"Billie Jean"
Billie Jean's mother worked at a local
supermarket for eight years while Billie Jean was small after Billie Jean's
father left. When Billie Jean was a teenager, her mother met a man who worked
with the carnival and wisked her away to a world of adventure. In the
carnival Billie Jean's mother discovered drugs and Billie Jean discovered how
to take care of herself on the streets of Troy. Billie Jean got an apartment
in one of Troy's housing projects and had a son, Deshaun. Deshauns' father
was eventually replaced by a boy that moved up from New York City and began
to sell drugs from Billie Jean's apartment. Billie jean was enjoying a boost
to her income and the thrill of having a boyfriend far more sophisticated
that any of the locals that she had dated. Billie Jean's apartment eventually
got busted. Her boyfriend got off, but she served time in the county jail for
refusing to turn him in and she lost her apartment and housing benefits into
perpetuity. Billie Jean is working at McDonalds to save enough money to get
an apartment for her and Deshaun- until then she lives at welfare hotels,
friend's apartments, and occasionally with her mother who is back in town and
living in Kayla's basement in exchange for childcare.
