For some reason, I was hit with the sudden urge to find out what happened to the WiseWay grocery store! No, I have no idea why, and it is not much of a mystery: it went bankrupt/was bought out by a competitor. (Strack & Van Til’s) From there, I looked up the Venture and Zayre department stores. (Also out of business.) What does this have to do with houses? Easy: The trip down memory lane made me want to write about the places I lived when I was a kid/teenager living with my family.
Apartment(?): at some point, we lived in an apartment. I don’t remember anything about the apartment, or at least not clearly. There is a “funny” picture of me as a toddler wearing a mask (maybe of Nixon)? Why, I’m not sure about, but I am not happy about the experience if the way my arms are being held are any indication. (This was probably a “joke.” To my knowledge I have never gone along with a “joke.” I appear to have been inherently suspicious of “jokes” at or near my expense.)
Yellow House: For a while, Dad was working as either a handyman or asst. manager of a trailer park. The trailer park may or may not have been near an overpass. We lived in a small yellow house that had been lifted off of it’s foundations so as to create a basement. The heating vents made weird noises at night. It had one of those dropped ceilings with ceiling tiles.
The house and/or the trailer park may no longer exist. I have been told both the house and the trailer park is gone. I could not find the overpass that would have directed me roughly to where the trailer park would have been.
Incidents of Note: Getting bullied for being autistic (undiagnosed) by students and other teachers. Getting sent to a special ed program in another township because I was apparently too feral for the Gary Education System. More bullying for being in special ed. Getting in trouble because I was a) experimenting with “sod.” By stealing it. b) attempting to transplant sod to dirt pit that used to be our lawn until they put in a water line. c) being unable to explain why I was stealing ground from people’s property. Making “dye.” Failing to make dye. Making bows with thread and sticks. Reading lots of old sf stories and books. Getting made fun of for reading lots of old sf stories and books.
Number of *bathrooms: 1
Blue House: For reasons that I have no explanation for, we ended up having to move. We ended up slightly closer to the library. This house had more of a yard. I can’t remember if it had a basement or not. I think it did not. It did however have a crawlspace. The kitchen, for some reason, had a carpet. Which is a terrible idea.
Activities: Getting bullied for being undiagnosed autistic. Getting into trouble for various reasons. Sincerely resenting not being able to go to the library or used bookstore often enough. Getting bullied for being in special ed. Meeting former principal from first school on several occasions, finally getting out, “Yes, I remember you. I hate you.” (Reason: I got paddled one time too many.) Dying from the stench of the open landfill just down the road. Getting my brother and sister bullied because I was their older sister.
Number of bathrooms: One
Brick Townhouse: It was a townhouse. It was made of brick. We had a gay couple living next door for a while that my dad was extremely freaked out about. Then we had a Pakistani family that my dad was even MORE freaked out about. This house had a basement, and a second floor. I and my sister were nearly amicable here because the room was big enough. Brother had a bedroom down in the basement. The laundry was also in the basement. Much closer to a library!
Activities: I got in super trouble for shop lifting! Yeah. For some reason, my parents got me a rock grinding kit and a wood/leather burning kit. Then they wouldn’t let me use either because they were loud (the rock tumbler) or stank (the burn kit). The reason why I say “some reason” is because these gifts were not accompanied by classes in using them. Which was not a great idea. I got into a horrible argument via mail with someone over New Mutants character Illyana Rasputin/Magik. (And indeed, the entire Inferno arc which we disliked for different reasons.)
Then I got in huge trouble because my parents read the mail, and found out the person I was talking to was an adult man. First attempt at writing a novel! I actually sent it in to Daw. The reply letter was a comprehensive lecture in everything I did wrong, along with a rejection. “This girl is a teen, let’s explain in detail why she’s stupid!” the editor must have thought to themself. (no cover letter, the plot was bad and illogical so on and so forth. I don’t think the plot was that bad. Very angsty teen, but not that bad.)
Number of bathrooms: 1 1/2
Fake Stucco Looking Townhouse: They were not actually stucco, they just played stucco on TV. Hideous rug rendered more hideous by a bad dye job. Tiny little enclosed back yard. Laundry shed full of spiders. We were allowed to go wild with room decoration/wall painting. This was mostly because sister was still extremely enraged over the move. (I don’t think anyone was happy about the move except mom, but sister was particularly displeased. Which was valid.) We moved to Arizona so mom could take care of her mom. Her mom however wanted to sell her house and go back to Indiana. Which was kind of hilarious.
Activities: Getting in huge trouble for writing. Getting in huge trouble for reading (books about paganism). Getting in trouble for playing Dungeons and Dragons. Getting in trouble about lying about playing Dungeons and Dragons. Causing my mother to believe I’m homosexual because I did not want to date anyone. (And also I was going through a short hair phase.) Acquiring a boyfriend I didn’t want. Dumping him at first opportunity. Acquiring a second boyfriend I didn’t want. Stuck with him until the emotional abuse and manipulation got too annoying. Getting increasingly exasperated with Sister because she stayed out super late and expect me to open the window for her like a drunk vampire. Strongly resenting sister’s escapades when I was under more strict discipline and monitoring. Failed to ever learn to drive due to not wanting to be screamed at.
Number of bathrooms: 1
*I am listing the number of bathrooms because someone claimed that you couldn’t have a multi-bedroom house but only one bathroom. I am sad to inform whoever that was, but they are wrong. I hate that my parents could not be bothered to provide sufficient bathroom. Or bedrooms.
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