Lost Boy Essays (877 words) - Dave Pelzer, Pelzer, South Carolina

Lost Boy Could you imagine your own mother beating you, burning you, and treating the family dogs better then you? Quite unimaginable to me, but that is what David Pelzer had to go through. My book is the second of a three book series about the true story of David Pelzer. Ever since David was the age of 5 years old to maybe nine, his mother started to hurt him. She told him that he was a "bad boy" and deserved it all; it was some kind of game to her. At times she would curse at him, beat him vigorously, burn him, make him eat out of the trash, and starve him for days. The only time he really ate was at school during lunch because he would just steal food. When he got home from school he was givin a long load of chores. Sometimes he got the scraps from dinner, but often times on weekends he didn't eat the whole weekend because there was no school. At night, he would sleep on an old army cot with no blankets. Very rough and harsh living conditions for a little boy, but he thought he deserved it because she [his mother] always said he did, and he had no one to tell him that she was wrong. Every night he would hear his parents after he was in "bed." He heard them fighting about him. His father knew little of what was going on because he was often at work. He noticed the significant difference in the way his mother treated David versus his other two brothers. He often told her she was wrong and she would just talk about David as if he was some kind of animal, only referring to him as "It" or "the boy." When things came down to it, however, David's father would always defend his mother. One incident was at about seven to eight at night, and David's parents began to fight once again. Them both being alcoholics did not much help the situation. David heard his mom screaming about how she wanted David just to leave. David took this as a chance of a lifetime, but still kind of risky, walked right out the door. He expected to get about a block away and hear his mom coming after him in her car, but nothing happened. He ended up getting picked up by the police that night, and David's father just told the police a fake story and took him home. About two to three months later, some of the teachers and staff of David's school caught on to what was happening and reported it to The Services of Children and Family; they took him away to a foster home. It was a great relief to David because he would no longer be hurt. Even though his mother had hurt him so much, he felt like a traitor for exposing the "family secret." He was not sure what to think; he diden't even know if wanted to be away from his mother. Soon after he received a social worker, Ms.Gold, who to David was an angel. He told her everything about what went on in "the House", so that when they went to court that they could file it against his mother, but David still felt horrible inside. About a week before the trial came, he got to have a visit with his mother. She told him that no matter what she would get him back. This scared him greatly and his story quickly changed. About four days before the trial, Ms. Gold came to visit him and to talk about the case and what he was going to have to do. David immediately started to claim that he started all the household problems, that he had fallen down the stairs, ran into doorknobs, beaten himself up, stabbed himself, and then he started saying how his mom was a beautiful, kind woman. Things like that could seriously put him back with his mother. When the court case came along, David realized that he did not want to go back to "The House." The court granted him as a legal ward to the court, but his mother would not let it stay like that. No way would she let him embarrass her like that. Soon after, David moved into his first real foster home. Over the next four to five years, David moved from foster home to foster home. When David was about 15, his