JOANNA

By Lauren Malvica

The anticipation and nervousness was visible all over Joanna’s face. “This is it” she thought as she turned open the first chapter of the book entitled, “How to Help Yourself” by Kiki Jones[1]. As she read through the first line of the chapter, her eyes immediately began to fill up with tears and her eyes became very hot. She slammed the book shut, grabbed her cell phone, and made the last call she would ever make in her life.
Joanna grew up in an apartment in Glendale. She was born on November 3rd 1987. Growing up she played all kinds or sports; basketball, softball, football (with her brother and his friends) and a little bit of handball. She was quite the athletic one and quite the tomboy. In middle school she would wear almost all of her brother’s clothes; the baggy tee’s with the huge sweatpants. Once she got to high school, everything changed. Her hair changed, her makeup, her clothing, her attitude, Joanna became a woman; she even moved to another apartment. The only thing that hadn’t changed was her closest friends.
Joanna, 16-18, lived at home with her mother and brother in a cute little apartment in Queens. She was beautiful tiny girl with long brown hair and the biggest brown eyes you could ever see. She had so many friends, and so many people who loved her and looked up to her. Her grades in high school were fantastic. She was a straight A student, all of the teachers knew her and although some disliked her for being a “loud mouth”, some sort of a smile came to their faces whenever Joanna called out their names.
Joanna had seven best friends all of which who knew everything about her. Every morning before school they would all eventually, one by one, end up at her house for some coffee and gossip. Joanna was a closet writer, who secretly wrote poems and short stories, love letters, etc. Her favorite book was “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, simply because of all of the drama and excitement that took place within it.
Joanna led a very exciting life with all of her friends and family. She loved to be outdoors and her favorite thing in the world to do was go to the movies. She wanted desperately to go to law school and open up her own law firm. Many people would tease her on this but she was determined. Unfortunately, the people of America will never come to know Joanna, or her future accomplishments.[2]
Joanna had changed however her senior year of high school. She had less friends, she was fighting a lot, she had lost tons and tons of weight and she started to look different. She pulled herself away heavily from the people she used to see everyday and no one knew why or bothered to even ask. She met a boy named Anthony Bonocora[3], when she was 17, he changed her, and not for the better. They dated for a year which was around the time the changes occurred.
Joanna graduated from high school on June 4th, 2005. She attended her high school prom just a couple of weeks prior to this occasion. She wore the most beautiful blue dress anyone could ever imagine. During the summer, her last summer, she had a blast; from going on vacations with her friends or weekend getaways before everyone went off to separate colleges.
In the fall of that year, she attended St. Francis College where she was studying to get into the law profession. She was still changed and there was still something different about her.

[1] A book on how to get help with addiction
[2] Joanna died November 30th 2008 due to an overdose of narcotic drugs. She was found in a CVS parking lot in her car at around 11pm, alone, although she didn’t arrive alone. She is survived by her mother Zori DeMartino and brother Thomas DeMartino and her estranged father Joe.
[3] Anthony was heavy into cocaine and crystal meth. He introduced these products to his girlfriend of only a year, drugs that killed her.