This article is written in Bahasa Indonesia. The original essay in english language follows.
Berjuang untuk Hidup
Kalau dipikir-pikir, Mike Powell mestinya tidak selamat. Kecanduan, menjadi pengedar obat-obatan, penjara, atau kematian adalah nasib yang biasanya menimpa anak jalanan di "rimba" South-Central Los Angeles-arena kejam untuk perang obat, pembunuhan geng, pelacuran, dan kejahatan. Tapi, kehidupan Mike kecil memiliki tujuan istimewa. Selama delapan tahun ia tabah menghadapi teror dan kebrutalan untuk mempertahankan keluarganya yang beranak tujuh. Hebatnya, selama masa itu, tak ada orang yang tahu bahwa orangtua yang sesungguhnya dalam keluarga itu hanyalah seorang anak.
Waktu Mike lahir, ayahnya, Fonso, dipenjarakan karena mengedarkan obat. Ibu Mike, Cheryl, yang berusia lima belas tahun, keluar dari sekolah untuk menafkahi bayinya. "Tanpa kau, kehidupanku tak akan begini," begitu katanya pada Mike berkali-kali. Perasaan bersalah inilah yang membuat Mike tetap mendampinginya. selama tahun-tahun yang menyeramkan.
Fonso dibebaskan dari penjara saat Mike berusia empat tahun, tapi bukannya kearnanan yang dibawa veteran Vietnam setinggi 195 cm dengan berat 135 kg ini, melainkan rasa takut baru dalam kehidupan Mike. Fonso mengidap masalah psikologis yang parah, dan sikap disiplinnya mengkhawatirkan. Untuk kesalahan ringan, seperti menutup pintu terlalu keras, ia memaksa Mike melakukan pushup berjarn-jam. Kalau anak kecil itu tak tahan lagi, ayahnya memukulnya. Begitu fanatiknya pendirian Fonso mengenai pergi bersekolah, sehingga Cheryl harus menyembunyikan Mike di lemari kalau anak itu sakit.
Mungkin ada firasat buruk yang mendorong Fonso untuk bersikap keras pada anaknya dan mengajarinya supaya dapat mengandalkan diri sendiri jauh sebelum waktunya. Mike baru delapan tahun saat ayahnya dibunuh dalam perkelahian dengan seorang pengedar obat.
Dalam semalam, perlindungan dan nafkah yang disediakan Fonso lenyap. Artinya, Cheryl yang berusia dua puluh empat tahun harus kembali lagi ke jalanan, dan sekarang ia dibebani tiga anak: Mike; Raf, empat tahun; dan Amber, satu tahun. Hidup mereka sulit dan pahit, dan ada seorang anak lagi yang akan lahir.
Tak lama kemudian Cheryl membawa pulang Marcel, pecandu kokain yang menteror keluarga itu lebih parah daripada Fonso. Saat Mike dengan lugu menanyakan apa yang dilakukan Marcel terhadap upah Cheryl sebagai pekerja transit, Marcel mematahkan rahang anak itu sehingga harus diberi kawat untuk membetulkan letaknya.
Tak lama kemudian Marcel membuat Cheryl kecanduan kokain, dan keduanya akan tenggelam dalam pengaruh minuman keras. Mula-mula mereka mengunci anak-anak di lemari, tapi pada akhirnya hanya meninggalkan mereka sendirian, setiap kali selama berminggu-minggu. Cheryl meyakinkan Mike bahwa jika ada orang yang tahu apa yang terjadi, anak-anak akan terpisah dan dikirim ke rumah asuh. Mengingat pesan ayahnya yang galak agar ia menjadi "lelaki," anak berusia delapan tahun itu menjadi sangat memperhatikan perlunya menjaga keutuhan keluarganya, apa pun yang terjadi.
Agar tak ada orang yang curiga, Mike mulai membersihkan apartemennya sendiri, mencuci pakaian dengan tangan, memberi makan, mengganti popok, dan memandikan adik-adiknya. Ia menjadi pemulung di toko kelontong untuk mendapatkan sisir, botol, dan pakaian, apa pun yang mampu mereka beli, dan menyembunyikan ketidak-hadiran ibunya dengan berbagai dalih. Cheryl dan Marcel tidak ragu-ragu menjual semua barang keluarga untuk membeli kokain-bahkan uang untuk biaya sewa rumah dan makanan anak-anak pun mereka gunakan. Saat situasi keuangan menjadi sangat memprihatinkan, Mike diam-diam berhenti sekolah pada usia sembilan tahun untuk menafkahi keluarganya sendiri. la membersihkan halaman, mengangkut barang dari truk dan toko minuman, selalu bekerja sebelum subuh atau di malam hari supaya adik-adiknya tidak sendirian saat mereka bangun.
Dengan bertambah lama dan bertambah parahnya kecanduan minuman keras dan semakin seringnya Cheryl dan Marcel tidak ada, maka saat mereka ada, mereka semakin kasar. Sedemikian parah kecanduannya sehingga Cheryl meninggalkan Marcel saat obat milik Marcel habis. Cheryl kemudian berteman dengan orang yang punya lebih banyak obat. Marcel yang berang melampiaskan amarahnya di apartemen kumuh itu, menyiksa dan menteror anak-anak supaya mereka memberitahukan tempat penyembunyian uang atau tempat ibu mereka berada.
Suatu malam, Marcel memasukkan adik Mike yang berusia dua tahun ke dalam kantong plastik dan menutupnya erat-erat. Tanpa udara, mata balita itu melotot dan kulitnya membiru. "Di mana ibumu?" seru pecandu itu. Sambil menangis, Mike dan Raf cilik berusia lima tahun menyerang Marcel berulang-ulang, memukul punggungnya dengan kepalan yang kecil dan tidak berarti. Karena marahnya, Mike akhirnya mengigit leher Marcel, sambil berharap agar si penyiksa kejam itu. melepaskan kantong plastik itu dan ganti memukulnya. Rencananya berhasil Martel berputar dan melemparkan Mike ke jendela, membuatnya terluka kena kepingan kaca dan tangannya patah.
