A Whole New World Part 1 Read Count : 119

Category : Blogs

Sub Category : Motivation
February 1985....

Carl and Stevie were two school dropouts with big dreams. They lived in a trailer park in Sebastian; the surfing capital of Florida. Both guys had the same dream - fortune, success, and a better life in a bigger city in Canada. 

They had it all planned out; find jobs, save up some money and start a lawn mowing business in Vancouver. They figured it would be a lucrative business to venture in especially if they were able to find the perfect location for their business. That was the plan and dream, something they both had been talking about for a while. But with Carl and his mischief, Stevie being the party animal, they didn't have it in them the drive or ambition to execute the plan. Their dream remained a dream. 
 
One afternoon in early February while Carl was in deep slumber, he was suddenly awaken by the sound of his mother's voice screaming out his name.  

"Carl! Get out here!" his mom yelled from the small living room of their trailer. "Next door's junk is all over our yard again." Annoyance was clear in her voice. 

Carl rushed out of his small room and saw his mother looking dishevelled with a broom in her hand, sweeping vigorously at a pile of yellow sand off the floor. A dirty dishrag hung on her left shoulder. He took in the scene before him. Yellow dust was everywhere on the floor and on the furniture. The more his mother swept, tiny particles of dust floated in the air in a freestyle dance before settling on the ground. 

Carl lived in a double wide trailer with his parents and his two younger sisters, Becky and Dixie. Their brand new trailer stuck out like a sore thumb at the Yellow Sand Trailer Park as it looked out of place amidst the other ragged and rundown trailers there. Parked next to a huge sand pit of yellow sand, grime and dust was an everyday problem for his mother who gave her all into cleaning the mess. His mother hated it there. She hated the dust, the sand and the junk from their next door neighbor that kept spilling into their yard. She hated everything about the trailer park. 

Without saying a word, he walked out to their front yard. Sure enough, the yard was a mess. Scraps of rusted metal and pieces of wood from broken furniture were scattered everywhere. Angrily, he picked up the first object nearest to his feet which looked like a rusty metal box and tossed it into his neighbor's yard. Nearby, a bunch of little children were squealing with laughter as they played in the sand pit. Their hair, body and clothes were covered with yellow sand. They were dirty but that didn't seem to bother them one bit. For the most part, Carl didn't really mind the filthy conditions of the trailer park. The huge sand pits the size of several football fields in length and over 50 feet deep in places was where he and the other boys would ride ATV's up and down the walls and over the paths for enjoyment. No, he didn't mind the sand pits that much and besides, he was hardly ever at home. But that afternoon, the dust, the grime, the junk, even the dirty children bothered him. 

After he tossed the last piece of junk next door, he took off. He walked to a local park just walking distance from the trailer park. As he walked, his mind was crammed with a jumble of thoughts. He thought of the way his family's life had turned around after his father left his job in the Navy. Life was so much better back then. His mother was a lot happier then too. After leaving the Navy, to support his family, his father found work with a company that builds engines for small planes, a contrast to when he was building engines for fighter planes in the Navy. Money was pretty tight too. Hence, their resort to living in a trailer park. 

The park was quiet when he arrived. There was not much activity except for a couple of squirrels squabbling over an acorn. He stopped to watch them for a bit, fascinated by the animated sound the two creatures made and wished he understood what they were saying to each other. As he watched, the smaller of the two squirrels grabbed the nut and made a quick run with it. He grinned. He was rooting for the small squirrel. He was always rooting for the underdog, probably because he considered himself as one. 

With both squirrels gone, he made his way towards the swing set, or what's left of it. It was dark green in colour with one broken swing dangling on a chain, and another one with just the chain hanging straight down from the beam with nothing at the end. There were holes on the poles where rust had burned it open like dirty wounds. It was a pathetic sight. He comes to this park daily and the sorry looking swing set had never bothered him but that day it did. Not far from the swing set was a growth of palm trees and palmetto bushes which was the favourite spot for the older kids to hang out and get high as the trees and bushes made a perfect blind to the street. 

"I hope Stevie is around," he muttered to himself, "I need a blunt, bad." 

As he entered the area, he noticed a few of the older kids sitting and chatting on the grass. They each had a glassy look in their eyes, a clear sign that they had already had their fix. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he walked to the spot where he, Stevie and Vicky had marked as their spot. The spot had a large rock next to a little stream surrounded by palmetto bushes which made the perfect prop to sit on. The area had enough cover to hide them from view and the little stream provided a sense of romantic beauty to the park which otherwise looked harsh and uninviting. 

Carl was in luck. Stevie was there with Vicky sharing a blunt. His mood quickly improved at the sight of his friends. He made his way towards them and Stevie greeted him with a fresh roll of joint. 

