My Father Forced Me To Beg On The Streets To Earn Money For Him
Hey, guys! My name is Amber. And today I can happily say, I have a roof over my head, clean clothes, and I've just had a really nice dinner. What's so special about that? Believe it or not, before, like less than a year ago, you would've found me sitting in the streets with a sign that says: 'Homeless & Hungry.'
Everything that was happening in our family at that time came to this. My dad was a failed lawyer. And my mom was a housewife. I also had three younger siblings who needed to be fed and clothed. And when it seemed it couldn't get any worse...
One day I came back home from school to see my mom crying. My dad looked absolutely lost. It turned out that he had been fired. That was the moment of total collapse, because there was nothing else we could do then, but to mortgage our house. We were just drowning in debt.
My father became very irritable and hot-tempered. Sometimes, when we were having lunch, if instant noodles could even be called 'lunch,' I would occasionally break a cup. My dad would get furious! He'd cry out: 'You are nothing but a burden in this house.' But I was only fifteen years old and I was still in school. How could I help?"
Time went on, but the situation was not getting any better. The last place I wanted to go was home, so I would spend my time anywhere, but not there. One evening when I was walking along the street, I saw a woman digging through the garbage near the supermarket. I took a closer look and realized it was my mother. That was the final straw. I ran away as fast as I could. I don't know how long I was running, but I finally found myself on a completely unknown street. Suddenly I noticed a plastic cup near the bench. There was some coffee left in there. I was so hungry and thirsty! So I grabbed the cup and chugged it all. What a disgrace! I sat on the ground and burst into tears. I was weeping and sobbing, when I heard a clanking sound. I looked up to see a nice old man, who put some coins into the coffee cup. I was speechless, but I took them. There was twelve dollars in there! It was enough to get something to eat for my younger brothers and sisters. I thought it was a good day. The kids didn't go to bed hungry that night, but just you wait. My father listened to my story very carefully and thoughtfully said: 'It took you a minute to earn twelve dollars doing nothing. Why don't you go and do it again with a sign or something?' I couldn't believe my ears! My own father was telling me to become a beggar! My mom immediately leapt to my defense and it all ended up in a big fight. I couldn't sleep a wink that night. In the morning I took a piece of cardboard and made a sign. When my mom saw it, she tried to persuade me that I didn't have to do that. But I just said: ' I saw what you were doing near the supermarket that evening. If you can do that, why can't I beg?' My mom didn't say a word.
So, after school I went to some unknown street, where nobody could possibly recognize me. Suddenly I saw a group of people with signs and one guy who played the guitar for money. That was the right place for this kind of business. I sat on the ground and started waiting. I never felt more humiliated and ashamed in my life. But that day's luck was with me. People would come up to me and give me money. I think I was getting more than my 'co-workers', so I started feeling their unkind eyes on me. I collected more than fifty dollars that evening. I think I had never had so much money in my hands before! When I brought it home, my father was really happy and proud of me, but he immediately said I had to do it again.
Now I had to go to that street every single day after school and beg for money. And every day my father asked me to go there again. Then he suggested that I didn't just sit there doing nothing. He thought I would bring much more, if I faked some disease symptoms like cerebral palsy. That was too much for me! I exclaimed I was not going to do that under any circumstances, but my father was adamant about it. And he forbid me to tell mom a word.
I felt so disgusting, but I did what my father had ordered me to do. And I actually started getting more money for it. But that was the point when my street colleagues decided to not let me get away with it. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by all of them. One guy told me to get the hell off of that street and to not come back ever again. I got really scared, but then I heard somebody shouting: 'Leave her alone!' That was that very guy with the guitar. He was my age, but for some reason all those people listened to him and went back to their signs. Then he smiled and sat next to me.
LearnAndRecord
2015年2月8日
2019年11月11日
第1738天
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