Day 5-How the Other Half Lives

I had never seen it but I had heard stories. It was something that we could imagine but never dreamed about. Experiencing the type of life I live everyday, you would never imagine that just a few miles from here, on the same island lives some of the wealthiest, most influential men in the world. After my neighbor was murdered last night I decided that I was sick of living in this place. I set out down the street. Today I saw examples of the most incredible wealth imaginable. I saw women wearing fine furs riding in carriages pulled by beast treated finer than I am. I witnessed people dining in restaurants of unimaginable grandeur. I know that I can never obtain this wealth. This is not my place, what I witnessed today is only how the other half lives.

Day 4-My Neighbor is Murdered

For the past five years, at least on person has been murdered in my neighborhood every night. Last night, my friends father was the latest victim. His family had been getting protection from another gang who was owed money by friends father. Apparently he had been writing checks he could not cash and he upset the wrong person. This really isn't newsworthy though. I guess this is all just a part of living in this city.

Day 3-Missing Dad

Writing the other day about who I lived with really made me miss my dad. A few years ago he simply never came home from work. Somehow we knew that it would happen some day. A lot of fathers in my neighborhood have a feeling of inadequacy. Most men, like everyone else in Mulberry Bend fall into a deep depression and many begin to drink. I feel no shame because many other kids my age are in the same situation. My father was one of these, his drinking contributed to our financial problems. We're not really sure where he is, from what I hear he most likely took off west somewhere. So that's pretty much what happened to him, the night he never came home we knew we'd never see him again. I feel no shame because many other kids my age are in the same situation. That's why we're here with my mother's father and brother. We're probably better off without him, but I still miss him.

Day 2-Going to Work

In order to make enough money to buy food everyone in my family is forced to work. In the building next to my tenement is a shoe factory. On most days I wake up at 5:00 am in order to get to my spot in time. I work hard on the giant sewing machine all day. Last summer a drop of sweat rolled past my brow and salted my eye, in the moment that I winced from the pain of the salt the giant needle struck my ring finger. I ran home and bandaged it up so that I could return to work the next day, my uncle says that if you don't work you don't eat. I don't really get a break for lunch, most days when the foreman leaves the work room we sneak small pieces of our what we ate last night. With my wage I manage to buy food for myself and family each night, but nothing else.

Day 1-Time Spent at Home

Today, like most days I was not feeling well so I decided to stay home. I am saddened by the dreadful lives that we live. My family, which includes myself, my mother, 4 siblings, my uncle and his family, and my grandmother all live in a cramped 2 room tenement. This is no place for a child to be in, many other kids are feeling sick, in fact, 1 out of every 5 babies born here die before they turn five years old. The poor air quality that I'm breathing in, and the slop that my mother manages to find for us is most likely the culprit. Bacteria from food causes illness, and since we live in such small quarters it is not long before our entire tenement is sick.