Thread by @coventry_haven

A day in her life

I wake up. She wakes up.
I’m tired from drinking til 1am. She slept soundly from 9pm.
I find my screwed up uniform. Her mother brings her ironed uniform.
We’ve got no hot water. She has a hot shower.
I put on too much makeup. She splashes her fresh face.

I straighten my dyed hair. She plaits her healthy hair.
I refuse to eat any breakfast. She is served porridge and fruit.
I forget to make some lunch. She is handed her packed lunch.
I walk out of the door. She walks out of the door.

I walk down to the gulley. She walks down her block paved driveway.
I read the vile graffiti on the wall. She reads ‘Great Expectations’ in the car.
I get asked to get my tits out. She gets asked what lessons she has.

I meet my friends and crash a smoke. She meets her friends and share a joke.
I am taken behind an old shop. She is walking into the school gates.
I am held close by an older guy. She is holding her English books.
I am humiliated and objectified.

She is supported and personified.
I am worrying if I’m pregnant. She is wondering if she got an ‘A’ again.
I am falling asleep in class. She is raising her hand when asked.
I am borrowing money for food. She is eating her packed lunch.

I am skipping lessons to get a drink. She is being challenged to think.
I am under the tree that no one knows. She is safely at school in full view.
I am climbing into a dirty bed. She is trying to keep the equation in her head.

I am feeling drunk and bare. She is tying her tie with care.
I am writhing in premature adulthood. She is planning her 14th birthday party.
I am screaming at this guy out here. She is giggling with some guy in there.

I am fighting for him to get off me now. She is twiddling her pencil and laughing now.
I am disoriented and alone. She is getting ready to head home.
I am running through the estate. She is meandering with her mates.

I am wishing I had my damn shoes on. She is watching someone in the distance.
I am coming up the estate hill. She is watching a running shoeless girl.
I am looking over my shoulder. She is distracted from her conversation.

I am pulling my shoes on as I cross over. She is wondering why the girl has no shoes on.
I am staring at some bitch who is staring at me. She is watching the shoe-girl intently
I am embarrassed and cold and need to get home. She is tempted to take pics of this on her phone.

I yell over ‘what the fuck you looking at?’
She mumbles ‘nothing, sorry’.
I feel my face flush red and my eyes well up.
She pipes up ‘but why weren’t you at school?’
I yell back ‘the fuck has it got to do with you?’

She snaps ‘you look a right mess!’
I yell through tears ‘you know nothing about me, I couldn’t care less!’
She gawps at the shoe-girl, the never at school-girl.
I am jealous of the perfect-girl, the mummy’s-whole-world-girl.

She wonders what went wrong for her, why she always cries rape.
I wonder how she got so lucky in a life I am constantly trying to escape.
She continues to walk along the street. I pick the stones out of my feet.

She tells her mum of what she saw. I creep in and carefully close the back door.
She is told ‘some girls are just trouble, dear’. I am told ‘that fucking car turned up here!’

She finishes her meal, then does her homework so she can finally chill.
I get another death threat whilst googling where to get the morning after pill.___

This story ‘A day in her life’ is not as far fetched as some might have us believe. Many children are living lives of horror, fear, abuse & violence, right alongside the children living lives of fun, learning and safety.
Jessica Eaton –Victimfocus Blog, (2017) @Jessicae13Eaton