Page 105 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

other dark red bricks homes in the neighborhood. Dark brownish red clay shingled roofs lay
perfectly like an army of soldiers protecting our home from constant rain, and crisp white trim
with espresso-colored gutters with drain pipe ready to whisk water back onto the stone roads.

There are four white-trimmed windows looking left to right, and at the top the first
window is what became Joshua’s room. On the right was a frosted window that belonged to the
full three-piece bathroom upstairs, thankfully the window was for function and not just
decoration. On the ground level below was the largest window facing the street. I like to think of
it as our picture window where our Christmas tree would have gone if we had a better grasp of
room design at the time.

The front door anchored the four windows on the front of the house, adorned with shiny
golden brass door locks and hand grips, but no door handle. In the center of the front door are
two vertical glass panels that are semi-frosted for privacy, but allow a few clear vertical lines like
makeshift peepholes. The bottom half of the door is equally accented with a golden brass mail
slot and one-inch kickplate. Draped by a three-dimensional triangle shaped awning over the front
door with medium brown shingles made of the same material used on American homes. Holding
up the awning are two white corbels shaped like curly bracket symbols on a keyboard. One
corbel is flanked by a lantern and just below that the home number 40 etched in a small orange
brick. There is a tiny front yard enough for a small grassy green mini bush and a black iron
fence flanking both sides of the front grass area. This new home full of love became a prison my
soul could not escape.

November 21, 2008, I woke up in a good mood it was Friday which meant we would get
take out that night, most likely Atlantis Fish Bar Kebabs & Pizza, our favorite restaurant in our
neighborhood. I went into the bathroom to relieve my continually full bladder when I noticed

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