Tragedy Chapter 3

Gina's POV:

Life sucked when I came back from visiting Suze in Carmel. Everything was so cool there, and then I come back to New York, and life just sucks. My parents divorced, and to deal with the stress, I turned to drugs and alcohol. Not to mention boys in general.

After months of alcohol abuse, drugs (ranging from marijuana to cocaine to E to LSD), and virtually becoming a prostitute, I found out I was pregnant. There was no way of knowing who the baby's father was, since only a handful of guys wore a condom when we did it. That's a handful out of 100 or more.

The weird thing is, I wanted to keep the baby. So I stopped doing drugs, stopped drinking, and tried to get back on track.

Then one night I was walking home, and cut through my old "work" neighborhood. Derick, this white-boy-gangster-wannabe walked out in front of me, completely stoned off his ass, and goes, "Ginaaaaaah!"

Oh shit.

So, I keep walking.

Not the best choice, actually.

Derick followed me, his eyes glazing over, looking like frozen pools of ice. "Gina, why didn't you call me the other night? There was a good grand in it for you to appear at the party on 8th and Market."

"Yeah I know."

"So why didn't you show?"

"Because Mother's don't strip for a living, Derick!" I threw at him. His eyes got huge. Maybe he thought it was his kid or something, because he threw me to the ground and started to pound on me.

"Derick! STOP PLEASE, NO!!!" I screamed, begging him to stop, to not kill it or me. He just kept hitting, kicking, making me bleed all over.

Before he stopped, I passed out. Blackness consumed me until I woke up in a pure white hospital room.

"Ms. Augustin?"

I blinked. I looked over at the doorway to see a doctor, about 45 or so, holding a clipboard. I murmured something, and the doctor walked over to my bedside.

"Ms. Augustin, I'm Dr. Walker." he said, kindly. He had that salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes. "That was a nasty beating you took."

"The...the...baby..." I tried to ask if the baby was OK. Dr. Walker continued. "I'm sorry, Ms. Augustin. We lost the baby."

And at that point, I wondered if it would have been a boy or girl. A pretty little girl who I could dress up in princess dresses, and raise in California where she'd never have to worry. A strong little boy who would play sports and know how to treat woman and never ever lay his hand on one in a harsh manner.

But it didn't matter now. God obviously didn't trust me to raise a kid; why else would s/he been taken away from me?

After I left the hospital, my mom kicked me out. She had met this total sleazeball of a guy, who didn't want a kid, so she didn't either. I hitch-hiked to Carmel, and planned to start over with Suze and her family.

Only somehow they didn't recognize me. No one knew who I was, despite the fact that I grew up with Suze. Brad slammed the door in my face when I showed up.

I didn't have an ounce of the old Gina left in me.

So I wouldn't be the old Gina. I'd be a random stranger, a new girl. Maybe Suze would realize it was me after all.

Only after a few weeks, she didn't.

And between Kelly and Debbie's insults, most of them reminding me of who I used to be- the odd girl who did what she wanted, when she wanted- and being ignored, I couldn't take it. I wanted everyone who made me miserable to die. I wanted to kill everyone I'd known in Brooklyn.

I wanted a new life! I just wanted Suze back!