Tessie D

I didn’t get a chance to post last Thursday, and now it’s already Monday. 

Where to start? 

Home.

School.

Work.

That’s about it right now. I am either at home, school, or work. I haven’t hung out with anyone in a few weeks because I have been working evenings and weekends. Lisa and Amy said something about it in Pre-Cal but I don’t know what to say. I finally gave Momma some of my tips, and she so happy. Between all the shifts I worked last week, I’d made almost $300. After filing the truck up with gas and buying dinner at work, I had $240 from last week. I gave her $200 of it. Momma thanked me and said that she’d used it to buy groceries and pay the electric bill. That it’d be a huge help and that she was so proud of me. It had been a while since I saw her smile like, at least since Prince died. 

To be honest, though, I didn’t give her all the money. I kept some and used it to splurge at lunch so I don’t have to eat one of the $.50 lunch trays. It doesn’t seem like much but being able to eat food from the snack bar, instead of the cafeteria at lunch is a big deal. We can take food outside if we buy it from the snack bar—chips, burritos, candy, nachos. But, it cost more than lunches from the cafeteria, which are “reduced” for students—like me—who are “poor.” (Although I think everyone is probably a little bit “poor” around here. They just don’t tell anyone and pretend that they’re not.)  The only thing is that if I buy a tray, I can’t go outside to eat lunch. I have to eat inside, and that means I’m usually sitting by myself since all my friends, and everyone else who isn’t “poor” are outside. The food is also usually pretty terrible—stew with canned vegetables or a slice of grey meatloaf and lukewarm creamed corn. Sometimes, we get a side salad—some wilted iceberg lettuce swimming in ranch dressing. I suppose we’re supposed to just be grateful since it’s only $.50. 

Anyways, I’ve been buying my lunch from the snack bar and sitting outside with my friends now during lunch.

I finally got some time off last week and worked. I stayed home and caught up on homework on Thursday night. I worked on Friday night and pulled a double on Saturday. On Sunday, I slept in all morning because my legs were sore from so much walking, but I finally got up and went grocery shopping with Momma in the afternoon. I wanted to go out on Sunday evening, but we’d already been to town once, and Momma didn’t want me to waste the gas on another trip in. 

This week, I’m working Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday again. If I make close to $50/shift, that would be another $200 this week. Maybe I can get up to $1000 by the end of this month.