The time is two in the afternoon and I'm seated waiting inside the Ontario Cafe for another date with Haley. She's running late and although I hate waiting, I promised her she had no reason to worry, I’d wait for her. As I sit there, I begin to reflect on Haley, who she is, where she's from, and what makes Haley, Haley.
Haley, by the age of twenty had her fair share of men and been through many serious relationships. Along with her share of men -came a fair share of verbal and objective abuse. Men had always been her problem. By the age of twenty-one, her body had been tattered and her soul torn. Haley walked with a head up high but at any given moment she was a bomb ready to rage. Now, for some reason, she’s coming to me- as if I could ever tilt the long line of undeserving men she’s had under her belt, she’s now come to me.
Haley’s life is one that most dread, far from the “American Dream”, far from that white picked fence life painted in our minds left to believe its true, only leaving you to face the grim reality. Her mother - a cashier at the local Wal-Mart who worked a full 9-5 shift to maintain a roof over her offspring’s heads, her sister a twenty-year old ex-heroine addict with a two year old baby, a younger sister whose a mystery to her own family, and a slapdash father who in the summer of 2002, had taken off - leaving Haley’s mother to raise all three girls on her own. To make up for his poor parenting, he paid child support and bought each of them birthday gifts and Christmas gifts annually – something Haley’s mother could hardly afford to do. Haley would later discover her father had been having an affair for seven years and planned to re-marry in the summer of 2003.
“Hey! I’m so sorry I’m late! I didn’t mean to take so -” said Haley, finally arriving. “Don’t worry about it! It’s okay.” I replied. We ordered our coffee and Haley when about telling me of her day. As the conversation proceeded, she gradually spilled her dreams and goals out to me. Haley for several years had worked on searching for an artistic niche, from photography to painting, music and so forth; all proved she had not one artistic bone in her body. When realizing this, she leaned towards those who did, believing she’d find some sort of spiritual inspiration. The problem was, most of the people she leaned towards to; all used her in one way or sexual other. Haley had one thing going for her; she was gifted with a body chipped to perfection. All the right portions were in place, beautiful porcelain skin; she had every body trait a model could dream of, but by now, after the several years of abuse by several men; Haley build an immense of amount of insecurity and little confidence, which in return, prevented any success as a model.
As I drank my coffee, I listened closely to Haley, and here or there I’d provide advice. She left no thought out of our conversation but as she went on, I couldn’t help to think about all the chances she missed, all she could have possibly been, and who she would be now if only she’d had the right cards drawn. When she finished, I replied “I’m sure you can do it” and although I had a head full of doubt, I hoped that one day, all my doubts about Haley, all would come back to bite me and she’d prove me wrong. The End.
"Haley"- (A thought I had for a while) of 10/22/2008
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