Orangtua Cheryl, Mabel dan Otis Bradley, sangat mencintai cucu-cucu mereka, tapi mereka bekerja sepanjang hari dan tinggal di tempat yang hanya bisa dicapai dengan berganti bus beberapa kali, dan hanya dapat menjenguk sekali-sekali. Karena merasakan bahwa keluarga itu dalam kesulitan, Mabel mengirim mainan, pakaian, dan popok, dan tak pernah menduga bahwa popok pun dijual oleh Cheryl untuk membeli obat. Meskipun Mabel selalu bisa dihubungi melalui telepon dan menyediakan cinta tanpa pamrih sehingga menjadi satu-satunya jangkar bagi Mike, Mike tidak berani menceritakan masalah yang dihadapinya. Ia takut neneknya yang lembut akan mendapat serangan jantung jika tahu keadaan sesungguhnya-atau lebih buruk, dikasari oleh Marcel
Keluarga ini terpaksa selalu berpindah-pindah, tidur di bioskop, di dalam mobil rongsokan, dan bahkan di tempat kejahatan. Mike mencuci pakaian mereka di toilet umurn dan memasak dengan piring pemanas berapi tunggal. Pada akhirnya, Cheryl dan Marcel selalu berhasil menemukan mereka.
Meskipun berpindah-pindah, Mike bersikeras agar adik-adiknya bersekolah, mendapat nilai baik, dan menjadi warga teladan. Bagi teman sekelas, guru, dan bahkan nenek mereka, anak-anak itu selalu tampak normal, dirawat dengan baik, dan bahagia. Tak ada yang menyangka bagaimana hidup mereka atau bahwa mereka dibesarkan oleh seorang anak. Entah bagaimana Mike bisa berhasil menganut niat baik dari ayahnya yang galak dan memadukannya dengan teladan kasih neneknya, sehingga dalam dirinya terbentuk sistem nilai yang unik. Ia sangat mencintai keluarganya, dan adik-adiknya mempercayai dirinya. "Kau tak harus berakhir di jalanan," katanya kepada mereka. "Lihat bagaimana Ibu? Jangan memakai obat!" Diam-diam ia takut kalau-kalau ibunya suatu hari menggelepar keracunan obat di depan mereka.
Selama beberapa tahun berikutnya, Cheryl sering dipenjara karena memiliki dan menjual narkotika dan melakukan kejahatan lain, dan kadang-kadang dipenjarakan hingga setahun. Di luar penjara, ia terus melahirkan anak-anak lagi, membuat situasi keuangan keluarga ini semakin kritis. Sekuat apa pun Mike mencoba, menjadi tak mungkin baginya merawat tiga bayi baru dan menafkahi keluarga dengan tujuh anak sekaligus. Pada suatu Natal, mereka hanya bisa berbagi sekaleng jagung dan sekotak makaroni dan keju. Satu-satunya mainan mereka selama tahun itu adalah satu boneka Happy Meal McDonald's untuk setiap anak. Untuk kado, Mike menyuruh anak-anak membungkus bonekanya dengan kertas koran dan bertukaran. Itu salah satu Natal yang mendingan.
Mike sekarang remaja muda yang hidup selalu dalam kecemasan, tapi tetap menolak terjerumus; dalam dunia pengedar obat dan kejahatan yang lebih mudah dijalani. Malahan secara tabah, ia berjalan di jalanan berbahaya di larut malam menjual kacang makademia yang diolah lagi yang, bagi pecandu yang setengah gila, tampak seperti "batu" kokain seharga tiga puluh dolar. la tahu ia mempertaruhkan nyawanya setiap kali mengadu nasib seperti itu, tapi ia merasa tak punya banyak pilihan. Dengan pertarungan geng dan perang obat setiap malam, peruntungannya tidak terlalu baik. Pada usia lima belas tahun, Mike sudah pernah tertembak delapan kali.
Lebih buruk lagi, persediaan tenaga dan harapannya sekarang semakin rendah. Sepanjang ingatannya, ia hidup dengan rasa takut setiap hari yang tak pernah habis: Bisakah kami makan hari ini? Apakah kami akan di jalanan malam ini? Apakah Marcel akan muncul besok?
Dan setelah pindah lebih dari empat puluh kali, tampaknya mereka sudah mencapai keadaan paling parah. "Rumah mereka sekarang adalah Hotel Frontier, tempat kotor di Skid Row, tempat mucikari dan pelacur memenuhi koridor dan penjualan obat terjadi di tangga. Anak-anak pernah melihat pembunuhan di lobi, dan Mike sekarang takut meninggalkan mereka sendiri untuk tidur. Selama beberapa malam mereka di sana, ia berjaga dengan pemukul bisbol untuk membunuh tikus yang masuk lewat celah pintu.
Karena kurang tidur dan tak pernah berhenti dilanda stres, Mike merasa hancur oleh tanggung jawab dalam hidupnya. Saat itu jam dua pagi. Adik-adiknya meringkuk di bawah sehelai selimut di lantai. Michelle, bayi terkecil, sedang menangis, tapi Mike tak punya makanan untuknya. Anak yang menanggung beban diam-diam selama sekian tahun itu tiba-tiba putus asa.
Dengan terhuyung-huyung melangkah ke jendela dengan putus asa, Mike berdiri di pinggir, mempersiapkan diri untuk melompat. Dalam hati ia meminta keluarganya untuk memaafkannya, ia memejamkan mata dan menghela napas panjang yang terakhir. Saat itu, seorang wanita di seberang jalan melihatnya dan mulai menjerit. Mike mundur dari pinggiran itu dan terjatuh di sudut, terisak. Sepanjang sisa malam itu, ia membuai bayi yang lapar itu dan berdoa meminta tolong.
Pertolongan datang beberapa hari kemudian di malam Thanksgiving 1993, tak lama sebelum ulang tahun Mike yang keenam. belas. Kelompok pertolongan yang ada di gereja mendirikan dapur kaki lima untuk memberi makan orang lapar, dan Mike membawa adik-adiknya ke sana untuk mendapatkan roti lapis gratis. Begitu terkesannya para relawan dengannya dan anak-anak yang sopan sehingga mereka mulai bertanya. Bendungan di dalam diri Mike akhirnya jebol dan kisahnya menyembur keluar.
Dalam beberapa hari, kelompok gereja bekerja untuk menemukan keluarga asuh permanen, tapi tak ada rumah asuh yang dapat mengambil ketujuh-tujuhnya. Muncul nasihat bahwa keluarga itu harus dipisahkan "untuk kebaikan mereka sendiri." Mike menolak dengan gigih, mengancam akan menghilang kembali ke dalam rimba bersama anak-anak. Satu-satunya orang yang dapat dipercayainya yang akan menjaga keutuhan keluarganya adalah neneknya. Dengan enggan ia akhirnya menceritakan kehidupan mereka selama delapan tahun terakhir itu.
