Before I enrolled in college, I wanted to be a doctor. However, I was unhappy during my
first year as a pre-med student. So, right after my first year in college, I dropped out of the major
and changed it to English.
Looking back, I have written poems, short stories, and many essays for classes. I got A’s
and an award for English back in my previous schools. That’s when I realized that I wanted to
become an author. On my first day as an English major, I read many works by prominent writers,
which inspired me to write my pieces and then publish them somewhere in the future.
In 2015, one of my courses was Writing Non-Fiction. In one of the lectures on writing, my
professor assigned us to interview someone and write an article about them. At first, I thought,
“How will I do this?” I had no idea how to start with this in two weeks.
It wasn’t until a sudden lightbulb came up above my head.
About a year before I took that course, I saw an independent movie called “Gimme
Shelter.” The film is about a homeless, runaway pregnant teen who sought shelter with other
homeless teen moms. That movie touched my heart after I saw it for the first time. So as I was
thinking about that non-fiction assignment, I decided to interview homeless runaway teens.
One day during my two-hour break between my college classes, I passed by a Presbyterian
church near my school, and outside of the church, there were a group of homeless teens begging
for money for their shelter. I will not mention the name of their homeless youth shelter, so I will
call it “The Turtle Shell.” So I went up to them and asked if I could interview them, and they said,
“Yes.”
Each homeless youth from The Turtle Shell I interviewed that day had a different story. I
will not mention their names to protect their identities for privacy reasons. Instead, I will refer to
them by other terms according to their unique personalities.
The first youth I spoke to was Silver. He told me that he was homeless because he was gay.
Unfortunately, his parents were strict Christians who were against homosexuality. As a result,
Silver didn’t even come out of the closet until he entered the shelter. Before he was kicked out of
his own home at age 15, Silver’s parents saw signs about his sexual orientation, such as owning a
feather boa and idolizing drag queens from Rupaul’s Drag Race. The parents were genuinely
appalled by the signs, so they told Silver that he was no longer welcome in their household. Silver
spent a few weeks living on the streets until he came by the LGBTQ-friendly shelter where he
currently resides. Silver’s story truly broke my heart; as someone in the LGBTQ community, I get
disheartened to see parents kicking their children out just because of their sexual orientation and
that they would “go to Hell for their sins.” I find that unacceptable because I see that as a sign of
child abandonment and neglect. Parents have no right to kick their children who are minors out of
the household. It’s heartbreaking. However, Silver told me that as soon as he entered The Turtle
Shell, he admitted to the rest of the kids there that he was indeed gay. The youths accepted him for
who he was and welcomed him to the family. The story ended with a happy ending when Silver
told me that he has a boyfriend now and that he never left him out of his sight.
Another homeless youth told me her story after I spoke to Silver. Cupcake’s parents
abandoned her when she was young, sending her to many foster homes. Unfortunately, her last
foster family was abusive to her, but I won’t go into much detail about what they have done to
Cupcake out of respect. Cupcake was 15 when she ran away from her foster family. While living
on the streets, Cupcake was involved with child prostitution to support herself. Tragically, she got
pregnant from having sex with strangers for money. Unable to have the baby, Cupcake performed
an abortion on herself in the alley. Realizing what she has done, she leaves her prostitute procurer
without telling him because she doesn’t want the same incident to happen again. Running away
again, Cupcake found permanent shelter at The Turtle Shell. When she told me her story, I was
heartbroken to hear what Cupcake went through. It broke my heart to hear that child prostitution
still happens today and that girls go through severe trauma from their performance. Cupcake ended
her story by saying she would never again sell sex and wanted to bring awareness about the dangers
of prostitution of all ages. I wished her the best of luck for her future as an advocate.
Kitty’s story broke my heart the most when I interviewed her next. Born in New Jersey, an
abusive father raised Kitty, and her mother is estranged. Having enough of her father, Kitty, who
was 14 then, ran away from home to search for her mother, who left her when she was 5. She
found her mother on LinkedIn and Facebook and realized she lived in New York. During her
runaway journey, Kitty hitchhiked from one car to another and then another until she reached her
destination. However, it turned out that her mother wanted nothing to do with her. She kicked her
out of her house just as soon as Kitty stood on her doorstep. As a result, Kitty lived on the
unfamiliar streets with no money, no food, and nowhere else to go to, with nothing but the clothes
on her back. She slept in unlocked cars during the rain, and when there were no available cars, she
slept on public benches and sidewalks. Unable to survive on her own any longer, Kitty attempted
suicide while hiding in an alley. She was then found and taken to the hospital under the watch. She
survived. However, with no known next of kin or relatives to take her in, Kitty sought shelter at
The Turtle Shell, and her life has improved since then.
