Chapter 9 chapter eight

When Kelly was ten years old, Ethel sent her to work, doing odd jobs in a small hotel.Kelly gets up at five every morning, cleans the toilets, scrubs the kitchen floor, and helps prepare breakfast for the boarders.After school she does laundry, mops floors, dusts, and helps cook dinner.Her life consisted of nothing but tedious labor. She actively helped her mother, hoping to get a word of praise.But never got it.The mother worked hard for the boarding guests all day, and didn't care about her daughter. A kind-hearted guest once read to Kelly when she was a child, and Kelly couldn't forget how Alice escaped down a magic rabbit hole.That's what I want, Kelly thought, a way to escape.I can't spend the rest of my days scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, and picking up the mess left by scruffy strangers.

One day Kelly found her magic rabbit hole.Her imagination - a passage that can take her anywhere she wants.She rewrote her life... She has a father whose parents are the same skin color.They never lost their temper, never shouted at her.The family lives together, Hehe Meimei.Mother and father love her.Mother and father love her.Mother and father love her... When Kelly was fourteen, his mother married a boarding guest named Dan Baker, a bartender, a grumpy middle-aged man who had a negative view of everything, and he disliked everything Kelly did. . "Dinner is terrible..." "The color of this dress doesn't match you..."

"The blinds in the bedroom are still cracked. I asked you to fix it..." "You haven't cleaned the bathroom yet..." Kelly's stepfather was an alcoholic.Kelly's bedroom was separated from his parents' bedroom by a board.Night after night, Kelly could hear the beatings and screams.When Ethel showed up in the morning, she always wore a thick layer of makeup, but it couldn't hide the bruises and dark circles under her eyes. Kelly is suffering.We should get out of here, Kelly thought.Mother and I depend on each other for life. One night, as Kelly was about to fall asleep, he heard a loud argument from the next door.

"Why didn't you kill that kid before she was born?" "I tried, Dan. It doesn't work." Kelly felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.Mother never wanted her.No one wants her. Kelly found another escape from her endlessly dull life: the world of books.She became a voracious reader, spending all her spare time in the public library. At the end of the week, Kelly had nothing left, so she found a job as a babysitter, envious of the happy family she would never enjoy. At seventeen, Kelly had grown into the beauty her mother had been.Boys at school started asking her out on dates.She is disgusted.Keep them all away from thousands of miles away.

On Saturdays, after school, Kelly's chores were done, and she rushed to the public library, where she spent the afternoon reading. Lisa Marie Houston, the librarian, was an intelligent, compassionate woman, quiet and unassuming in her demeanor, dressed as modestly and unostentatiously as her character.Seeing Kelly come to the library so often, Mrs. Houston was very curious. One day she said, "I'm glad to see a young man who loves to read. You spend a lot of time here." This is the beginning of their friendship.Over time, Kelly poured out her fears, hopes and dreams to the librarian.

"How do you want to spend your life, Kelly?" "Be a teacher." "I think you'd make a very good teacher. Teaching is the most rewarding profession in the world." Kelly was on the tip of his tongue, but stopped.She remembered a conversation with her parents at the breakfast table a week earlier.Kelly said, I have to go to college.I want to be a teacher. teacher?Baker laughed.What a shitty idea.Teachers earn a lot of money.Do you hear me?bird money.You can earn more by sweeping the floor.Anyway, neither your mother nor I have that much money to put you through college.

But I got a scholarship and— So what?You will just waste four years of your life in vain.Pull it down.As far as your face is concerned, it's better to sell your ass. Kelly left the table. Now she said to Mrs. Houston, "There's a problem. They don't want me to go to college." Her throat was clogged. "I will do what I do for the rest of my life!" "Of course not." Mrs. Houston was very firm, "How old are you?" "I'll be eighteen in three months." "You'll be on your own soon. You're beautiful, Kelly. You know that?"

"No. Really don't know." How could I tell her I felt like a monster?I don't think I'm pretty at all. "I hate my life, Mrs. Houston. I don't want to be like—I want to get out of this city. I want something completely different that I'm never going to get." She struggled to control her emotions , "I'll never have the chance to make a name for myself, to be a decent person." "Kelly—" "I shouldn't have read those books at all." Her tone was bitter. "why?" "Because it's full of lies. All those beautiful people and colorful places and magic..." Kelly shook her head. "There's no magic."

