Kayleigh Doogan
ENG 112
Formal Assignment #1- Draft #1
October 26, 2017
I look around and I’m stuck in a dark, cold cement room. I don’t remember how I got here. I’m so confused and my head is killing me, I reach up to touch my forehead and see dried blood all over my hands. That's when I noticed I’m covered in blood, it’s all over my clothes. Is this my blood? Or it is someone’s else? I sit there trying to solve this mystery but I still have no idea. I’m trying to remember what happen tonight but I don’t remember anything that happened. After what seemed like hours of being overwhelmed by my thoughts, they finally give me a clean bright orange jumpsuit and I meet with a doctor.
“Could I have actually of done what they are saying?”
As a child, I really stood out compared to other kids my age. I constantly was asking questions that no other kid was even thinking about. This is where my nickname “The Misfit” comes from. I think it really fits me because well I never really fit in. My dad always told me how I was so different than my siblings. They were smart and successful, they worked hard for what they wanted and they got it. It was different for me though, I struggled in school and honestly had no interest of even being there. I always skipped class and decided to drop out of high school my sophomore year. My parents never supported my decision and that was that start of years of arguing with them. They compared me to my siblings and talked about how I should be more like them and that only made me more angry.
My parent always said they don’t have a favorite child but I know it’s my brother. He always got what he wanted and there was no questions asked. It frustrated me because I never understood why. My brother was the best baseball player in the neighborhood, he always hit a homerun every game we played. Even the kids in my neighborhood were annoyed by him because he would hit the ball over the fence every time and that meant the game was over. My dad took him to every home baseball game there was every season, but I was never invited. One day my father came home from work with a signed baseball and gave it to my brother. He said he spent every penny he had on the baseball just for my brother. I always wished I had the relationship with my father that my brother had. I never really understood why I was treated so differently.
My father expected a lot from me but I couldn’t live up to his expectations. He wanted me to get the best grades just like my sister and he wished I could play baseball as well as my brother. It made me feel bad about myself because it was like I wasn’t good enough. The more my father treated me like this the more I felt like the name “The Misfit” was right for me. I isolated myself from the people in my family and began hanging out with people who were making bad decisions which lead to me making the same bad decisions.
I haven’t spoke to anyone in my family in along time and had no intention of doing so until I ended up in jail. My friend, well someone I thought was my friend, and I ended up outside of the local corner store. I knew it was a bad idea to hang out with him but I did it anyway. He handed me a small bag of drugs and told me to hold on to it for him. I knew it was a bad idea but if I went against what he said the results could be really bad. After only a few minute I saw red flashing lights from the corner of my eye, I didn’t know what to do so I looked over at my friend but he was gone. He started running as soon as he heard the sirens but it was too late for me. I got tackled to the ground and put in handcuffs within seconds.
I sat in the jail cell for a few hours and they told me I could call someone to come and bail me out. I didn’t have anyone though, none of my friends had enough money and I didn’t think anyone in my family would even answer the phone. I decided to give my dad a call because he was my only chance of getting out of this cell. He answered on the first ring and said he would be there in a few minutes. I couldn’t believe it, I thought my dad hated me but now he is coming to bail me out of jail.
The car ride home was silent and when we pulled into the driveway my mother was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. I gave her a huge hug and she said “You’re just in time for dinner.” This was the first time in a long time that I was sitting around the dinner table with my family. My mother made an amazing steak and her creamy mash potatoes. I actually felt happy to be home except for the silence that surrounded the table.
The only noise you could hear was the knives and forks hitting the plates.
After a few minutes my dad slammed his fist on the table and said “Alright! I can’t do this anymore, I’m not just going to pretend like everything's okay!” My mother tried to calm him down but nothing was working. “No!” he screamed “He has been gone for week and gets arrested and we are just going to welcome him back into the house with a hug?” He finally sat back down in his chair, “I just don’t get it your siblings were never like this. Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” Here we go again, he is comparing me to my siblings again. I can feel the heat rising to my face. “Your sister is going to school to become a doctor and your brother is going to become a professional baseball player and what are you doing? Oh well you’re just out getting arrested!” I clenched my fists so hard my fingernails were digging into my palms. “I swear you having been disappointing me since you were born!” I couldn’t take it anymore, I jumped up and without even thinking I pushed the steak knife I was holding into my father’s chest. My vision went blurry and I could only her muffled screams coming from my mother and siblings. I dropped the knife and began running out the door, I ran for as long as I could. I got to a huge hill and because of my speed I ended up flipping down it. I landed at the bottom onto a huge rock cutting my head.
My eyes slowly flutter open and I’m back in the cement jail cell. There is a pounding in my head and I can’t get it to stop. My whole body is shaking and my legs are sore. I don’t know why I’m here and I don’t think I want to know why. Maybe I just got really drunk and fell off one of the stools at the bar. Yeah that’s it that’s why I’m so bloody. One of the officers comes in and tells me he is going to escort me to see a doctor. I think about asking him why I’m here but decide not to.
The doctor starts by looking me over and he says “You hit your head pretty bad and I believe you have a concussion.” I sit there in silent while he continues to observe me. He begins to ask me questions but I don’t answer any of them. Then finally he asks “Do you know why you’re here?” The question I have been trying to solve for a while now. “No!” I exclaimed giving the doctor a fright because this is the first time I said anything since I entered his office. “Well” he said with hesisatation. The anticipation was killing me I really want to know what happened but also wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the truth. He finally comes out and says it “You, uh, you killed your father tonight.” The room is spinning and I can’t even get any words out. It doesn’t feel real, I just don’t understand why I would do something like that. I know my dad and I never had a great relationship but I never thought I would kill him! My mind is racing and I can’t imagine how my mother is feeling. I feel sick, the room goes black and I land on the floor.