These interviews touched my heart when I heard their stories. Throughout the interview, I
had my notebook and pen to write notes while hearing them. At the end of the day, when my
classes were done, I turned these notes into a non-fiction article assignment for my writing course.
In the article, I changed their names to respect their anonymity, and I didn’t mention the name of
their shelter for privacy reasons.
I handed the final draft to my professor on the day the assignment was due. He read word
for word on my piece, and he loved every detail of it. He was also impressed that I interviewed
more than one person, despite not being necessary, but I did it anyway since I couldn’t decide on
one person. Guess what? My professor told me it was the most fantastic piece of work I had ever
handed him out of all the other non-fiction pieces he read from me.
He gave me an A on this assignment!
When I saw that A on my paper, I was so delighted I instantly realized that I was meant to
become a writer. When I’m ready, I predict my writing will be published, noticed, and famous
someday.
Two years later, in the summer of 2017, I decided this would be my time.
I have decided to write and self-publish my first novel. As I was thinking about what to
write for my first book, I looked back at the assignment I did for that course. I have decided to turn
that non-fiction assignment into a novel.
After everything I did for that assignment, everything I wrote in my paper inspired three
of my characters for my novel about homeless runaway youths. Silver inspired my character,
Lance; Kitty is based on Courtney; Cupcake is based on Tracey. I also decided to create a fourth
homeless character, even though I only interviewed three. The fourth homeless youth in my book,
Xavier, was inspired by an article about people becoming mute after a traumatizing event, such as
watching someone die before their eyes. They chose never to speak again due to the severe trauma
they just went through. As someone who struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD
for short, I find it fascinating that someone would become permanently or temporarily silent after
the traumatic experiences that mentally scarred them for life. I decided, “Why not create a mute
character?” That’s when one of the homeless characters came into the picture.
As for the main character, Erin, who goes by “Ricki,” I researched why teens run away
from home and end up in homeless shelters, as well as some everyday struggles that homeless
runaway youths face.
In the novel I wrote, Ricki was abused by her stepmother and neglected by her father.
Finally, she decided to escape with no one else to turn to; all her friends abandoned and rejected
her over the payphone. Suddenly, Ricki was gang-raped by three older men, and she used her
harmonica to beg for money out on the streets. As the story goes on, Ricki goes to the shelter and
meets all the other homeless kids, most of them inspired by the real-life youths I interviewed
outside of the church.
My novel started as a drama and then later progressed into a romance in the later chapters.
First, Ricki runs into her ex-boyfriend and his four brothers during her homeless journey. Then,
she meets another homeless guy from the shelter. Things got tense when Ricki got stuck in a love
triangle between her ex and the guy she bonded with from where she was staying. During the love
triangle, Ricki makes a life-changing choice. A choice where she cannot turn back around.
That’s how I came up with the title for my first novel: “No Turning Back.”
After my novel, “No Turning Back,” was finished, I became proud of what I had done.
Then, I suddenly realized I wanted to change the world into a better place by bringing awareness
of homelessness, especially when homeless people were runaway minors. Homelessness is a
common epidemic here in New York, where I reside. I wanted people to understand why we should
help those without homes by donating food and money to them. Whenever I contribute to the
homeless, I suddenly feel that I am already changing the world by doing simple things to save
someone’s life. That is what I truly wanted to do on Christmas, which is the time of giving, not
receiving.
Right now, “No Turning Back” may not have any book reviews or ratings, and it may not
be on a popular bestseller list, though I may have a chance to get myself noticed someday as soon
as people read this article.
I may change the world someday if I persist in writing more books on personal issues and
bring more awareness of that particular issue to my audience. It may take some time, but it will be
worth it.
Even though my destination is still unknown, this is where my journey begins.
-Nicole Cheng, 2022