In the Ghetto

By Udo Fehring

Catrina Albright is a single mother living with her three children in a poor neighborhood in Chicago. Despite her difficult financial situation, her life is going well. She has had a boyfriend from the neighborhood again for some time. But when she reveals to him that she is pregnant by him, he, like his predecessors, simply runs away. Unfortunately, Thomas, her 18-year-old son, also gets “on the wrong track”. The only bright spot is her work colleague and friend Maggie, who supports her to the best of her ability.

The story is based on the Elvis Presley-song with the same name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781470923204

Book preview

In the Ghetto

Catrina Albright lived with her three children Thomas, Cathy and Paul in a seedy slum in Chicago. Her home was a small hut with thin wooden walls and only two rooms. In winter, the wind whistled through all sorts of cracks and despite the greatest efforts to bring the hut up to temperature with an electric oven, every attempt failed miserably.

Thomas, Catrina's eldest son, was 18 years old and just doing an apprenticeship as a car mechanic. He had dropped out of school early, but an acquaintance of Catrina's was able to get him the apprenticeship. Thomas traveled a lot with friends. Sometimes he wasn't home for days. Catrina had given up worrying about it, Thomas was old enough, she told herself. Catrina just prayed he never went down the wrong path. Some of his friends were shady characters in Catrina's eyes and were a bad influence on Thomas. But whenever Catrina asked Thomas about it, he blocked it and simply changed the subject.

Cathy, Catrina's daughter, was 13 years old and attended the nearby secondary school. School was a lot of fun for her, even if the class was way too big, because there was an absolute shortage of teachers at the school. It was sometimes difficult for her to follow the lesson because of the volume in the classroom.

Paul, the youngest of her children, was 2 years old and was at home most of the day. Catrina could not afford the kindergarten fees because she only worked part-time. She cleaned in the afternoons at the same school Cathy attended while Cathy then babysat Paul, which actually worked out well.

Then, when Catrina got home at 7:00 p.m., she would prepare dinner and then put Paul to bed.

The fathers of their children had all fled early. None of them paid the alimony due to Catrina and the children didn't know their fathers at all.

That's how her days went, day in, day out.

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