Hope's Boy 2

Andrew lived with his grandmother but but one day when he was in kindergarten his mother, Hope, called so he was sent to her in Los Angeles. His mother had problems with her life that forced her to trust Andy to her mother. After her life got better she requested that Andy be sent to her. This trip would change his life. "Like most Los Angeles neighborhoods no one really knew anyone else, everyone existing anonymously. Though not poor, most lived only a paycheck or two from poverty's bite"(Bridge 47). They weren't living in the most glamourous area of Los Angeles. Their living conditions weren't very good. "Wade stopped sending money weeks ago, and now we've run out"(Bridge 53). Hope and Andy depends on money that Andy's father sends to them. Hope has a job but without the money that Wade sends the costs accumulated and she was unable to pay.
However no matter what his life was like he was still just a kid. There were many things that he didn't understand and he trusted his mother to make the right decisions. "What drew her to the back of a stranger's house in the middle of the night?Was it the lack of money"(Bridge 56)? Their monetary problems forced Hope to rob in order to pay for basic necessities. He didn't know that. He was still wondering why his mother dragged him out to an alley in the middle of the night. "I'm here! I'm over here. Andy, run! Now!" Blindly, I followed her order, dropped the pillowcase, and ran to the fence"(Bridge 58). When they got caught robbing the house he was confused and scared. He didn't know what was happening so he just froze. He trusts his mom greatly so when she called him he just dropped everything and tried to get to his mother. They didn't have the best living conditions which forced them to extreme measures like robbery. Although he usually doesn;t understand what's really happening he trusts his mother blindly. He doesn't question her at all.

Hope's Boy

The story of Andrew's childhood shines a light on the darker side of this world. Some people are treated very poorly. Andrew tries to help children in the foster system. However some people don't realy care about the kids and just dump them into a facility. "I spun toward Carlton, ready to leave. But he confused the quick move for something more. He mistook it for discovery "We take the doors off, where we keep the children," he suddenly shouted down the hallyway"(Bridge 12). This facility keeps the children in rooms with a bare mattress in the basement. The employees don't care what conditions these children have to live in. Carlton fears that Andrew might have discovered tis and feels guilty. "The sharp bones of his elbows poked at his skin. Scars of countless widths,lengths, and shapes were scattered acroos his arms and up under his shirtsleeves"(Bridge 13). These kids are extremely thin probably becasue they don't have enough food to eat. The scars could have very well come from beatings to keep them in line. The environment these kids live in are horrendous.
Some of these kids could have very well avoided the system if they had better parents. "When the squad cars tracked Jeff down, his mother insisted on pressing charges"(Bridge 17). Jeff's parents gave up on him. They didn't try to resolve the problem. Instead they just gave him up to the state deciding it was the best for everyone. However even though Andrew's eperience with the foster system was horrible there were people that cared about him. "She lobbed one, deliberately missing me by inches. Still at the curb, she waited, unarmed and laughing(Bridge 27). His grandmother loved him very much and cared for him as a child. Even though they were not living in the best of conditions they loved each other and helped each other.