ENG 112
Formal Assignment #1- Draft #1
October 26, 2017
I look around and I’m stuck in a dark, cold cement room. I don’t remember how I got here. I’m so confused and my head is killing me, I reach up to touch my forehead and see dried blood all over my hands. That's when I noticed I’m covered in blood, it’s all over my clothes. Is this my blood? Or it is someone’s else? I sit there trying to solve this mystery but I still have no idea. I’m trying to remember what happen tonight but I don’t remember anything that happened. After what seemed like hours of being overwhelmed by my thoughts, they finally give me a clean bright orange jumpsuit and I meet with a doctor.
“Could I have actually of done what they are saying?”
As a child, I really stood out compared to other kids my age. I constantly was asking questions that no other kid was even thinking about. This is where my nickname “The Misfit” comes from. I think it really fits me because well I never really fit in. My dad always told me how I was so different than my siblings. They were smart and successful, they worked hard for what they wanted and they got it. It was different for me though, I struggled in school and honestly had no interest of even being there. I always skipped class and decided to drop out of high school my sophomore year. My parents never supported my decision and that was that start of years of arguing with them. They compared me to my siblings and talked about how I should be more like them and that only made me more angry.
My parent always said they don’t have a favorite child but I know it’s my brother. He always got what he wanted and there was no questions asked. It frustrated me because I never understood why. My brother was the best baseball player in the neighborhood, he always hit a homerun every game we played. Even the kids in my neighborhood were annoyed by him because he would hit the ball over the fence every time and that meant the game was over. My dad took him to every home baseball game there was every season, but I was never invited. One day my father came home from work with a signed baseball and gave it to my brother. He said he spent every penny he had on the baseball just for my brother. I always wished I had the relationship with my father that my brother had. I never really understood why I was treated so differently.
My father expected a lot from me but I couldn’t live up to his expectations. He wanted me to get the best grades just like my sister and he wished I could play baseball as well as my brother. It made me feel bad about myself because it was like I wasn’t good enough. The more my father treated me like this the more I felt like the name “The Misfit” was right for me. I isolated myself from the people in my family and began hanging out with people who were making bad decisions which lead to me making the same bad decisions.
I haven’t spoke to anyone in my family in along time and had no intention of doing so until I ended up in jail. My friend, well someone I thought was my friend, and I ended up outside of the local corner store. I knew it was a bad idea to hang out with him but I did it anyway. He handed me a small bag of drugs and told me to hold on to it for him. I knew it was a bad idea but if I went against what he said the results could be really bad. After only a few minute I saw red flashing lights from the corner of my eye, I didn’t know what to do so I looked over at my friend but he was gone. He started running as soon as he heard the sirens but it was too late for me. I got tackled to the ground and put in handcuffs within seconds.
I sat in the jail cell for a few hours and they told me I could call someone to come and bail me out. I didn’t have anyone though, none of my friends had enough money and I didn’t think anyone in my family would even answer the phone. I decided to give my dad a call because he was my only chance of getting out of this cell. He answered on the first ring and said he would be there in a few minutes. I couldn’t believe it, I thought my dad hated me but now he is coming to bail me out of jail.
The car ride home was silent and when we pulled into the driveway my mother was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. I gave her a huge hug and she said “You’re just in time for dinner.” This was the first time in a long time that I was sitting around the dinner table with my family. My mother made an amazing steak and her creamy mash potatoes. I actually felt happy to be home except for the silence that surrounded the table.
The only noise you could hear was the knives and forks hitting the plates.
After a few minutes my dad slammed his fist on the table and said “Alright! I can’t do this anymore, I’m not just going to pretend like everything's okay!” My mother tried to calm him down but nothing was working. “No!” he screamed “He has been gone for week and gets arrested and we are just going to welcome him back into the house with a hug?” He finally sat back down in his chair, “I just don’t get it your siblings were never like this. Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” Here we go again, he is comparing me to my siblings again. I can feel the heat rising to my face. “Your sister is going to school to become a doctor and your brother is going to become a professional baseball player and what are you doing? Oh well you’re just out getting arrested!” I clenched my fists so hard my fingernails were digging into my palms. “I swear you having been disappointing me since you were born!” I couldn’t take it anymore, I jumped up and without even thinking I pushed the steak knife I was holding into my father’s chest. My vision went blurry and I could only her muffled screams coming from my mother and siblings. I dropped the knife and began running out the door, I ran for as long as I could. I got to a huge hill and because of my speed I ended up flipping down it. I landed at the bottom onto a huge rock cutting my head.
My eyes slowly flutter open and I’m back in the cement jail cell. There is a pounding in my head and I can’t get it to stop. My whole body is shaking and my legs are sore. I don’t know why I’m here and I don’t think I want to know why. Maybe I just got really drunk and fell off one of the stools at the bar. Yeah that’s it that’s why I’m so bloody. One of the officers comes in and tells me he is going to escort me to see a doctor. I think about asking him why I’m here but decide not to.
The doctor starts by looking me over and he says “You hit your head pretty bad and I believe you have a concussion.” I sit there in silent while he continues to observe me. He begins to ask me questions but I don’t answer any of them. Then finally he asks “Do you know why you’re here?” The question I have been trying to solve for a while now. “No!” I exclaimed giving the doctor a fright because this is the first time I said anything since I entered his office. “Well” he said with hesisatation. The anticipation was killing me I really want to know what happened but also wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the truth. He finally comes out and says it “You, uh, you killed your father tonight.” The room is spinning and I can’t even get any words out. It doesn’t feel real, I just don’t understand why I would do something like that. I know my dad and I never had a great relationship but I never thought I would kill him! My mind is racing and I can’t imagine how my mother is feeling. I feel sick, the room goes black and I land on the floor.