Karena kaget dan ngeri, Mabel Bradley segera setuju mengambil anak-anak itu, tapi sistem kesejahteraan sosial Los Amgeles County tidak setuju. Mabel berusia enam puluh enam, sudah pensiun, sementara kakek mereka menderita diabetes. Mana mungkin suami-istri Bradley ini mampu mengurus tujuh anak? Tapi Mike lebih tahu. la menyembunyikan anak-anak dan menolak menegosiasikan alternatif apa pun kecuali tinggal bersama kakek-neneknya. Akhirnya, para pekerja sosial dan pengadilan setuju, dan Mabel dan Otis Bradley bergembira karena mendapat izin permanen yang legal untuk mengurus anak-anak itu. Entah bagaimana, tapi setiap anak bertahan hidup dengan baik. Memang seperti mukjizat-dan juga kekuatan dan cinta Mike yang tak terperikan-menjaga keutuhan mereka.
Sejak itu Mabel kembali bekerja dan bersedia bolak-balik lebih dari 150 km setiap hari, sementara Otis merawat anak-anak. Mike mengambil pekerjaan sebanyak mungkin untuk membantu mendukung keluarganya, tapi meskipun ia pandai, berkemauan dan jujur, hanya pekerjaan berupah minimum yang tersedia. Lebih dari siapa pun, ia menyadari arti pendidikan dan berusaha mendapatkan ijazahnya.
Impiannya adalah suatu hari memulai perusahaan kecil yang dapat sekaligus mempekerjakan dan membina anak jalanan seperti dirinya yang tak memiliki pendidikan dasar dan keterampilan untuk bertahan di dunia kerja normal, tapi yang tak mau terpaksa kembali ke kehidupan jalanan karena tak bisa mendapatkan pekerjaan.
Mike juga membaktikan dirinya merangkul anak-anak kumuh lainnya melalui musiknya. Sebagai penyanyi dan pengarang lagu yang berbakat, ia menulis musik rap inspirasional dengan pesan penuh harapannya yang unik. Setelah melihat begitu banyak anak mati dalam hidupnya yang masih muda, ia sangat ingin meraih mereka yang masih hidup. "Bertahan hidup memang tidak mudah, tapi itu bisa terjadi, dan kita harus menyampaikan pesan itu. jika seribu orang mendengarku. dan dua anak tidak tertembak, tidak menjual obat, dan. tidak mati, berarti kita berhasil."
Tapi sekarang hanya sedikit waktu yang dimilikinya untuk menyanyi, karena Mike dan keluarganya masih berjuang. Tapi Raf, Amber, dan Chloe kini mengikuti jejak Mike untuk ikut menyumbangkan tenaga di rumah. Mereka adalah tiga bayi jalanan tertua yang dibesarkan Mike--dan diajarkan hidup dengan keberanian dan harapan.
Mereka ingat dengan baik semua perkataan Mike, yang dibisikkan kepada mereka berulang-ulang di saat-saat sulit, selama mereka berpindah-pindah, saat setiap kali mereka harus meninggalkan segalanya: "Apa pun yang kaumiliki, bersyukurlah! Bahkan kau tak memiliki apa-apa, bersyukurlah karena kau masih hidup! Percayalah pada dirimu sendiri. Tak ada yang akan mencegahmu. Milikilah tujuan. Bertahanlah!"
Mike Powell akan memiliki perusahaan untuk anak jalanan kelak. Dan kelak pun akan ada waktu untuk mewujudkan sernua impiannya. Lagi pula, Mike kan baru sembilan belas tahun.
Paula McDonald
(chicken soup for the teenage soul II)
Hero of the Hood
By all odds, Mike Powell should never have survived. Addiction, drug pushing, prison or early death is the most likely cards dealt to street kids growing up in the "jungle" of south central Los Angeles- a violent combat zone of drug wars, gang slaying, prostitution and crime. But Mike's young life had a special purpose. For eight years he braved terror and brutalization to keep his family of 7 kids together. Incredibly during that time no one ever discovered that the only real parent the family had was just another kid.
When mike was born his father Fonso was in prison for drug dealing. Mike's 15-year-old mother Cheryl dropped out of school to support the baby. "With out you my life could have been different" she later told mike over and over. It was the guilty glue that would make mike stick with her through the coming years of horror.
Fonso was released from prison when mike was 4 but instead of security 6-foot 5, 300-pound Vietnam vet brought a new kind of fear into mike's life. Fonso had severe psychological problems and his discipline was harrowing. For minor infractions such as slamming a door he forced mike to do push-ups for hours. If the little boy collapsed his father would beat him. So fanatical was Fonso 's insistence on school attendance that Cheryl had to hide mike in a closet when he was sick.
Perhaps it was dark premonition that drove fonso to toughen up his young son and teach himself reliance far beyond his years. Mike was barley 8 when his father was murdered in a run-in with drug dealers.
Overnight the protection and income Fonso had provided were gone. It was back to the street for 24 year old Cheryl who now had 3 kids. Mike, Raf age 4 and amber 1 year. Life was bitterly hard and another baby on the way.
It wasn't long before Cheryl brought home Marcel a cocaine addict who terrorized the family even more than fonso had. When mike innocently questioned what Marcel had done with cherry's wages as a transit worker, Marcel broke the little boy's jaw so badly it had to be wired back in place.
Marcel soon got Cheryl hooked on cocaine and the two would disappear on drug binges at first leaving the children locked in a closet but eventually just leaving them alone for weeks at a time. Cheryl had convinced mike that if anyone found out what was happening the children would be separated and sent to foster homes. Remembering his father's fierce admonitions to "be a man" the eight-year-old became consumed by the need to keep his family together no matter what.
To make sure no one suspected anything mike began cleaning the apartment himself doing laundry by hand and keeping his sisters fed, diapered and immaculate. He scavenged junk shops for hair brushes, bottles and clothes whatever they could afford and covered up for his mothers absences with an endless litany of excuses. Cheryl and Marcel were soon burning through everything the family had in order to buy crack even money for rent and the children's food. When their money situations became desperate mike quietly quit elementary school at 9 to support the family himself. He cleaned yards, unload trucks and stocked liquor stores, always working before dawn or late at night so the smaller wouldn't be alone while awake.
As Cheryl and Marcel's drug binges and absences became longer and more frequent their brief returns became more violent. Sinking deeper into addiction Cheryl would simply would abandon Marcel when his drugs ran out and hook up with someone who was better supplied. A crazed Marcel would then rampage through the slum apartment torturing and terrorizing the children for information about where more money was hidden or where he could find their mother.
