Simple Life

The beginning of middle school, how exciting (yeah right) but I guess you can say it was more exciting to realize that we’re finally growing up. It’s weird how most kids in middle school want to grow up so quickly, I’ve learned that the hard way and regret ever wanting that, cause now I miss it. The tide has turned and my brother who’s 4 years older than me left a mark when I joined the same middle school he did. My brother was slightly a bully, but besides that, he had many issues with the opposing side (gang affiliation; *gasp*) so once I started to go to the school many people wanted to question me, bully me or even fight me cause of my brother, I guess it was like a right of passage; things were left undone once my brother left middle school and now his business is mine cause of the blood affiliation we had (thanks...) Well me being the smart little kid I was, a slight nerd, a little explosive (yes i had anger issues, bite me) and a whole lot of sarcasm, I can literally say I got my ass handed to me a couple of times but like my momma use to always tell me “don’t let anyone push you around” (I think that was more towards my brother) but I defended myself, I wouldn't let anyone pick on me; soon I was labeled as ‘Jaime’s little brother’ till this day I didn't know much of what they truly meant but a mean mug face would always accompany that saying. Alright so going back to the situations at home, my dad was still drinking (shocking), people were still fighting (more shocking) and kids were still out on a wild goose chase (even more shocking.) I always figured this was how it was like growing up for all kids, it’s the only thing i’ve known; this was my normal. Things were changing quickly, soon I met this girl named Rosa who just moved into the apartment complex; really pretty, funny, outgoing, plus she had 2 younger sisters Natalie and Karina (Karina being the youngest.) Going to middle school together and living in the same apartment complex we’ve became really close friends, including my cousin Maria who was my guild through this life and my other best friend Carlos who was always around with us. You could say Rosa and I got really close (which is weird cause like I said I’m a sarcastic nerdy little kids) we decided to take our friendship into a whole different level and soon we became the typically boyfriend/girlfriend love pack gang. At the time, I guess you can say it was more love than lust (PLUS I WAS GETTING MASSIVE POINTS FOR HAVING A GIRLFRIEND YESSSSS...) within the month we were going out I found out she was cheating on me with my own cousin (a 11 year old with a broken heart... LOL) so me being the nerdy little kid I was I forgave her and we became friends again (yes I forgave my stupid piece of shit cousin too) but Rosa had a whole lot of more guys checking her out than we all knew. There was this kid named Nick who was close friends with my brother and cousins, we’ve always known he was into Rosa but not into the way he would become my first ever psychopath I would meet (I call him crazy Nick) but he had a huge obsession with my ex Rosa (I mean OBSESSED, story time!) So one night from us being crazy we’ve decided to hang out at Rosa’s apartment complex to have a chill night in, I was hanging out with her two sisters and my little cousin but Rosa left to my cousins apartment complex to go see him so while she was gone us kids were just watching movies but after the 3rd movie we started to wonder why Rosa was taking so long to come home. It was a school night (like that really mattered) it was almost 1am. We called the apartment to make sure everything was okay but no one would answer, we soon started to get worried (I just had this gut feeling that something happened) so I told the kids to stay in the apartment complex while I go check on Rosa and my cousin. Walking to the apartment I was thinking they're just probably having S.E.X. or something close to that (lol) but I couldn't shake this feeling away that there was something more serious going on. As soon as I get to the apartment the door was unlocked and I barge in, walking to the kitchen which was divided by a wall to separate the living room and the kitchen, I made the turn to quickly see my ex and cousin hiding behind the table; immediately I turned around and saw this teenager, possibly 5-6 years older than all of us, carrying a knife on him. I was shocked, I froze for a second to analyze what was happening until I felt a hand touch my shoulder, it was the kids I left in Rosa’s apartment. Dealing with a teenager with a knife trying to kill whoever, kids crying in the background, everyones flipping out; I completely lost focus as he got closer to me with the kids. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!” he yelled “I... I came to get Rosa, her parents are asking for her...” I lied “She's not going anywhere... she’s staying here...” he responded (this was in the 90′s so no we didn't have cellphones to call the police, we only had the house phone which was sitting right next to him, makes sense why they didn’t answer my phone call huh.) I grabbed the kids, sliding by him quickly to get behind the table with the them (YES I know I should have ran away to call the police or get help but I wasn’t thinking okaaaay.) He was pacing talking to himself “why... why doesn’t she want me... why choose him over me... why.” he cried. Rosa lost her temper for a second “LET US GO YOU PYSHCO!” she yelled, as soon as she said that he got really upset and started throwing glasses and plates everywhere, we didn't know what to do we were stuck. One glass managed to slip out of his hands and hit the counter next to him, it somehow flew up and cut him on his forearm, so now he was bleeding everywhere too (great.) He started to cry “WHY! WHY DON’T YOU WANT ME” he yelled; Rosa gave him a blank look, she was speechless. I soon noticed that he kept moving the knife around (from all the stupid things I’ve done this must have been the stupidest... well... we can debate on