Stevie; with his six foot frame, blonde hair, and blue eyes was a very charismatic and popular guy. At 21 years old, he was the oldest of the trio. He was a party animal, the kind that plays hard and parties hard. As strong as an ox, Stevie was not easily fazed and was always quick to jump into a fight. He was the one who always laughed the loudest and had the most fun of them all, or so it seemed. Truth is, he was hard to read. Carl didn't really run in the same circle with Stevie. He would only look for Stevie when he needed to get high. Vicky was the only thing they had in common and she was Stevie's girlfriend. 

Vicky was a sassy and spunky fireball from New York. With long, raven black curly hair and a cute face, it was her accent and city ways that drew Carl to her. Standing at 5 feet 2 inches tall, she had the kind of spirit that didn't halt at challenges. At just 14 years old, she was very comfortable in her own skin. She was quite reckless and didn't give a hoot about what people think of her. Carl remembered an incident when the three of them were playing strip Monopoly at her house in Sebastian Highlands where she had easily removed her clothes with laughter each time she lost one of her properties. That was Vicky; always game for anything. She was a party animal like Stevie and that was how they both hooked up as an item. And like Stevie, she was also good at placing her masks. Looking at her, no one would ever realize how troubled and tortured she really was inside. Even though there was a four year age difference between them, Carl loved Vicky as she was his best friend. 

Carl was born in a quiet little town in Spain. At 18, standing at 5 feet 5 inches tall, he had thick, curly black hair that was almost an Afro. With his friendly brown eyes and ever ready smile, he was pretty much liked by everyone with the exception of the parents who had daughters living in the trailer park. A natural joker, a troublemaker, he was often misunderstood as being promiscuous due to his friendly nature. He was also reckless in his ways, with no limits when it comes to be daring. He was sexually molested at a young age by a family friend, a secret which he had kept very closely. Like Vicky and Stevie, he too had mastered the art of keeping his masks in place. Looking at him, no one would see the damage and hurt he was living with. 

As Carl sat on the rock smoking the joint, Stevie was busy filling them in on the wild party he had attended the previous night; supplying them with great details of how much booze and drugs were available at the party, oblivious to the fact that Vicky was extra quiet that day. 

"You're awfully quiet today, V," Carl said, cutting Stevie off of his chatter. "Everything okay?" 

Stevie immediately stopped talking and riveted his attention on Vicky. Carl looked at her facial expression which didn't show much of anything for him to read. He had been friends with Vicky long before Stevie came into the picture and they had a pretty tight bond. He could sense that something was up but he didn't want to push her. He knew well enough to just give her an opening for her to speak up.  

Vicky stared ahead. She took a long drag of the joint and exhaled slowly. With no sense of urgency, she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. "My dad's been doing things to me,"  

"What do you mean by doing things to you?" Carl asked, alarm and concern thick in his voice. 

Stevie shifted his position on the rock but didn't say a word. Like Carl, he too was curious to hear her explanation. His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he waited to hear his girlfriend's answer. Vicky felt uneasy. For a brief moment, she regretted saying anything but it had come to a point where she couldn't take the abuse anymore. She wanted out and she knew she couldn't possibly do it alone. Carl and Stevie were her only ticket to escape. 

Finally, she blurted out. "He's been touching me. Ever since my mom got sick, he's been turning to me, making me the object of his sick lust." She stopped talking for a moment and brushed away tears that were threatening to spill. "Mom doesn't know what's been going on. She's sick and has enough on her plate so I can't burden her with my problem. He knows that and is using that to his advantage. But I just can't take it anymore. I feel so used and damaged. I want to get away, as far away as I can from him but I don't have the money to do so." This time she couldn't hold back her tears. She began sobbing and Stevie quickly pulled her into his arms to comfort her. Carl was too stunned to say anything. Inside, he was boiling mad. 

"I'll figure something out, baby," Stevie said as he held Vicky tighter. "Even if I have to beg, borrow or steal, I'll find a way to get the money." 

"Count me in," Carl said quietly. By hook or by crook, he was determined to help Vicky out of her predicament.

Loyalty among close friends is a common thing but in this case, was Carl blinded by his loyalty towards Vicky? Or was he trying to prove something to himself? With no job, no money, and still dependent on his family to survive, was he being hasty in making his decision to help Vicky out of her predicament? Was he 
reacting without thinking things through?

Comments

  • Sep 04, 2020

  • These are all good questions at the end of this, Zee. Its ironic how a life can pivot in any direction based in questions like these.

    Sep 04, 2020

  • poor guys, completely dislike child molesters, be good if somehow that kind of stuff could be eradicated from the face of the earth.

    Sep 06, 2020

  • Shalom Chika

    Shalom Chika

    doesn't look complete, stopped at "he was determined to help vicky out of"

    Sep 10, 2020

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