The move

Finally at age 15 I was called into my High School office. The School Counselor wanted to talk to me. I had had so many days off school (to look after my Mum) and had not been doing my school work. The first question the Counselor asked me was "how are things at home?". I immediately said "everything's fine" with a smile. She eventually got it all out of me. Because I was almost 16 she suggested that I think about moving into a refuge. I thought it was a terrible idea and laughed in her face.
As things at home continued to get worse and I got even more depressed I thought it might actually be time I moved out. I went back to the school counselor and she had a Social worker come and see me. He drove me to a beautiful refuge called Clifton Lodge. Moving out of home was the best thing I had ever done. Of course it was hard and I was still struggling with depression but at least I didn't have to be a full time carer for my Mother and Brother and I didn't have to deal with any abuse.
I didn't go back to school after I got my year 10 Certificate. Instead I got a full time job. The wage was terrible but it kept me busy and I was semi happy for the first time.
I had a few altercations with some of the other tenants and had to move around quite a bit from refuge to refuge. I also changed jobs every couple of months. I found it hard to stick with anything and ran at the first sign of a problem. This lasted for 2 years.