One night Marcel put mike's 2-year-old sister in a plastic bag and held it closed. Without air the toddler's eyes were bulging and she was turning blue. "Where's your mother? " the addict screamed, Sobbing mike and little 5 year old Raf threw themselves at Marcel again and again beating on his back with small ineffectual fists. In desperation mike finally sank his teeth into Marcel's neck praying the savage tormentor would drop the plastic bag and pick on him instead. It worked. Marcel wheeled and threw mike through the window cutting him with shattered glass and breaking his arm.
Cheryl's parent's Mabel and Otis Bradley loved their grandchildren deeply, but they worked long hours and lived a difficult multiple bus commute away and could see them only rarely. Sensing the family was struggling Mabel sent clothes and diapers never dreaming that Cheryl was selling the diapers, for drug money. Although Mabel's constant phone calls and unconditional love became Mike's only anchor of support he didn't dare tell her that anything was wrong. He feared his gentle Grandmother would have a heart attack if she learned the truth or worse a violent confrontation with Marcel.
The family was forced to move constantly sleeping in Movie Theater's, abandoned cars and even fresh crime scenes at times. Mike washed their clothes in public restrooms and cooked on a single burner hot plate. Eventually Cheryl and Marcel always caught up with them.
Despite the moves mike insisted the younger kids attend school, get good grades and be model citizens. To classmates, teachers and even their grandmother the children always seemed normal, well groomed and happy. No one could have imagined how they lived or that another child was raising them. Somehow Mike had managed to sort through the good intentions but brutal methods of his father and blend them with the loving example of his grandmother to form a unique value system. He loved his family deeply and in return the children loved, trusted and believed in him. "You don't have to end up on the street" he told them. " See what mom's like? Stay off drugs!" secretly he was terrified that his mother would one day O.D in front of them.
Over the next few years Cheryl was repeatedly for possession and sale of narcotics and other crimes and was sometimes gone for up to a year at a time. Out of jail she continued to have more children making the family's financial situation increasingly critical. Hard as mike tried it was becoming impossible for him to care for 3 new babies and support a family of 7 kids at the same time. One Christmas there was only a can of corn and a box of macaroni and cheese for all of them to share. Their only toys for the past year had a single McDonald's happy meal figure for each child. For presents mike had the children wrap the figurine in newspaper and exchange them. It was one of their best Christmases.
The younger teenager now lived in constant anxiety but still refused to fall into the easier world of drug dealing and crime. Instead he braved the dangerous streets late at night selling doctored macadamia nuts which to half-crazed addict looked like 30 dollars crack- cocaine "rocks". He knew he risked his life every time he took such chances but he felt he had few choices. In the nightly siege or gang and drug warfare the odds were against him though. By age 15 mike had been sot 8 times.
Worse his reserves of strength and hope were running dangerously low. For as long as he could remember he had live with relentless daily fears: will we be able to eat today? Will we all be on the street tonight? Will Marcel show up tomorrow?
And after more than 40 moves it seemed they had finally hit rock bottom. " Home" was now the frontier hotel a filthy dive on skid row where pimps and prostitutes stalked the halls and drug deals went down on the stairways. The kids had watched a murder in the lobby and mike was now afraid to leave them alone or to sleep. For the few nights they had been there he had stayed up with a baseball bat to kill rats as they crawled under the door.
Sleep deprived and over whelmed by stress mike felt crushed by the responsibilities of his life. It was 2 am. His brother and sisters were huddled under a single blanket on the floor. Michelle the youngest baby was crying but he had no food for her. The boy who had shouldered his secret burden for so many years suddenly lost hope.
Stumbling to the window in despair mike stood at the edge steeling himself to jump. Silently asking his family to forgive him he closed his eyes and took a last deep breath. Just then a woman across the street spotted him and began screaming. Mike reeled back from the edge and fell into a corner, sobbing. For the rest of the night he rocked the hungry baby and prayed for help.
It came a few days later on the eve of Thanksgiving 1993 shortly before mike's 16th birthday. A church outreach group had set up a sidewalk kitchen nearby to feed the hungry and mike took the children there for free sandwiches. So impressed were the volunteers with him and the polite youngsters that they began asking gentle questions. A dam deep inside mike finally broke and his story spilled out.
Within days the church group was at work trying to find the family permanent shelter but no single foster home could take all 7 children. Advised that the family would have to be separated for their own good" mike adamantly refused threatening to disappear back into the jungle with the kids. The only person he trusted to keep the family together was his grandmother. Reluctantly he finally told her of their life for the past 8 years.
Stunned and horrified Mabel Bradley immediately agreed to take the children but the Los Angeles county social welfare system balked Mabel was 66 retired and the children's grandfather was diabetic. How could the Bradley possibly cope with 7 youngsters? But mike knew better. He hid the children and refused to negotiatiate any alternative except his grandparents. Finally the social workers and courts agreed and an ecstatic Mabel and Otis Bradley were granted permanent custody of the children. Somehow every child had survived unscathed. Nothing short of miracles it seemed and Mike unfathomable strength and love- had kept them together.
Mabel has since returned to work and now willingly commutes more than 100 miles away, while Otis cares for the children. Mike works, as many jobs as he can to help support the family but smart willing and honest as he is only minimum wage jobs are available. More than anyone he realizes the value of an education and is working on his GED.
His dream is to someday start a small company that can simultaneously employ the counsel street kids like himself who are without the traditional education. And skills to make it in a normal work world but who don't want to be forced back to street life because they can't find work.
Mike also dedicated to reaching other inner city kids through his music. A talented singer and songwriter, he wrote inspirational rap with his own unique message of hope. Having seen so many kids die in his young life he wants desperately to reach those who might live. "Surviving is against the odds but it happens and we have to get that message out. If a thousand people hear me and 2 kids don't get shot, don't deal, don't die then we've done something."
There is little time to sing right now though for Mike and his family are still struggling themselves. But Raf, Amber and Chloe are now stepping proudly into Mikes' big shoes to do their part at home. They are the 3 oldest street babies he raised and taught to live with courage and hope.
The remember well all of Mike's words, whispered fiercely to them over and over during the bad times, during the many moves when each time they had to leave every thing behind: " whatever you have be grateful for it! Even if you've got nothing. Be grateful you're alive! Believe in yourself. Nobody is stopping you. Have a goal. "Survive!"
Mike Powell will have his company for street kids someday. And there will be time later for the rest of his dreams too. Mike is, after all only Nineteen.
