Ida came to America four years ago. Her reason for coming was to give her 13-year-old the best education possible. But also, she did want Perry to meet the wrong kind of and end up using drugs or joining a , or both.
Divorced shortly after Perry's birth, Ida been a successful entrepreneur in her home country. had saved a lot of money for their life in America. Or so she had thought. two failed business ventures in America had been . Had either succeeded, she would have been well . The second failure was especially painful, because she known it would leave her with little money.
poor English was her downfall. American business people not patient; they did not want to waste time trying to figure out what she was to say. Equally bad, she couldn’t understand their English. She had sadly underestimated how long it take her to become proficient in English.
Now was almost broke. Her boyfriend didn’t make enough to support Ida and Perry. She had to to work. A business executive in her homeland, would try to find work as a waitress America. “You’ll be lucky to make $8 an ,” her boyfriend Tony groused. “What kind of an is that?”
“Yes, but you’re forgetting about the . That’s where the big money is,” she said, . “I’m not upset about working as a waitress. work is honorable. I took my chances, and didn’t pan out. Now I have to go work to pay the bills.”
“Well, I don’t it,” Tony said.