Gifted Hands -Talan by Talan Pettus

Dad leaves

talan5237 — 2025-02-04 16:11:20 UTC

His dad left when he was 8, taking all the money that the family had.

Giving his life to jesus

talan5237 — 2025-02-13 15:59:24 UTC

The preacher invited those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus to come forward. Ben walked down the aisle to where the minister was standing.

Mom goes to a mental hospital

talan5237 — 2025-02-13 16:05:03 UTC

Ben's mom, Sonya, was very depressed and going through pain and sadness, so she decided to go to a mental hospital while the boys were watched by sister, Scott.

Moving to Boston

talan5237 — 2025-02-13 16:09:11 UTC

There was no way she could afford to stay in their Detroit home any longer. Ben's mother moved her little family to Boston, Massachusetts, to save money.

His cousin dies

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 15:36:37 UTC

Ben's cousin died on the streets, and Ben learned a valuable lesson from his death, and that was "Some things aren't worth the risk."

Value of a dollar

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 15:44:30 UTC

Sonya Carson taught her sons the value of a dollar, for instance, riding the city bus cost the same amount as a loaf of bread, so Ben and Curtis rode their bikes to school to save money for groceries

Honesty

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 15:51:46 UTC

One day, Ben went to the store to buy a couple things and received too much change back. At first, he was excited that he had gotten extra money, but then he realized it wasn't right and went back to the store to return it.

Moving back

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 15:56:52 UTC

During the two years in Boston, the Carson family had saved up enough money to move back to Michigan.

"Dummy"

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 16:02:48 UTC

When Ben got back to Detroit, he realized he had a big problem, he was behind in his classes, and the other kids started calling him "dummy".

Midterm

talan5237 — 2025-02-27 16:14:16 UTC

Ben's mom saw the grade that Ben got on his midterm and decided there needed to be some changes. She started by telling the boys they could only watch three TV shows a week, then she said the boys had to write two book reports a week on whatever they read.

Reading

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 15:41:07 UTC

One day in science class, the teacher asked the students if they knew what type of stone he had, and nobody else knew except Be,n and Ben only knew from reading. This is when Ben realized that if he wanted to get smarter, he would have to read, and this is where his love for reading began.

Rail road tracks

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 15:51:33 UTC

One day, Ben was hopping trains on the way to school, and he got caught by a group of bigger boys. One of them was carrying a stick. The bigger boy hit Ben with the stick, and all the other boys crowded around him, calling him ugly racist names and said that if he ever went back there they would kill him.

Racist teacher

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 15:58:53 UTC

Ben was awarded for being the highest academic achiever in his grade. After she handed Ben the award, she turned back and said into the microphone, " You are not trying hard enough!". It's clear she thought white kids were smarter than African American kids.

Moving again

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 16:04:49 UTC

Halfway through Ben's 8th-grade year, he moved back to his old house on Deacon Street, which meant he had to change schools again. This school was different from his last school; people here didn't care about who was smart, they cared about who dressed smart.

"Capping"

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 16:13:53 UTC

Ben was getting "capped" on at school, which meant people were joking him. Until one day, he decided the only way to survive the "capping" was to be the best at it. So one day, when a 9th-grader started capping on him talking about the shirt he had on, Ben replied to him and said, " Yea? Your mama wore it," and from then on, it didn't take Ben long to have everyone's respect

Wanting to be cool

talan5237 — 2025-02-28 16:17:35 UTC

Instead of Ben coming home from school every day and doing his homework, he started going to the park and shooting hoops with his friends, This caused his grades to slip from A's to B's to C's.