Almost 16

Sometime between me playing hooky from hairdressing job to turning 16 we moved from Scarborough back to Agincourt. These days referred to as Malvern. My parents won a lottery to purchase a home which was geared to those below a certain income level/family size, I believe. So Dad, Step Mom/Brother and I moved. Little sister was already a ward of the Children’s Aid.

It was a lovely four-bedroom back split with a rec room where I played fave mom’s LPs and my 45s and LPs, danced and sung my heart out.

A month or two before my 16th birthday an opportunity to talk with my father privately presented and I explained that I would be moving out as soon as I turned 16.

He responded that he understood given that my stepmother believed there was something going on between he and I, implying she was jealous of me for some reason and how difficult she was in general. Rather an odd response wouldn’t you say considering I had no reason to suspect I was in any way the cause of tension between them. However, tension there was!

Prior to this talk my father was tickling me and had me pinned on the floor when his hand brushed against my breast for which I kneed him which got him off me pretty quick. Many years later I was visiting the family; stepmom had her granddaughter on her lap and she was talking about having her nieces stay overnight. I must have reacted in some way because dear old Dad, out of the blue, stated “that never happened” and I knew instantly to what he was referring. I didn’t respond and I’m not sure stepmom had a clue what we were talking about but she was a very perceptive woman so would have picked up on something. By this point, her son and daughter-in-law had long since moved out of the basement suite made especially for them when they first got married (explanation in a previous post).

My boyfriend, M.F. and his best friend are looking for a two bedroom apartment so I move in with Heidi, my United Trust supervisor. It was January or February before we rented our own apartment.

Wait, I forgot to mention that by this time I am experimenting with illicit drugs. Never did inject anything but sampled just about everything that was around sans heroin. Remember this is the 70s so there’s acid, mescaline, peyote, mushroom, MDA, speed, weed, hash (solid & oil), cocaine (a personal favourite), etc. This is not the era for crack, glue, etc. so thankfully missed all that nonsense.

Do you see a pattern? My Dad talks about birth control and a few months later I’m sexually active. He then accuses me of being on drugs; a couple of months later I’m experimenting. Nice to be true to the whole ADD diagnosis, you know, risky behaviours and an insatiable curiosity about everything!

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