Mrs. Houston looked at her for a moment.It's clear that Kelly's sense of self-worth has been battered: "Kelly, there's magic, but you have to be a magician. You have to make magic happen." "Really?" Kelly's tone was cynical. "How would I change?" "First of all, you have to know what your dream is. Your dream is to live an exciting life, full of interesting people and colorful places. Next time you come, I will show you how you can make your own A dream come true." fraud. The week after Kelly graduated, she was back in the library.

Mrs. Houston said, "Kelly, remember what I said about you doing magic tricks yourself?" Kelly said doubtfully, "Yes." Mrs. Houston reached behind her desk and pulled out a stack of magazines: City Girl, Seventeen, Glamor, Miss, Essence, . . . and handed it to Kelly. Kelly looked at them. "What do I have to do with these things?" "Have you ever thought about being a model?" "No." "Check out these magazines. Then tell me if they inspire you on how to bring magic into your life." She has good intentions.Kelly thought, but she didn't understand: "Thank you, Mrs. Houston, I will."

I start looking for a job next week. Kelly took the magazines back to the inn, stuffed them in a corner, and forgot about them.She does housework all night. As Kelly went to bed exhausted that night, she thought of the magazine Mrs. Houston had given her.Out of curiosity, she picked out a few and flipped through them casually.That is another world.The models are gorgeously dressed and accompanied by handsome, elegant men in London, Paris and exotic locations around the world.Kelly felt a sudden longing.She hurriedly put on her nightgown and ran to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. She looked carefully at the mirror.I must be pretty.Everyone told her so.Even if it were, I have no experience with it.She considered her future in Philadelphia and looked in the mirror again.Everyone has to start somewhere.You have to be a magician...to do magic. Early the next morning, Kelly went to the library to see Mrs. Houston. Mrs. Houston looked up, surprised to see Kelly come to the library so early: "Good morning, Kelly. Have you read a magazine by chance?" "Look." Kelly took a deep breath. "I want to try modeling. The problem is I don't know where to start." Mrs. Houston smiled. "I know. I checked the New York phone guide. Didn't you say you wanted to leave the city?" Mrs. Houston took a typed piece of paper from her purse and handed it to Kelly. "Here is a list of the top twelve modeling agencies in Manhattan, with their addresses and phone numbers." She gently squeezed Kelly's hand, "Start with the number one." Kelly stunned: "I—I don't know how to thank—" "I'll tell you. Show me your picture in these magazines." Over dinner that night, Kelly said, "I decided to be a model." Her stepfather grumbled, "That's the stupidest idea you've ever had. What the hell is wrong with you? All models are whores." Kelly's mother sighed: "Kelly, don't make my mistake. I was delusional too. It will kill you. You're black and poor. You're going to hit walls everywhere." That was the moment Kelly made up his mind. At five o'clock the next morning, Kelly dragged the packed suitcase from under the bed and headed straight for the bus station.In her purse was the two hundred dollars she had earned babysitting. The trip to Manhattan took two hours, and Kelly used that time to imagine his future.She will be a professional model. "Kelly Hackworth" sounds unprofessional.I know what to do.I'll just use my first name.She called the name in her heart again and again.This is our lead model, Kelly. She checked into a cheap motel, and at nine o'clock Kelly walked through the doors of the first modeling agency on the list Mrs. Houston had given her.Kelly was barefaced and wearing a crumpled dress because she couldn't iron it. There is no one on duty at the lobby reception desk.She walked over to a man sitting in an office, who was busy writing. "Excuse me," Kelly said. The man grunted a few words, but did not raise his head. Kelly hesitated: "I don't know if you need models?" "No," the man muttered, "we're not hiring." Kelly sighed, "Thank you, anyway." She turned to leave. The man looked up and his expression changed: "Wait! Wait a minute. Come back here." He jumped up, "God. Where are you from?" Kelly looked at him confused. "Philadelphia." "I mean—yes. Have you been a model before?" "No." "It's okay. You learn here, by doing." Kelly's throat suddenly went dry. "Does that mean I—I'm going to be a model?" He grins. "Of course. Clients will go crazy seeing you." She hardly believed it.This is one of the biggest modeling agencies in the business, and they— "My name is Bill Lerner. I run this agency. What's your name?" It was the moment Kelly could only dream of.This is the moment she will use her brand new professional name for the first time. Lerner stared at her: "You don't know your name?" Kelly straightened up, showing full height, and said confidently, "Of course. Kelly Hackworth."