Text 5 The Day I Saved My Life
I saved myself from a terrible life the day I moved 2,000 miles away from home. Had I stayed, I probably wouldn't be alive right now to tell you this.
I
t
started in high school. I joined a gang because I wanted to be like
my older brother. Before my first fight, I was so nervous, I was
shaking. From then on, it was violence and more violence. My 'crew'
became my life and I started to love it. Watching my back was
something I got used to. Once, on the way home from
school, I was jumped by seven girls who busted a bottle over my head
and kicked me until they thought I was unconscious. Another day, I
got punched and stomped on by 15 girls and guys on the bus. I was
shot at too many times to count. Many nights, after driving in
dangerous territory, we'd get out of the car to look at all of
the bullet holes. It saddens right now to think about how many kids
I know who've been killed. I look back and think, jeez, what if I'd
been standing right there? Maybe it would have been me.
When I joined the crew, they asked if I wanted to try drugs. At first, I was like, 'Nah,' but then they said, 'Come on, try.' By the end of sophomore year, I was taking drugs in school. My grades dropped big time. We were basically at war with another gang, and between classes and after school I usually had a fight to look forward to. At the end of my junior year, we had this big, big fight. I kept hitting this girl in the ear until she pulled a knife on me. The next day when I got to school, I found out she'd gone deaf in that ear and I was arrested. Later, as I sat in the back of the cop car with my mom, I felt like a total disappointment. Getting arrested changed my life.
I quit my crew and started at a new school (because of my grades, I had to repeat a year), but that wasn't the end of my problems. I still hung with some gangbangers, and I became addicted to cocaine. Then one day I got greedy with the coke, sniffed too much and ended up on the floor, shaking and spitting. Even though I managed to graduate, I knew I really needed to start over. That's when I packed up and went to California to live with my sister. I got a job, opened a bank account and finally realised how much life had to offer me. Friends would write to me about who got shot. I didn't want to hear it. I wanted to leave it behind. Now I'm working and going to school. I have new friends, and I haven't touched coke in a couple of years. When I go back home, I see the old gang hanging on the comer and I wonder if I hadn't left, would I be there too? Would I even be alive? I thought I was so strong back then, but I was weak, a follower. Now I'm showing my parents that they raised a strong, intelligent woman who can overcome her wrong-doings and make something of her life.
By Ann J., USA
Vocabulary
gang - банда
from then on - с тех пор
violence - насилие, жестокость
crew - команда
to watch one's back - быть начеку
to bust - разбивать
to be unconscious - быть без сознания
to punch - ударять (кулаком)
to stomp - топтать
too many times to count - столько раз, что не сосчитать
dangerous - опасный
bullet hole - пулевое отверстие
jeez - Господи
drug - наркотик
It was like 'Nan' [па:] - Вроде хотела сказать «Не-а»
sophomore year ['sofermo:]- ам. второй год обучения (в старшей школе)
grade - ам. оценка
dropped big time - здорово снизились
had a fight to look forward to - меня ожидала драка
junior year - ам. третий год обучения
deaf [def] - глухой
cop car - полицейская машина
I felt like a total disappointment - я чувствовала, что из меня ничего не вышло
to quit [kwit] - бросать, оставлять
gangbanger - член банды
to be addicted - присраститься
cocaine, coke [kauk] - кокаин
I got greedy - я пожадничала
to sniff - нюхать
to spit (spat) - плевать
bank account - банковский счет
how much life had to offer me - сколько всего я могу получить от жизни
to leave it behind - не вспоминать об этом
follower - подражатель
to raise - воспитывать
to overcome (overcame;overcome) - преодолевать
wrong-doing - ошибка
to make something of one's life - стать кем-то, сделать что-то в жизни