"Help, I Fell And I Can't Get Up!"

This will be this first time I’ve shared this secret and I know my mom will be shocked if she ever finds out. Even as an adult I do not think I want to admit my truth, although it’s funny now that I think about it, back then it would have gotten me in a lot of trouble had my mom known what really happened. Ok here it goes, back in the early nineties I was around ten years old, me my mom and sister lived with my grandmother and other family members. It was a total of eleven people in one house and I was always finding ways to get attention from my mom. I was a very active kid and I always wanted to be seen and heard, I would do something outrageous just to get some kind of reaction from someone in the house we lived in. For an example, my uncle had a Sega Genesis, and when he went to work, I would sneak in his bedroom and play his video games. One day I was playing the video game, and I glanced to my left and on my uncle's dresser, I noticed he had some clippers. I turned the game off and became “Curious Cathy” and started to examine the clippers.

I turned on the clippers and stared in mirror while the clippers were on, and slowly put the clippers to my right side of my hair. The adrenaline rush I felt led me to shave a small patch off, by the time I was done both of my sides were shaved off. I found it so hilarious that I ran downstairs to show my mom, because I wanted to make her laugh, well let’s just say her reaction was not what I expected. After being disciplined by my mom who was very upset, I realized I had no edges on both side of my hair and I was banned from my uncle’s room, so I could not play his video games anymore, all I could think was “this sucks”.

Well, did I learn my lesson? You bet I did, but it did not stop me from being “The Problem Child.” One day, I was at school sitting at my desk, and I came up with a “brilliant” idea, I sat at my desk as I contemplated on the idea I'd came up with, as my teacher stood at the board to teach, I was very determined and anxious at the same time, waiting for the bell to ring. I played the scenario over and over in my mind on how I was going to do this. Looking at the clock and seeing that it’s almost time to go home, I looked out the window and seen the yellow buses parked and ready for school to let out.

The bell finally rings and the students ran to the coat closet to get their coats, I ran and grabbed mine, I become more anxious, because I was about to do this. As I walked out of the coat closet while putting my coat on, I looked around, everyone is getting ready to walk out of the classroom, then BOOM! I “fake fainted” I hit the floor so hard and laid there with my eyes closed, and I heard my teacher as she stood over me, screaming my name “Paris!” I knew at this point there was no way out of this, I had really pulled a bogus stunt, especially when I heard my teacher telling someone to call 911.

All I could think to myself, “how am I going to pull this off?” The ambulance came and strapped in a wheelchair, I could’ve won the Oscars they way I acted, when I got to the hospital, the nurses put me in a room. The doctors ran all kinds of test on me, my mom came and she looked like she was so scared, and I continued to lay there as if I was ill, I ended up in the hospital for three days and they discovered I was Anemic. See, I needed to be there after all, still my mom does not have a clue that I “Fake Fainted” I was treated like royalty, I had breakfast, lunch and dinner, I would get excited every time the nurse walked into my room with a food tray. The nurses and doctors were so nice, I had a television in my room and I actually got the attention I wanted. Ha! There goes my confession.