BLOG 7 - Gabrielle's Story (Part One)

Part 1 of 4

Gabrielle lived on the first floor of City View Towers; a ten story apartment building on the unfashionable south side of town. Gabrielle was thirty-seven and freakishly skinny. Her weight combined with being abnormally tall for a woman (six foot two inches) resulted in a frame that resembled that of a skeleton. Others in the building referred to her as Bones - a nickname that was most commonly used when Gabrielle was no longer in ear shot. Her neighbors thought they were being clever. However, Gabrielle knew about the nickname and chose to keep quiet, therefore allowing her neighbors to continue to believe they were still being clever when in fact it was her who was the clever one - or so she thought.

Her apartment was small; a studio that smelled of cigarettes and dirty laundry with a fold out couch for a bed . There was a small kitchen with a sink that tended to back up and one bathroom that was in need of a good cleaning; Gabrielle dealt with the grime by always wearing shoes or socks when she was in the bathroom and flip flops when in the shower. The curtains had long ago lost their original color in favor of a yellowish nicotine shade. A large cabinet style television, caked with dust and a broken knob sat in the middle of the room - a sort of center piece.

She spent most of her disability check on cigarettes, coffee, and crack. On Sunday morning she would attend church to ask for forgiveness. On Sunday night she would go to her friend Manny’s to smoke crack. Once her disability check ran out, which it did rather quickly, she would pay for the crack with a hand or blow job. Some days she would pan handle for the money but most often she found it easier just to give head. The rest of the week remained pretty much open but usually involved more crack, more coffee, more cigarettes, and more blowjobs (when the opportunities presented themselves). Gabrielle was a resourceful woman and always remembered to thank God for giving her the strength to not “go all the way” for her wants, therefore allowing her to keep just enough of her dignity to get her through to yet another day; a vicious cycle that eventually brought her back to the next Sunday morning and yet again asking for more forgiveness.

She used the bus for transportation, since she was furnished a bus pass by the state, but tended to avoid it during certain times of the day - for instance when school let out. Kids could be cruel and Gabrielle knew this first hand and did her best to avoid them especially when they were gathered together in packs - that was when they were the most dangerous. The whispers and giggles were too much for her to handle and usually resulted in an uneasiness followed by rapid heartbeat and a tightness in the chest. She often found herself back home gasping for breath and holding back tears. Now, she knew to wait and take a later bus, or if needed to just walk home.
Luckily church was walking distance from her apartment.

The church itself an ancient structure from another time; a time when families consisted of both mothers and fathers - when mothers were adults, father’s were present, and children knew of guns as a game you played with friends. It stood out on the busy street, surrounded by check cashing places, pawn shops and liquor stores, adorned with graffiti and surrounded by fast food trash and used condoms gathered about on the ground along curbsides or caught on the base of city planted trees and shrubs.

Gabrielle sat on the steps of the church smoking a cigarette waiting for Father Michael. There weren’t any services today but Gabrielle knew Father Michael would be arriving at the church eventually and she had nothing else to do anyway. She smoked and watched the people going about their business. She was feeling particularly anxious today as she fidgeted and picked at the scabs on her legs.

To be continued…