Paula McDonald
(chicken soup for the teenage soul II)
Berjuang untuk Hidup
Kalau dipikir-pikir, Mike Powell mestinya tidak selamat. Kecanduan, menjadi pengedar obat-obatan, penjara, atau kematian adalah nasib yang biasanya menimpa anak jalanan di "rimba" South-Central Los Angeles-arena kejam untuk perang obat, pembunuhan geng, pelacuran, dan kejahatan. Tapi, kehidupan Mike kecil memiliki tujuan istimewa. Selama delapan tahun ia tabah menghadapi teror dan kebrutalan untuk mempertahankan keluarganya yang beranak tujuh. Hebatnya, selama masa itu, tak ada orang yang tahu bahwa orangtua yang sesungguhnya dalam keluarga itu hanyalah seorang anak.
Waktu Mike lahir, ayahnya, Fonso, dipenjarakan karena mengedarkan obat. Ibu Mike, Cheryl, yang berusia lima belas tahun, keluar dari sekolah untuk menafkahi bayinya. "Tanpa kau, kehidupanku tak akan begini," begitu katanya pada Mike berkali-kali. Perasaan bersalah inilah yang membuat Mike tetap mendampinginya. selama tahun-tahun yang menyeramkan.
Fonso dibebaskan dari penjara saat Mike berusia empat tahun, tapi bukannya kearnanan yang dibawa veteran Vietnam setinggi 195 cm dengan berat 135 kg ini, melainkan rasa takut baru dalam kehidupan Mike. Fonso mengidap masalah psikologis yang parah, dan sikap disiplinnya mengkhawatirkan. Untuk kesalahan ringan, seperti menutup pintu terlalu keras, ia memaksa Mike melakukan pushup berjarn-jam. Kalau anak kecil itu tak tahan lagi, ayahnya memukulnya. Begitu fanatiknya pendirian Fonso mengenai pergi bersekolah, sehingga Cheryl harus menyembunyikan Mike di lemari kalau anak itu sakit.
Mungkin ada firasat buruk yang mendorong Fonso untuk bersikap keras pada anaknya dan mengajarinya supaya dapat mengandalkan diri sendiri jauh sebelum waktunya. Mike baru delapan tahun saat ayahnya dibunuh dalam perkelahian dengan seorang pengedar obat.
Dalam semalam, perlindungan dan nafkah yang disediakan Fonso lenyap. Artinya, Cheryl yang berusia dua puluh empat tahun harus kembali lagi ke jalanan, dan sekarang ia dibebani tiga anak: Mike; Raf, empat tahun; dan Amber, satu tahun. Hidup mereka sulit dan pahit, dan ada seorang anak lagi yang akan lahir.
Tak lama kemudian Cheryl membawa pulang Marcel, pecandu kokain yang menteror keluarga itu lebih parah daripada Fonso. Saat Mike dengan lugu menanyakan apa yang dilakukan Marcel terhadap upah Cheryl sebagai pekerja transit, Marcel mematahkan rahang anak itu sehingga harus diberi kawat untuk membetulkan letaknya.
Tak lama kemudian Marcel membuat Cheryl kecanduan kokain, dan keduanya akan tenggelam dalam pengaruh minuman keras. Mula-mula mereka mengunci anak-anak di lemari, tapi pada akhirnya hanya meninggalkan mereka sendirian, setiap kali selama berminggu-minggu. Cheryl meyakinkan Mike bahwa jika ada orang yang tahu apa yang terjadi, anak-anak akan terpisah dan dikirim ke rumah asuh. Mengingat pesan ayahnya yang galak agar ia menjadi "lelaki," anak berusia delapan tahun itu menjadi sangat memperhatikan perlunya menjaga keutuhan keluarganya, apa pun yang terjadi.
Agar tak ada orang yang curiga, Mike mulai membersihkan apartemennya sendiri, mencuci pakaian dengan tangan, memberi makan, mengganti popok, dan memandikan adik-adiknya. Ia menjadi pemulung di toko kelontong untuk mendapatkan sisir, botol, dan pakaian, apa pun yang mampu mereka beli, dan menyembunyikan ketidak-hadiran ibunya dengan berbagai dalih. Cheryl dan Marcel tidak ragu-ragu menjual semua barang keluarga untuk membeli kokain-bahkan uang untuk biaya sewa rumah dan makanan anak-anak pun mereka gunakan. Saat situasi keuangan menjadi sangat memprihatinkan, Mike diam-diam berhenti sekolah pada usia sembilan tahun untuk menafkahi keluarganya sendiri. la membersihkan halaman, mengangkut barang dari truk dan toko minuman, selalu bekerja sebelum subuh atau di malam hari supaya adik-adiknya tidak sendirian saat mereka bangun.
Dengan bertambah lama dan bertambah parahnya kecanduan minuman keras dan semakin seringnya Cheryl dan Marcel tidak ada, maka saat mereka ada, mereka semakin kasar. Sedemikian parah kecanduannya sehingga Cheryl meninggalkan Marcel saat obat milik Marcel habis. Cheryl kemudian berteman dengan orang yang punya lebih banyak obat. Marcel yang berang melampiaskan amarahnya di apartemen kumuh itu, menyiksa dan menteror anak-anak supaya mereka memberitahukan tempat penyembunyian uang atau tempat ibu mereka berada.
Suatu malam, Marcel memasukkan adik Mike yang berusia dua tahun ke dalam kantong plastik dan menutupnya erat-erat. Tanpa udara, mata balita itu melotot dan kulitnya membiru. "Di mana ibumu?" seru pecandu itu. Sambil menangis, Mike dan Raf cilik berusia lima tahun menyerang Marcel berulang-ulang, memukul punggungnya dengan kepalan yang kecil dan tidak berarti. Karena marahnya, Mike akhirnya mengigit leher Marcel, sambil berharap agar si penyiksa kejam itu. melepaskan kantong plastik itu dan ganti memukulnya. Rencananya berhasil Martel berputar dan melemparkan Mike ke jendela, membuatnya terluka kena kepingan kaca dan tangannya patah.
