I am Wendy Adair and my life sucks. A year ago my dad died in Iraq, and my brother was locked up in the workhouse. My mom left—just plain left. She had left twice before. That was when dad was alive. This time I don’t know if she might ever come back. It all totally sucks.
My cousin Ben says that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Maybe that’s true, but people I know get killed, or go to jail, or just plain leave. This is supposed to make me stronger?
Well, that’s where I was at not that long ago. As you can tell, I talk to myself. I guess I got used to talking to myself because I was the only one who would listen to me. But I’m not going to bore you with all that. What I am going to talk about is where I am now: staying with my Aunt Mary, Uncle Craig, and my cousin Ben. They took me in when mom left. It was sort of a trial to see if I’d fit in.
This story really all started when I was eating breakfast in their kitchen and didn’t know how it would all work out—my staying with them, not breakfast.