that.) I lock eyes with my cousin and whispered to him “he's not paying attention, lets get him while his guard is down” without me repeating or him hesitating he agreed. “Nick, I understand what your going through, she played me too but this is crazy, you understand that right, you have a knife in your hands trying to hurt us because of some girl!” I explained, (I didn’t care for her feelings fuck that I was trying to survive) he immediately turned around while pacing looking down to the ground thinking. I figured now was a good time, so my cousin and I both jumped up and managed to grab him and the knife before he swung it, we tackled him to the ground, took the knife away, and tied him up. Everyone was feeling better now knowing he couldn't pose a threat, we sat him on the couch while he was crying “I’m sorry I don't know what came over me” he said, we were fed up and didn't want to deal with the situation anymore so we let him go (I know we didn’t call the police but we didn’t want to get in trouble either) told him to go home and not come back (which is weird because he never came back, at least he listens) we were all exhausted so we all went home to get some rest, we all decided not to tell anyone; especially the parents; it was our secret. The next morning we were woken up to our manager of the complex telling us what happened last night, we were shocked on how he knew but he wasn't talking about that. All the fire hydrant glasses were broken with blood all around them like if someone punched them (yes it was Nick) so before he left he went around punching all the fire hydrants while leaving a trail of blood around the apartments. Us being the pretty little lairs we were we explained to him that we had nothing to do with that and we don't know what happened (obviously Maria, my brother and the group of friends we hung out with knew about what happened.) But ever since than we never saw Nick again, probably makes for the best (a decent story wouldn't you say, 100% true facts -based on a true story-.) but things were just beginning, the marking (or curse) of our crazy lives.

So I’m rarely new to this writing stuff but lets begin with my name, I’m Santiago Alvarado, born and raised in the Bay Area (google it to find out where that is) and currently 25 years old (my birthday was two days ago by the way happy birthday to me.) Growing up as a Mexican-American in the Bay Area was kinda strange, i’ve met so many people from different races and cultures just by living here, I guess most people who were looking for a place to live in California found the Bay Area (yay.) It’s relatively small compared to the SF or Sacramento but I loved it, it’s my home, here’s where literally everything happened to me (cause I haven’t been anywhere else) . So I come from a small family of 4 one older brother, obviously two parents one male and female (it wasn’t like these times where gay couples existed yet) BUT going on, from my mom side of her family she had 20 brothers and 1 sister (yes, okay overpopulation BITE ME) and my dad had 7 brothers and 5 sisters (Mexicans what can I say) most of them lived in Mexico so I can’t say I know them pretty well but I did have a few that moved to the Bay Area with my parents, my dad’s brother and sister (one each) and the only ladies from my mom side of the family. Growing up I had this cousin named Maria (typical) she was my rock, my best friends, she was practically my sister since the first day I arrived home from the hospital (she bite me on my finger since then, she claimed me.) My older brother, Jaime (typical again) he was always a bully to me but I guess he always protected me too like he use to say all the time “I’m the only one who can pick on my brother” (man times do change.) Then there was my other cousin Carlos and my best friend Carlos (yes yes yes I get it typical Mexicans.) So moving forward, growing up with parents who were still kinda growing up themselves was sorta difficult, kids had to fend for themselves sometimes cause everything was just always a whirlwind; family fighting family, kids fighting kids, murders, kidnappings, car crashes, psychopaths, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gang violence, suicides, poverty, immigration (the works, perfect for those award winning Oscar movies) I guess you can say we’ve had to grow up quick but don’t get me wrong, despite all the craziness and the traumatic situations we were faced with we managed to stay close as a family, we made the best of any situation, we survived a lot and we fought through some hardships. It was an eye opener to realize that the world I saw in the movies or fairytales were fake, I believed that not even Superman or Batman would want to come save us from this explosive hurricane we were forced to face (just my luck.) Going on, while dealing with all this drama we had to focus on how we were going to survive, so I would pick up some babysitting shifts, free food, money and something that’ll keep me from being home all the time but me being the “golden child” born in the United States had to focus on my studies and work to help provide for my family while my mother was working 3 jobs and my dad being an alcoholic at home. He got in some trouble with the law so he was gone for the most part (but hey one less mouth to feed right?)  It wasn't an easy ride but we managed, I did what I could with what I had (me being 10 years old I didn’t have much.) We lived in a two bedroom apartment which was in the same apartment complex of where Maria and my best friend Carlos (not cousin okay) lived. Most night’s we would sneak out of our houses and stay out late, go out to our friends houses, or even stay in the park down the street from our house till 2-3am (magic word here is sneak out.) I guess you can say we were crazy kids (seriously) throwing parties while our parents were gone, drinking and smoking (starting from the age of 11.) Those apartment complex held so much memories, good and bad but things were soon going to start changing.