Orangtua Cheryl, Mabel dan Otis Bradley, sangat mencintai cucu-cucu mereka, tapi mereka bekerja sepanjang hari dan tinggal di tempat yang hanya bisa dicapai dengan berganti bus beberapa kali, dan hanya dapat menjenguk sekali-sekali. Karena merasakan bahwa keluarga itu dalam kesulitan, Mabel mengirim mainan, pakaian, dan popok, dan tak pernah menduga bahwa popok pun dijual oleh Cheryl untuk membeli obat. Meskipun Mabel selalu bisa dihubungi melalui telepon dan menyediakan cinta tanpa pamrih sehingga menjadi satu-satunya jangkar bagi Mike, Mike tidak berani menceritakan masalah yang dihadapinya. Ia takut neneknya yang lembut akan mendapat serangan jantung jika tahu keadaan sesungguhnya-atau lebih buruk, dikasari oleh Marcel
Keluarga ini terpaksa selalu berpindah-pindah, tidur di bioskop, di dalam mobil rongsokan, dan bahkan di tempat kejahatan. Mike mencuci pakaian mereka di toilet umurn dan memasak dengan piring pemanas berapi tunggal. Pada akhirnya, Cheryl dan Marcel selalu berhasil menemukan mereka.
Meskipun berpindah-pindah, Mike bersikeras agar adik-adiknya bersekolah, mendapat nilai baik, dan menjadi warga teladan. Bagi teman sekelas, guru, dan bahkan nenek mereka, anak-anak itu selalu tampak normal, dirawat dengan baik, dan bahagia. Tak ada yang menyangka bagaimana hidup mereka atau bahwa mereka dibesarkan oleh seorang anak. Entah bagaimana Mike bisa berhasil menganut niat baik dari ayahnya yang galak dan memadukannya dengan teladan kasih neneknya, sehingga dalam dirinya terbentuk sistem nilai yang unik. Ia sangat mencintai keluarganya, dan adik-adiknya mempercayai dirinya. "Kau tak harus berakhir di jalanan," katanya kepada mereka. "Lihat bagaimana Ibu? Jangan memakai obat!" Diam-diam ia takut kalau-kalau ibunya suatu hari menggelepar keracunan obat di depan mereka.
Selama beberapa tahun berikutnya, Cheryl sering dipenjara karena memiliki dan menjual narkotika dan melakukan kejahatan lain, dan kadang-kadang dipenjarakan hingga setahun. Di luar penjara, ia terus melahirkan anak-anak lagi, membuat situasi keuangan keluarga ini semakin kritis. Sekuat apa pun Mike mencoba, menjadi tak mungkin baginya merawat tiga bayi baru dan menafkahi keluarga dengan tujuh anak sekaligus. Pada suatu Natal, mereka hanya bisa berbagi sekaleng jagung dan sekotak makaroni dan keju. Satu-satunya mainan mereka selama tahun itu adalah satu boneka Happy Meal McDonald's untuk setiap anak. Untuk kado, Mike menyuruh anak-anak membungkus bonekanya dengan kertas koran dan bertukaran. Itu salah satu Natal yang mendingan.
Mike sekarang remaja muda yang hidup selalu dalam kecemasan, tapi tetap menolak terjerumus; dalam dunia pengedar obat dan kejahatan yang lebih mudah dijalani. Malahan secara tabah, ia berjalan di jalanan berbahaya di larut malam menjual kacang makademia yang diolah lagi yang, bagi pecandu yang setengah gila, tampak seperti "batu" kokain seharga tiga puluh dolar. la tahu ia mempertaruhkan nyawanya setiap kali mengadu nasib seperti itu, tapi ia merasa tak punya banyak pilihan. Dengan pertarungan geng dan perang obat setiap malam, peruntungannya tidak terlalu baik. Pada usia lima belas tahun, Mike sudah pernah tertembak delapan kali.
Lebih buruk lagi, persediaan tenaga dan harapannya sekarang semakin rendah. Sepanjang ingatannya, ia hidup dengan rasa takut setiap hari yang tak pernah habis: Bisakah kami makan hari ini? Apakah kami akan di jalanan malam ini? Apakah Marcel akan muncul besok?
Dan setelah pindah lebih dari empat puluh kali, tampaknya mereka sudah mencapai keadaan paling parah. "Rumah mereka sekarang adalah Hotel Frontier, tempat kotor di Skid Row, tempat mucikari dan pelacur memenuhi koridor dan penjualan obat terjadi di tangga. Anak-anak pernah melihat pembunuhan di lobi, dan Mike sekarang takut meninggalkan mereka sendiri untuk tidur. Selama beberapa malam mereka di sana, ia berjaga dengan pemukul bisbol untuk membunuh tikus yang masuk lewat celah pintu.
Karena kurang tidur dan tak pernah berhenti dilanda stres, Mike merasa hancur oleh tanggung jawab dalam hidupnya. Saat itu jam dua pagi. Adik-adiknya meringkuk di bawah sehelai selimut di lantai. Michelle, bayi terkecil, sedang menangis, tapi Mike tak punya makanan untuknya. Anak yang menanggung beban diam-diam selama sekian tahun itu tiba-tiba putus asa.
Dengan terhuyung-huyung melangkah ke jendela dengan putus asa, Mike berdiri di pinggir, mempersiapkan diri untuk melompat. Dalam hati ia meminta keluarganya untuk memaafkannya, ia memejamkan mata dan menghela napas panjang yang terakhir. Saat itu, seorang wanita di seberang jalan melihatnya dan mulai menjerit. Mike mundur dari pinggiran itu dan terjatuh di sudut, terisak. Sepanjang sisa malam itu, ia membuai bayi yang lapar itu dan berdoa meminta tolong.
Pertolongan datang beberapa hari kemudian di malam Thanksgiving 1993, tak lama sebelum ulang tahun Mike yang keenam. belas. Kelompok pertolongan yang ada di gereja mendirikan dapur kaki lima untuk memberi makan orang lapar, dan Mike membawa adik-adiknya ke sana untuk mendapatkan roti lapis gratis. Begitu terkesannya para relawan dengannya dan anak-anak yang sopan sehingga mereka mulai bertanya. Bendungan di dalam diri Mike akhirnya jebol dan kisahnya menyembur keluar.
Dalam beberapa hari, kelompok gereja bekerja untuk menemukan keluarga asuh permanen, tapi tak ada rumah asuh yang dapat mengambil ketujuh-tujuhnya. Muncul nasihat bahwa keluarga itu harus dipisahkan "untuk kebaikan mereka sendiri." Mike menolak dengan gigih, mengancam akan menghilang kembali ke dalam rimba bersama anak-anak. Satu-satunya orang yang dapat dipercayainya yang akan menjaga keutuhan keluarganya adalah neneknya. Dengan enggan ia akhirnya menceritakan kehidupan mereka selama delapan tahun terakhir itu.
