Page 30 - DAPHNE HART - MY MAMA STORY (AUDIO VERSION)

CHAPTER EIGHT

I
nstead of figuring out a way for me to attend high school, they
sent me away to stay with some people — as what was called a

schoolgirl. They were the people who started the very first bus

company in Mandeville. I was supposed to work for them during the
day and go to school in the evenings, but they wanted too much from

me and never sent me to school. So I ran away, came back home, and
returned to school.

The teachers must have seen my potential because they gave me
another chance to do after-school lessons again. But when I told my

parents about the second opportunity I got at school — because my dad
was so bossy and my mother had little or no say — he took one look at

me and said it again: “Nope. Never going to happen. So stop bothering

me.”

I was so hurt I wanted to die.

That’s when my mom decided to send me away again. We wept for

days. She didn’t do it right away because she wanted me to finish
school first. I had so-called family members who lived closer to

Mandeville, so my mom was making all these plans so I could stay with
them. That way, I could go to school from there. Good idea? No — bad

idea. They were super jealous of me and didn’t send me anywhere.

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