick me up again from school. On the way back to my foster family's house he had asked me if I wanted to meet his "family" because they wanted to meet me. I remember getting excited. There was a family that wanted to meet me. I don't remember when the last time someone had said that to me. I agreed. This family turned out to be the violent gang that ruled the surrounding areas; Black Dragons.
And before I knew it, I was a member of the black dragon gang. I hate to admit it, But I enjoyed being in the black dragons. I enjoyed the feeling of being apart of a group. The feeling of being needed and the feeling of being in charge. I would do anything that they asked me to. I would pick locks, steel things for them, vandalize properties, bully other, hot-wire cars, and other activities I'm not too proud of. I was lucky though, I was smart enough not to get caught. I would use other people, let them take the blame for something I would do. I climbed the ranks black dragon. By my Junior year in high school, I was already serving the head boss. I become rude, cruel, and mean to others. I often skipped school. I found it to be a waste of my time. Overall, at this point in my life, I thought I was unstoppable, that I was better than other people. The gang I belonged too, they encouraged this thinking of mine. I was content with this life, or so I thought. But then I meet Gramps, and everything changed.
Gramps was an elderly man that owned an old auto body shop in town. I thought it would be funny if I broke into his shop and poked holes into all the tires in the shop. But one thing I didn't expect was to find Gramps in the shop working on an old car restoration project. Of course, I was shocked when I broke in to find someone there. But what surprised me more was that instead of yelling at me like other people did, he glanced over at me and asked if I could bring him over a socket wrench. I was shocked so I complied with his order. Was I returned with the wrench, he took it from my hand and continued to work on the old car. He worked in silence for a little bit as I awkwardly stood there. He glanced back up at me and said, "Well, if you're going to stand there like a goof, the come over here and give me a hand you good for nothing kid." I spend the next four hours sitting there passing Gramps tool after tool that he needed. I would then lessen to him ramble on about how you fix this and that.
I found myself outside Gramps auto body shop more than I would care to admit. The big garage doors where open and I could see a few workers inside. Gramps was sitting on a chair observing one of the workers and commenting on everything that the person did. Gramps then glanced over my way, a smile formed on his face. "Well if it ain't the good for nothing kid again." He said as he walked over to me. Gramps was a kind old man who was a bit aloof. He invited me into the garage part of the shop and I sat there watching the workers work. Every now and then Gramps would try and get me to say why I wasn't at school. Normally I would have taken pride in being suspended because of a fight, but when I would look at Gramps to tell him that, I felt, ashamed of myself.
It was near the end of the day. The shop had already closed and Gramps was working on that old car again. "You know, you don't talk much." He said in the middle of his ramblings. "I don't even know ya name." he glanced over to me. He scrunched his face. "You got a name right?" he questioned as he stopped working to focus his full attention on me.
"Not one I'm proud to tell you off," I mumbled as I looked at the ground. Whenever I was around Gramps, I felt ashamed of my actions outside of the shop but I also felt free. Like I could be myself, I enjoyed lessening to Gramps and joking around with the workers.
"Well, if you ain't got a name, I'll give ya one!" He exclaimed as he turned around to look around the shop. I watch his eyes land on Ryker's Motter Oil. "Ryker, I'll call you Ryker for now."
"After the Motter Oil?" I questions?
"Well I always liked the name, besides, you're covered in it right now. I swear every time I glance your way, there a new spot of oil on your clothes. Honestly, you should be happy with it you good for nothing kid." He responded as he went back to work. He was silent for a moment which was odd for the old man as he never shut up. "You know, I always wanted a son." He said as he glanced at the engine of the car. "If I had a son, I'd of named him Ryker." My eyes widened as I looked at the old man.
"I won't make a good son," I said as I passed him another tool that he needed. I was at the point I didn't need him to tell me what tool he needed to work with next. "I hang around a crowd I'm not proud of, I skip school, have bad grades, and can be violent at times," I mumbled more to myself than to Gramps.
"You really are good for nothing kid." Gramps sighed, "I have a hard time believing your a bad kid Ryker. You're extremely intelligent, you even picked up on most of the trick of a mechanic just by watching my workers. You are kind and considerate of everyone in this shop. You even put up with an old fart like myself. You're still young Ryker, you can turn yourself around."
I watched Gramps work for another hour neither one of us said a word until Gramps spoke again. "If you really are in a bad spot, I could offer you a job here." He glanced back over at me. "You know how to do most of the basic stuff already, the rest won't be hard to teach ya. If you need a place to stay, I could put a bed in the storage room above the shop. Get ya a mini fridge up there. Make it all nice and cozy you know. But in exchange, you got to make better grades."
I look at Gramps. His eyes were kind, they reminded me of what home would look like. He wasn't a firefighter like in my dream family, but he was turning into the father that I always wanted. "Alright, I can make that deal with you."
"Alright! It's a done deal. But don't think because your ah high school students that you can get off with work easy." He said as he waved a wrench around. "I'm going to work ya to the bone you here."
I started to slowly lose contact with the members of the Black Dragon. I had stopped visiting as often when I had meet Gramps, but now I had almost completely lost all contact with them. I even ended up blocking Liams number in my phone. I started to go to school more regularly. I had also stopped getting into fights and picking on kids. I got more involved robotics again and I had pulled my grades up. Gramps and the other workers at the shop had spent countless hours with me working on homework and helping me catch back up with my classmates. I started to become more carefree. I goof around a lot with the other workers and started to genuinely enjoy my life. I got to be a new version of myself, a better one. I started to then forget my old life, I eventually forgot my real name. I ended up taking on Gramps last name and changing my first name to Ryker. I was a new person, a happier person.
I ended up enrolling in an out of state college with Gramps help. I had decided on becoming a teacher. I wanted to be able to be a person that can have a positive impact on the youth. Just like how Gramps was a big impact in my life. I wanted to be a mentor or a parent figure for a student that might not have one. Although my original degree was in biology education, I ended up at a school as a shop or mechanic teacher. Something I think I enjoy more than biology.
I ended up working for a correctional school. A school that specializes in students who are "at risk". I bet I was on the road to a school like this if it wasn't for Gramps. But if I could change my ways and succeed, then I know I can help other student succeed as well. Although I don't live in the same state as Gramps anyway more, I still call and talk to him and the other workers daily. My students enjoy being able to face time the workers at the shop and see how a real shop runs and operates. They also like it when Gramps tells them funny stories about things that I did back in high school, that and the fact he still is trying to figure out how to work face time. More often than not we get a nice zoomed in video of the side of his face. My students, they find it amusing.