Karena kaget dan ngeri, Mabel Bradley segera setuju mengambil anak-anak itu, tapi sistem kesejahteraan sosial Los Amgeles County tidak setuju. Mabel berusia enam puluh enam, sudah pensiun, sementara kakek mereka menderita diabetes. Mana mungkin suami-istri Bradley ini mampu mengurus tujuh anak? Tapi Mike lebih tahu. la menyembunyikan anak-anak dan menolak menegosiasikan alternatif apa pun kecuali tinggal bersama kakek-neneknya. Akhirnya, para pekerja sosial dan pengadilan setuju, dan Mabel dan Otis Bradley bergembira karena mendapat izin permanen yang legal untuk mengurus anak-anak itu. Entah bagaimana, tapi setiap anak bertahan hidup dengan baik. Memang seperti mukjizat-dan juga kekuatan dan cinta Mike yang tak terperikan-menjaga keutuhan mereka.
Sejak itu Mabel kembali bekerja dan bersedia bolak-balik lebih dari 150 km setiap hari, sementara Otis merawat anak-anak. Mike mengambil pekerjaan sebanyak mungkin untuk membantu mendukung keluarganya, tapi meskipun ia pandai, berkemauan dan jujur, hanya pekerjaan berupah minimum yang tersedia. Lebih dari siapa pun, ia menyadari arti pendidikan dan berusaha mendapatkan ijazahnya.
Impiannya adalah suatu hari memulai perusahaan kecil yang dapat sekaligus mempekerjakan dan membina anak jalanan seperti dirinya yang tak memiliki pendidikan dasar dan keterampilan untuk bertahan di dunia kerja normal, tapi yang tak mau terpaksa kembali ke kehidupan jalanan karena tak bisa mendapatkan pekerjaan.
Mike juga membaktikan dirinya merangkul anak-anak kumuh lainnya melalui musiknya. Sebagai penyanyi dan pengarang lagu yang berbakat, ia menulis musik rap inspirasional dengan pesan penuh harapannya yang unik. Setelah melihat begitu banyak anak mati dalam hidupnya yang masih muda, ia sangat ingin meraih mereka yang masih hidup. "Bertahan hidup memang tidak mudah, tapi itu bisa terjadi, dan kita harus menyampaikan pesan itu. jika seribu orang mendengarku. dan dua anak tidak tertembak, tidak menjual obat, dan. tidak mati, berarti kita berhasil."
Tapi sekarang hanya sedikit waktu yang dimilikinya untuk menyanyi, karena Mike dan keluarganya masih berjuang. Tapi Raf, Amber, dan Chloe kini mengikuti jejak Mike untuk ikut menyumbangkan tenaga di rumah. Mereka adalah tiga bayi jalanan tertua yang dibesarkan Mike--dan diajarkan hidup dengan keberanian dan harapan.
Mereka ingat dengan baik semua perkataan Mike, yang dibisikkan kepada mereka berulang-ulang di saat-saat sulit, selama mereka berpindah-pindah, saat setiap kali mereka harus meninggalkan segalanya: "Apa pun yang kaumiliki, bersyukurlah! Bahkan kau tak memiliki apa-apa, bersyukurlah karena kau masih hidup! Percayalah pada dirimu sendiri. Tak ada yang akan mencegahmu. Milikilah tujuan. Bertahanlah!"
Mike Powell akan memiliki perusahaan untuk anak jalanan kelak. Dan kelak pun akan ada waktu untuk mewujudkan sernua impiannya. Lagi pula, Mike kan baru sembilan belas tahun.
Paula McDonald
(chicken soup for the teenage soul II)
Hero of the Hood
By all odds, Mike Powell should never have survived. Addiction, drug pushing, prison or early death is the most likely cards dealt to street kids growing up in the "jungle" of south central Los Angeles- a violent combat zone of drug wars, gang slaying, prostitution and crime. But Mike's young life had a special purpose. For eight years he braved terror and brutalization to keep his family of 7 kids together. Incredibly during that time no one ever discovered that the only real parent the family had was just another kid.
When mike was born his father Fonso was in prison for drug dealing. Mike's 15-year-old mother Cheryl dropped out of school to support the baby. "With out you my life could have been different" she later told mike over and over. It was the guilty glue that would make mike stick with her through the coming years of horror.
Fonso was released from prison when mike was 4 but instead of security 6-foot 5, 300-pound Vietnam vet brought a new kind of fear into mike's life. Fonso had severe psychological problems and his discipline was harrowing. For minor infractions such as slamming a door he forced mike to do push-ups for hours. If the little boy collapsed his father would beat him. So fanatical was Fonso 's insistence on school attendance that Cheryl had to hide mike in a closet when he was sick.
Perhaps it was dark premonition that drove fonso to toughen up his young son and teach himself reliance far beyond his years. Mike was barley 8 when his father was murdered in a run-in with drug dealers.
Overnight the protection and income Fonso had provided were gone. It was back to the street for 24 year old Cheryl who now had 3 kids. Mike, Raf age 4 and amber 1 year. Life was bitterly hard and another baby on the way.
It wasn't long before Cheryl brought home Marcel a cocaine addict who terrorized the family even more than fonso had. When mike innocently questioned what Marcel had done with cherry's wages as a transit worker, Marcel broke the little boy's jaw so badly it had to be wired back in place.
Marcel soon got Cheryl hooked on cocaine and the two would disappear on drug binges at first leaving the children locked in a closet but eventually just leaving them alone for weeks at a time. Cheryl had convinced mike that if anyone found out what was happening the children would be separated and sent to foster homes. Remembering his father's fierce admonitions to "be a man" the eight-year-old became consumed by the need to keep his family together no matter what.
To make sure no one suspected anything mike began cleaning the apartment himself doing laundry by hand and keeping his sisters fed, diapered and immaculate. He scavenged junk shops for hair brushes, bottles and clothes whatever they could afford and covered up for his mothers absences with an endless litany of excuses. Cheryl and Marcel were soon burning through everything the family had in order to buy crack even money for rent and the children's food. When their money situations became desperate mike quietly quit elementary school at 9 to support the family himself. He cleaned yards, unload trucks and stocked liquor stores, always working before dawn or late at night so the smaller wouldn't be alone while awake.
As Cheryl and Marcel's drug binges and absences became longer and more frequent their brief returns became more violent. Sinking deeper into addiction Cheryl would simply would abandon Marcel when his drugs ran out and hook up with someone who was better supplied. A crazed Marcel would then rampage through the slum apartment torturing and terrorizing the children for information about where more money was hidden or where he could find their mother.
