Biography of Carol Watson Essay Example

Biography of Carol Watson Essay Example Biography of Carol Watson Essay Biography of Carol Watson Essay Carols earliest memories were of living in prefab houses in Gilmerton, 1956. She was around four years old at this time, and she recalls how every night she would sit and wait for her father my grandfather coming home from work on his pedal bike at tea time. If it was a Friday, she would get her pocket money. She would get thru pence and her brother Billy would get sixpence as he was four years older. Her cousin Annie lived next door and they played together a lot and were always exchanging clothes. She and Annie were always getting into scraps. Perhaps the one that sticks out in her mind is when her mother told them not to play with the Arthur children as one of them had head lice, they asked to play and Carol said: no, my mum wont let me because you have nits in your hair. Of course they went and told their mum what Carol had said to them, and the next thing she knew her mum and Mrs. Arthur were yelling at each other over rows of washing lines in the back gardens. Later in the ye ar on a summer morning they moved into a flat. It was 10 storeys high and they moved into the 6th floor. She remembers that it had a balcony, and whenever she was hungry she yelled up to her mum who would wrap up a sandwich and throw it off the balcony for her to catch. Also if she wanted to go inside she would shout up for her mum to send the lift down. The flat had two bedrooms and under floor heating. Her brother Billy and she shared a bunk bed, she said it was a novelty at first but Billy always moved around on the top bunk and kept her awake so we took turns instead. She started school at a place called Pennywell, and soon made friends with a girl called Isobel, and Billy with Isobels brother, Graham. They lived on the 9th floor of the same set of flats. Her teacher was a woman called Miss Clarkson. She was very strict and every day she made the children place their snacks in her desk for them to re collect at the bell. One afternoon Miss Clarkson asked Carol if any were hers, she knew they werent, however they looked too good and she gave into the temptation and took the chews! Th e boy who they belonged too was upset and Carol was smacked for being dishonest. She didnt think she deserved it at the time and spent most of the day crying which displeased Miss Clarkson. A couple of years passed and they had settled into their new life though her brother Bill got into fights with Graham from upstairs, though Billy never hit him back. she said. She told her dad who then told Bill to hit him back to stop the bullying. One day Billy did hit Graham back and bloodied his nose; next thing she recalled there was a knock on the door and there was Graham with his dad, who was shouting and saying: look what Billy has done to my son Carols dad shouted on Billy and asked if this was true, and he replied yes. Her dad gave Billy a shilling and said: well done for standing up for yourself. She recalls how Grahams dad was not a happy man. Carols dad explained what Graham had been doing to Billy and said maybe hed think twice about doing it again, and then slammed the door. Billy never got any more bother from Graham after that. Carol recalls how the school she was at was an old school; they had big old desks that sat 4 people at a desk. Carol remembers how if one of them wanted something from their desk all four of had to take their arms off the desk to open the big lids. A new school was built when Carol was about eight years old. She lived in a good community and had good friends, and she really enjoyed her childhood. A few years later (1964) she moved into Craig Royston High School, and experienced being a teenager in the 60s A few of my favourite bands were The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Its where she met her life long friend Gina Graham. By this time her brother Billy was at another High School Ainslie Park. They moved into a 5 bedroom house as she now had two younger sisters, Denise my mother and Frances. The summers now seemed longer and hotter than when she was younger. She met her first boyfriend at High School, his name was John and they were together for almost two years. She dropped out of Hig h School at 14 years old as did her boyfriend John. They broke up because he wanted to travel the world and she didnt want to leave home. She was devastated for months until she met another man called David. They started seeing each other and their relationship progressed quickly: At 16 I was pregnant she declared. Her father was old fashioned and insisted that they married although neither wanted to be. David became possessive over her and hit her if he suspected her of being with another man. He became involved in drugs and drink after her first child Mark was born and was always off his face when he got in at night, he would throw things at her and beat her until she passed out not matter how much she screamed and pleaded The more I screamed the more he hit me, I learnt very quickly to shut up. I used to wish someone would hear me and rescue me but no one ever came Carol couldnt get out of this marriage and her family had no idea what was going on. She remembers that I wasnt able to eat because I was sick with fear, I didnt know what would happen to me or Mark if I did- her weight dropped to 5 and a half stone. One day her younger sister Denise went to visit her and David. My mum said she looked completely emaciated. She was covered in bruises and tried to turn her face away. Denise was horrified and asked what was happening and Carol burst into tears and told her everything. About a week later Carol told David she was going with her sister to the station and that shed b e back shortly. In reality she was planning to run away with her son and start a new life. Unfortunately when they were going to get on the train Mark started screaming and did not want to leave, he ran off the train and they both had to go back to David. Denise cried the whole bus journey home and didnt know what to do. Denise told Billy, what had happened, and Billy went round and beat David up, he told him: if you ever touch my little sister again Ill be back round. That night when Carol got home David gave her the beating of her life, and she couldnt walk for days. Billy was worried and told his father, who then helped Carol get out of her marriage and she took full custody of her child Mark. A new life: Carol got a new house in England, far away from David, and a new job working for the Orange phone company. She regained a healthy weight and her brother Billy also moved down to England with his new wife Ina. They live in the same street now. One afternoon when she was working at Orange, a window cleaner was outside. She recognized him immediately. It was John, her first boyfriend from High School. He also recognized her and lots of hugs and tears were shared. Later on in the year they married and had a child together, he was named Keith. Revisiting the past: One evening when Carol was in Sainsburys she saw Davids sister. She came over and said hello. Carol was shocked as she had tried to forget that period of her life and she started to panic and thought that David might be there. However, Davids sister told Carol he died three years previously from a heroin overdose in a flat on his own. She felt guilty but also relieved. For once she could be completely at ease and has never been happier. She has her own family with John, a good job and family nearby.