Gabriella Jade Madden
Nickname:
Ella {most common}, Elle, Ellie
Age:
16
Birth date:
June 1st, 1998
Birth Place:
South Bronx, NY
Homeless for:
2 years
Role:
The Young One
Her most notable characteristic is probably how energetic she is. As long as she's awake, she makes her presence known through her constant chatter and questions. She struggles to keep her attention centered one thing and is known to jump from task to task, and even stop mid-sentence in a conversation if something new catches her attention. She would never go out of her way to insult or be mean to someone but lacks a speech filter and tends to say things that she overheard and weren't intended to be repeated, or ask invasive personal questions out of curiosity. She's naive, absentminded, inattentive and forgetful, but she rarely does any of this intentionally, and it's mostly related to her ADHD. It certainly gets annoying, especially when there's seven other people stuck in the same room as her, but she usually fails to see any signs of people getting tired of her. She's a cheerful and optimistic person, who, for the most part, is always happy.
One of her major faults is how dependent she is on other people. If it weren't for her sister, she most likely would already be dead by now. She is not intelligent book wise and the same goes for her street smarts. Not only does she struggle to read people, but like a child, she tends to trust everyone and expect them to be just as genuine as she is. Her naivety and overall delayed development is probably linked to her learning disabilities and drug damage done while she was in the womb, but the years of abuse probably play a role in it too. They caused her to become easily nervous, jumpy and a bit emotionally unstable.
Likes:
Candy, dogs, sunny days, nail polish, hot showers, socializing, gifts, attention, watching movies
Dislikes:
Arguments, school, being called stupid, rain, milk, coffee, isolation, silence, darkness, bugs, spicy food
Fears:
"I hate spiders and clowns and the huge rats on the subway."
She has many "normal" fears, with spiders, clowns and rodents topping the list, but her biggest fear is probably school. She did so poorly throughout her academic career and it not only resulted in humiliation in the classroom, but physical abuse at home, so it's tied to painful memories for her.
Dreams:
"I want to get married to... hmm... probably Zac Efron... and have like four babies and buy a house away from the city... and have a swimming pool in our backyard!"
Ella's dreams vary drastically depending on the moment, but they all share the similarity of being virtually unattainable. What would be most beneficial for her at this point would to get her high school diploma or GED and manage to get some sort of normal job and living situation.
Gabriella Madden was born to Jenna Madden, a young mother who deeply involved in a drug ring by the time she had Ella. Jenna was a teen runaway who left her own difficult situation and ended up in New York with no money, no family and no connections. On the streets, she met Rafael Barnes, a twenty-something-year-old drug lord who ran most of the major drug lanes in the Bronx and Queens, NY. At the time, it seemed like the best thing that could have happened to her. He let her move into the house he stayed in with a bunch of other drug-involved people, and for the first time in months, she had a roof over her head and a steady supply of food. Even after she became pregnant with an unknown man's child, he treated her well. They were never dating, but they definitely had a sexual relationship, and Jenna became a key player in helping him manufacture and deliver drugs.
While she had been involved in a fair share of marijuana and alcohol use before running away from home, Rafael was the person who really got her hooked on the hard stuff. It began a few months after she gave birth to her first daughter, and while he introduced her to almost everything in the book, crack quickly became her drug of choice. By the time that she became pregnant with Ella (with an unknown man, again), she was deep in her addiction. It's a miracle that Ella even survived the pregnancy with her mother's poor habits, but six months after conception, she was delivered in an emergency C-section. Had the hospital staff really took interest in the family, they may have been able to prevent the poor life that Ella and her sister would soon face. They could have been put into foster care or even adopted, but instead, once Ella had reached a stable point, she was brought home. Home for her first five years was Rafael's drug-ridden home. After he was shot by a rival drug leader in a drive-by shooting, Jenna relocated them to Rafael's brother, George's apartment a few blocks away.
Her life here actually made her first home seem desirable. Not only was George equally involved in drugs, but he was also extremely abusive and possessive. He quickly claimed Jenna as his girlfriend - something that she probably didn't mind - but he made it clear that he hated the fact that she had kids with other men. It began as physical abuse. If Ella ever dared to cry in his presence, he'd take off his belt and beat her with it until she learned better. Whenever her mother cared enough to acknowledge how poorly Ella did in school, it would result in abuse as well. School had never been her strong point. She suffers from severe ADHD, learning disabilities, and dyslexia. At her peak, she could read at a third grade level, but after two years away from school, even that has probably become a stretch. She had no academic support at home, and it didn't help that she was attending a school in one of the most underfunded districts in the nation. The school didn't have the resources to help a child like her and she was frequently held back, only managing to reach the fifth grade before she ran away.
The abuse she was receiving at home only made her more emotionally unstable and unable to focus in school. If the physical abuse wasn't bad enough though, George soon stepped it up a notch. The sexual abuse started when she was eight and continued until the day he was arrested, when she was fourteen. The day of the arrest began normally. Ella had left that morning with her sister to go to school, but when they got home, they found the apartment in shambles. A police raid had taken place and it resulted in their mother and George being arrested and charged with a multitude of drug related charges, as well as some armed robbery and attempted murder ones. Apparently, they had been tied up in more than just making drugs in the kitchen. It was actually probably lucky that the police got to them first, considering how Rafael's life ended. However, this left Ella and her sister with no mother or family willing to take them in. They were set to be put in foster care, but when her sister overheard the social workers talking about how the girls would have to be separated, they decided to run away instead.
Job:
For the most part, Ella relies on her sister for money. Finn will give her a few dollars for washing glasses in the back of his bar, but besides that, she just gets her money from her sister.
5'0 | 95 lbs | Petite figure
Eye color:
Brown
Hair color:
Naturally brown, although it has been dyed bright red for the past 2 years.
Other:
She has no tattoos or piercings. She does have a few scars on her back from the abuse she incurred.
Face claim:
Ariana Grande