One night Marcel put mike's 2-year-old sister in a plastic bag and held it closed. Without air the toddler's eyes were bulging and she was turning blue. "Where's your mother? " the addict screamed, Sobbing mike and little 5 year old Raf threw themselves at Marcel again and again beating on his back with small ineffectual fists. In desperation mike finally sank his teeth into Marcel's neck praying the savage tormentor would drop the plastic bag and pick on him instead. It worked. Marcel wheeled and threw mike through the window cutting him with shattered glass and breaking his arm.
Cheryl's parent's Mabel and Otis Bradley loved their grandchildren deeply, but they worked long hours and lived a difficult multiple bus commute away and could see them only rarely. Sensing the family was struggling Mabel sent clothes and diapers never dreaming that Cheryl was selling the diapers, for drug money. Although Mabel's constant phone calls and unconditional love became Mike's only anchor of support he didn't dare tell her that anything was wrong. He feared his gentle Grandmother would have a heart attack if she learned the truth or worse a violent confrontation with Marcel.
The family was forced to move constantly sleeping in Movie Theater's, abandoned cars and even fresh crime scenes at times. Mike washed their clothes in public restrooms and cooked on a single burner hot plate. Eventually Cheryl and Marcel always caught up with them.
Despite the moves mike insisted the younger kids attend school, get good grades and be model citizens. To classmates, teachers and even their grandmother the children always seemed normal, well groomed and happy. No one could have imagined how they lived or that another child was raising them. Somehow Mike had managed to sort through the good intentions but brutal methods of his father and blend them with the loving example of his grandmother to form a unique value system. He loved his family deeply and in return the children loved, trusted and believed in him. "You don't have to end up on the street" he told them. " See what mom's like? Stay off drugs!" secretly he was terrified that his mother would one day O.D in front of them.
Over the next few years Cheryl was repeatedly for possession and sale of narcotics and other crimes and was sometimes gone for up to a year at a time. Out of jail she continued to have more children making the family's financial situation increasingly critical. Hard as mike tried it was becoming impossible for him to care for 3 new babies and support a family of 7 kids at the same time. One Christmas there was only a can of corn and a box of macaroni and cheese for all of them to share. Their only toys for the past year had a single McDonald's happy meal figure for each child. For presents mike had the children wrap the figurine in newspaper and exchange them. It was one of their best Christmases.
The younger teenager now lived in constant anxiety but still refused to fall into the easier world of drug dealing and crime. Instead he braved the dangerous streets late at night selling doctored macadamia nuts which to half-crazed addict looked like 30 dollars crack- cocaine "rocks". He knew he risked his life every time he took such chances but he felt he had few choices. In the nightly siege or gang and drug warfare the odds were against him though. By age 15 mike had been sot 8 times.
Worse his reserves of strength and hope were running dangerously low. For as long as he could remember he had live with relentless daily fears: will we be able to eat today? Will we all be on the street tonight? Will Marcel show up tomorrow?
And after more than 40 moves it seemed they had finally hit rock bottom. " Home" was now the frontier hotel a filthy dive on skid row where pimps and prostitutes stalked the halls and drug deals went down on the stairways. The kids had watched a murder in the lobby and mike was now afraid to leave them alone or to sleep. For the few nights they had been there he had stayed up with a baseball bat to kill rats as they crawled under the door.
Sleep deprived and over whelmed by stress mike felt crushed by the responsibilities of his life. It was 2 am. His brother and sisters were huddled under a single blanket on the floor. Michelle the youngest baby was crying but he had no food for her. The boy who had shouldered his secret burden for so many years suddenly lost hope.
Stumbling to the window in despair mike stood at the edge steeling himself to jump. Silently asking his family to forgive him he closed his eyes and took a last deep breath. Just then a woman across the street spotted him and began screaming. Mike reeled back from the edge and fell into a corner, sobbing. For the rest of the night he rocked the hungry baby and prayed for help.
It came a few days later on the eve of Thanksgiving 1993 shortly before mike's 16th birthday. A church outreach group had set up a sidewalk kitchen nearby to feed the hungry and mike took the children there for free sandwiches. So impressed were the volunteers with him and the polite youngsters that they began asking gentle questions. A dam deep inside mike finally broke and his story spilled out.
Within days the church group was at work trying to find the family permanent shelter but no single foster home could take all 7 children. Advised that the family would have to be separated for their own good" mike adamantly refused threatening to disappear back into the jungle with the kids. The only person he trusted to keep the family together was his grandmother. Reluctantly he finally told her of their life for the past 8 years.
Stunned and horrified Mabel Bradley immediately agreed to take the children but the Los Angeles county social welfare system balked Mabel was 66 retired and the children's grandfather was diabetic. How could the Bradley possibly cope with 7 youngsters? But mike knew better. He hid the children and refused to negotiatiate any alternative except his grandparents. Finally the social workers and courts agreed and an ecstatic Mabel and Otis Bradley were granted permanent custody of the children. Somehow every child had survived unscathed. Nothing short of miracles it seemed and Mike unfathomable strength and love- had kept them together.
Mabel has since returned to work and now willingly commutes more than 100 miles away, while Otis cares for the children. Mike works, as many jobs as he can to help support the family but smart willing and honest as he is only minimum wage jobs are available. More than anyone he realizes the value of an education and is working on his GED.
His dream is to someday start a small company that can simultaneously employ the counsel street kids like himself who are without the traditional education. And skills to make it in a normal work world but who don't want to be forced back to street life because they can't find work.
Mike also dedicated to reaching other inner city kids through his music. A talented singer and songwriter, he wrote inspirational rap with his own unique message of hope. Having seen so many kids die in his young life he wants desperately to reach those who might live. "Surviving is against the odds but it happens and we have to get that message out. If a thousand people hear me and 2 kids don't get shot, don't deal, don't die then we've done something."
There is little time to sing right now though for Mike and his family are still struggling themselves. But Raf, Amber and Chloe are now stepping proudly into Mikes' big shoes to do their part at home. They are the 3 oldest street babies he raised and taught to live with courage and hope.
The remember well all of Mike's words, whispered fiercely to them over and over during the bad times, during the many moves when each time they had to leave every thing behind: " whatever you have be grateful for it! Even if you've got nothing. Be grateful you're alive! Believe in yourself. Nobody is stopping you. Have a goal. "Survive!"
Mike Powell will have his company for street kids someday. And there will be time later for the rest of his dreams too. Mike is, after all only Nineteen.
Paula McDonald
(chicken soup for the teenage soul II)