Page 45 - DAPHNE HART - MY MAMA STORY (AUDIO VERSION)

Needless to say, I couldn’t go back home for a while. So I spent the
time at the Presser’s place. We became friends — he was six years my

junior. But because my life was so miserable, I found myself spending

more time with him — not intimately at first, just friends.

So with help from this faithful friend, my tormentor’s mother, and his

sisters, I made plans to leave the country. I promised the Presser that if
he helped me get away, I would send for him. With that promise, he

bent over backward to help me.

The necessary papers were not easy to come by, but with help from my

friend Jennifer and the Presser — who I now call my friend — I

secretly got it done. I made plans with the children’s aunts: Aunty
Elane, Aunty Yvonne, and Grandmother (who everyone lovingly

calls Sister Winnie) to take care of them.

So, on the first day of June 1972, I made a run for my life. I landed in

Canada on June 2, 1972, with ten dollars to my name.

I stayed with a friend who was staying with her friend, sleeping on the
floor — or sometimes on two chairs. Then I got sick. For two weeks, I

was not able to go anywhere or see any sights. According to my papers,
I was on a two-week vacation. So it was suggested that I ask for an

extension.

I didn’t only get an extension — I was told by the officer that I could

apply for landed status if I wanted to stay in the country. I had landed

in Canada — scared to death — with only ten dollars to my name.

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