Outside Reading Post 1

1. January 1976, Cupcake Brown woke up to find her mother dead on the floor in her room. Although this was a tramatic event for Cup, it was only the start of her hell. Because of Cupcake's mother's death and the fact that her parents were seperated, her family was forced into court to determine the legal guardian of Cupcake and her brother Larry. This courtroom meeting was when Cupcake and Larry learned their biological father was not the man they grew up with calling "Daddy", but a complete stranger by the name of Mr. Burns. The judge and social service workers decided the legal custody would go to Mr. Burns. After temporary good-byes to her Daddy and Uncle, Cupcake and Larry rode off with Mr. Burns in a silence. Shortly after the car ride begun, Mr. Burns announced to Larry and Cup that he wasn't ready for children in his house and until he was, they'd be going with a woman named Diane Dobson; a foster care mother who was immediatly rude and disrespectful to Larry and Cup. Diane lived with her daughter Connie, and her son Peter in Santa Ana. During the first few days Cupcake was at the foster home, she was forced to clean the house and was pushed around by Diane. One night, Peter gives Cupcake alcohol then rapes her in the bathroom. Luckily for Cupcake, six new foster children move in taking Pete's focus off Cup for a while. Only a few days after she arrived, Cupcake decides her only way to survive is to run away, so she escapes out the window one night leaving her brother Larry and the six foster children to fend for themselves. When Cupcake had run as far as she could, she stopped at a park and met a woman, Candy who introduced her to the idea of selling yourself for money, in other words, Candy was a prostitute. Candy and her "pimp", Joe explain life on the streets to Cupcake and introduce her to alcohol and marijuana. Feeling scared and not knowing what to do, Cupcake ran from Candy and Joe and was caught by a policeman on a highway. He returned her to Diane's where she continued to get emotionally and physically abused by Diane and her daughter Connie. After a while, Diane enrolled Cupcake in school where Cupcake skipped class in order to smoke weed with her "druggie friends". Once again, Cupcake decides to run away and leaves in the middle of the night. She hitchhikes to a place called Thousand Oaks where she calls Uncle Jr. and they figure out a plan for him to send her bus money to make her way back to San Diego. When Cupcake gets to San Diego, Uncle Jr. takes her to her Aunt Pam's where they find whip marks from Diane's abuse. They call the police to report the abuse and Cupcake is taken to another foster home called Hillcrest where she feels safe and at home. While living at Hillcrest, Cupcake finishes elementary school and graduates, then moves to yet another foster home in east San Diego where she lives with Mr. and Mrs. Bassinet. Mr. Bassinet introduces Cupcake to cocain and takes advantage of her, having her perform sexual acts for him. This goes on for a few months until Mrs. Bassinet finds out and has the police take Cupcake back to Hillcrest. Cupcake is moved back to Diane's despite the physical evidence of abuse, where she runs away again. Cupcake makes it to Ventura where she's caught trying to steal alcohol and is escorted back to Dianes. This quickly becomes a pattern; running away, getting high, hitch hiking and getting caught, then back to Dianes.
2. The life Cupcake lives is unbeliveable. All this is happening before she's even 15 and it's truely amazing that this would ever happen to anyone. I think Cupcake will find a way to leave Diane's for good and live on the streets for a while. Maybe she'll meet someone who'll take her in and she'll try to go back to her previous life.