我二零一零年高中毕业。那年，因为我的愿望是成為一个舞者，所以常常跟朋友们一起練舞到很晚。有一天，我去了我最好的朋友Cheavin家練舞。我記得,那一天我们从晚上10点排練到早上三点，練完了以后才回家。
那一天我跳得累死了，虽然想早一點休息，可是也想先放松一下，所以我决定开另外一条平常不常開的路回家。从我朋友的房子离开的时候，我开到了第一個停车標誌來，然后往左拐上一个窄窄的小路，就一直开。几分钟以后，我看到兩個人在人行道上吵架，所以我慢慢地开，想看看他們在爭論甚麼。可是夜里漆黑一片，所以我看不清楚。
我越开越靠近他们，发现了那是一个男人和一个女人在争论。我自言自语地说：「这两个人到底在争论什么？奇怪。」
那个女人一看到我的车，就一邊惨叫一邊跑來。尖叫 着說，“让我进去，拜託！讓我進去！“ 當我還坐在車裡覺得很困惑的當下，她已經打开車门，让自己进来了。她歇斯底里的哭泣 著大喊著說：「我不在乎你帶我去哪里，請立刻帶我離開！」我驚訝地看着这個头发和衣服一團亂的女人，心中想著：这个跑到我在车里的陌生女人是谁？ 這個情況是怎麼一回事？ 雖然一時之間還想不清楚，不过，我开始开车了。
几分钟过去了，我仍然很困惑、不明白发生了什么事，这个人到底是谁，於是我问了一堆问题：
"你是谁?"
“现在很晚了，为什么人在外面”
刚才和你吵架的那個男人是谁？
她告诉我她正要從工作的地方、旁边的汉堡王 回家。 虽然我确实不知道她是不是真的住在這附近，但我知道她对我撒谎 ，因為那家汉堡王实际上在Cheavin的房子附近，我也知道这家店凌晨一點就休息了。所以我知道她在骗我，於是我问她：为什么她现在「才」走路回家。几秒钟之后，她开始讲 讲述她的真实 故事。
“虽然我不记得她的名字，可是记得他是一个妓女。
几年前，她与她的前男友發生問題。 他们有兩三个孩子，但是孩子的父亲拋棄了他们。 於是她陷入了嚴重的沮丧，並且酗酒， 這種情形经常发生在分手之后。 她的收人不稳定，对她来说，出卖她的身体是唯一的选择。 那一年她成了妓女。 她说，这是她作为一个母亲责任的一种方式。这样才能提供她的孩子吃的，用的，等等 生活中需要的东西。
那个女人的父母知道他所有的麻烦，也要帮她，可是这个女人居然不要接到父母的帮助。她不是不感谢父母要把她的麻烦成为少一点，而是她觉得她自己因该解决的这件情况。那个女人跟我也谈到孩子的父亲回来孩子们的生活里，但是不幸的是，福清得到孩子们抚养权。根据他个告诉我，爸爸受到了抚养权以后，孩子们的生活就变得好得多。
当时我是十八岁，那时候不知道”承担自己的责任”是什么意思。当然，今天我懂的事请比以前很多，所以现在了解每个人承担责任的方式都不是一样的。 然后，每个人都各有各的对面责任的方法。拿这个故事来说，这个女人反对父母的帮助，因为他说了他自己解决这问题就好。我倒是觉得一定会受别人的帮助，这样更快能给我带来快乐的生活。不过谁能说对面负责的方法是最好的？
ENGLISH- TRANSLATION
HER HARDSHIP
In 2010, I graduated from high school. That year, my dreams were to become a professional dancer and so I would often stay out late rehearsing with friends. One day, I stood over my good friend Cheavin’s house practicing until late. I remember that we begin practicing around 10 pm. We danced for hours and around two, or three o'clock in the morning, I finally decided it was time for me to go home.
That day, I was so exhausted but I still decided to take a different, slightly longer route home. The night was pitch black and quiet. After the first stop sign, I made a left, and then a right into a tight road. I immediately saw two people on the sidewalk. They were the only two outside.
It was too dark to tell what was going on, but the closer I got I realized it was some sort of struggle between the man and the women. I thought to myself, this couple has to be crazy arguing on the streets at this hour. But then I wondered what they were arguing about. As I got closer, the faint yelling of the woman, turned into screams of distress and help. She struggled to get onto the streets because the man was firmly gripping her wrist and pulling her towards him.
When I realized what was going on, I immediately turned on my Buicks hi-beams. It started the man and he let go of the women. She immediate dashed to my car and began to violently bang on my car hood. She screamed, “ LET ME IN, PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!” I stood there, confused, and she opened the door, letting herself in. Hysterically crying, she shouted “ I don’t care where you take me, just drive! Please!” I looked at this lady, hair and make up a mess, clothes distress and I started wondering who is this stranger in my car? How did I even get involved in this situation? Nonetheless, I began to drive.
A few minutes had passed by, still confused and not comprehending what going on or who she was, I began to ask her some questions;
Who are you?
Why are you in the streets at this time?
Who was that man?
She told me she was returning home from work. She told me she worked at the Burger King that was around the corner. Although I didn’t know for sure if she truly lived around here, I knew already she lied to me because that Burger King she mentioned is actually located nearby Cheavin’s house, and I knew that it closes at one in the morning. So I asked why was she “just walking back home now.”
It grew silent for a few seconds before she began telling her true story.
I don’t remember her name, but I remember she was a prostitute.
A couple of years earlier, she had begun having relationship problems with her boyfriend and father of her kids. Together they had either 2 or 3 kids, but at some point, the father had abandoned them. As it often happens after a bad breakup, especially of this magnitude, she sank into a deep depression and alcoholism; and she was now a single parent. She was financially unstable, and to her, selling her body was the only option to provide. So she became a prostitute. She justified it stating that this was the form she can take the responsibility and fulfill her duties as a mother.
She didn’t have anyone else in her life, or at least people she would let back in. Her parents knew very well the situation that she was in. In fact, the father who originally abandoned her and the children came back into the kids life. Ironically, he ended up with custody of the kids. She told me the kids were doing well, even better than when they were with her.
I was 18 years old then, and I didn’t understand what it meant to take responsibility for my own decisions in this way. The idea of “taking responsibility” for your actions are abstract ideas and it comes in many forms, unique to each individual. Now that I am much older, I question if it correct to judge others character based on how they decide to take responsibility for their actions?
