After getting caught in a drug raid and knowing the cops had turned my name over to Child Protective Services, my girl and I decided we needed to get out of town quickly. She had a cousin that lived in Traverse City, Michigan that had been inviting us up there for awhile so that is where we decided to go.

We packed everything we owned in our little Geo Metro hatchback, had to strap quite a bit right to the top of the little car, and drove to Traverse City.

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Beautiful city, not so nice people...

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When we first got up to the city I found out we weren't really in Traverse like my girl had said. We were really in a town called Frankfort. It was a nice little town but it was very small and we lived miles outside of the actual town. I did not have a drivers license, so I had to depend on everyone else if I wanted to go somewhere. This was not the ideal situation for me, but I didn't want my kids taken by CPS either.

I was only there about a day before her cousins made it clear how they felt about me. I had said something like the second day I was there and got some wise- crack about "City Boys" and how I was in the country now.

This was going to be a recurring theme the whole time I was there.

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Got me a Job, and an injury.

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One of my girl's cousins friends knew a guy that was a builder and needed laborers for one of his crews. He referred my name to him and I got a call a few days later. I went for an interview and started work within the week. I thought things were looking up. I had only been up there about a week and I already had a job that paid pretty good, and I had a guaranteed ride to work every day.

I went to work my first day and was doing great. We were framing out a house in Benzonia, another small town in the area. I was using the nail gun by holding the trigger down and using the safety as a trigger. While this method is a lot faster, it is also a lot less safe.

I was holding a corner post flush with the top plate when I felt what seemed like a splinter hit my finger. I looked down and saw that I had nailed 3 of my fingers together with a 16 penny ring shank nail. My boss came over and acted like he was just going to pull it out, but I told him I wanted to go to the hospital. He looked at me disgustedly and sent one of the guys to take me on the 20 mile trip to the nearest hospital. I started to go into shock on the way there, feeling nauseous and getting shaky.

When we got to the hospital, the doctor gave me a bunch of little shots in my knuckles and pulled the nail out with a pair of the janitors pliers. He wrapped my hand in gauze and gave me some antibiotics and pain pills, then sent me home.

First day on the job...

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Living and trying to get along.

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I went to work the next day with my fingers bandaged and worked like normal. I just wanted to have a semi normal life for once, but it became clear quickly that this was not going to happen.

My girl's cousins liked to throw house parties pretty much every weekend. They would invite a bunch of their friends that they had grew up with over to bonfires and would get sloppy drunk. This would go on until the beer and liquor was gone then they would all either drive home or pass out in the living room.

Since I was the newcomer, I was of course the outcast. My girl technically was new too, but hey, she was a girl so it was O.K. All of the guys tried hitting on my girl, and unfortunately she was responsive a lot more than I would have liked. I made it clear that I didn't like this and was just ridiculed for being the "City Boy."

I got into fights on 3 different occasions for really nothing more than being myself. Once with her cousin, he came up to me and pushed me so hard I went through the drywall in the living room.

He told me the next day I had to pay to fix it.

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Can't take it anymore.

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I went to work one day where the job was digging out a basement that had a broken fuel line that had spilled a bunch of diesel. I had just got onto the job for the first time when I was drinking my coffee and trying to get a feel for the job. It was like 8:10 and the big boss showed up. When I said good morning, he proceeded to start yelling and screaming at me for standing there when it was 10 after 8. He insulted my work ethic and said that "City Boys" might do things like that but not "Country Folk."

I was really getting tired of this routine.

That same night when I went home, my girl's cousin sat us down and told us that we were going to have to move out as things just weren't working out for them. He said that us living there was straining their relationship. He had spoken to friend of his and she had said that we could live with her.

It was some lady we did not even know.

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That's it.

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After that conversation I informed my girl that I could not take living up there anymore. I was sick of not being accepted and having to rely on people that I did not know. I told her that I wanted to move back to Lansing and I was basically going to do it whether she did or not. She could either move with me or stay there but I was going.

She agreed too move back with me, so once again we packed our car and drove off.

We would be moving back to my aunt's basement.

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Please Read.

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This is where you can find the first consolidated part of my life story --HERE- for the second part go --HERE-- and for the third --HERE-- The Fourth --HERE-- and the Fifth --HERE-- the Sixth --HERE-- the Seventh --HERE-- the Eighth --HERE-- The Ninth --HERE-- Tenth --HERE-- There is a Background Post --HERE--

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Thank you and God Bless!

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