Now here I am, on my way to the only place where very little decent things happen to me, school. Here I have one amazing friend that has stood by my side for these past two years, Lucas. It’s just upsetting that I can’t be truly open with him though. We can’t even go by each other’s house and every single time he questions me, why, I have to make up a lie. The only time any of us are together is when we begin to walk home together and then we spilt up into different directions. He only gets dropped off in the morning by his parents. From the point where we split off my life just goes straight back to being locked up in a jail cell. No words can really express the way I feel about living in such negativity and depression. Just then I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. I watched as my breath came out of my mouth like smoke in the ice cold air. Too many things were flying through my mind at the moment. Right down the block my eyes caught the attention of the group of girls who practically despised me. I hated how they waited for me in front of school every single day just so they can say something smart. I pulled my hood over my head and tucked my hands into my pockets and calmly began to walk forward again without any hesitation.


“Hey look,” I heard Stacy yell to the other girls, knowing that I would here. Then they all went off into their little huddle like evil scientist getting ready to plan something extravagant. As I began to walk right pass them they all turned around and began throwing crunched up paper balls at me. Simply, I just kept on walking towards the front door until the point where one reached my face. That’s when I stopped and slowly turned around getting ready to say something. Then someone grabbed my hand and stopped me from commenting. I looked back to find Lucas there. His face expression just told me to back off, so I turned around and started to walk into school with him. He let go of my hand trusting me that I wouldn’t take a step back. “Yeah that’s right, Maya. Walk away like you always do.” At that moment I paused but Lucas again grabbed my hand and he wasn’t going to let go. I wanted to knock some sense into that girl so severely.


“Just keep walking with me, Maya,” Lucas whispered into my ear. I bit down on my tongue with defeat. Only because I really cared about Lucas I let go of his hand and sped into the school without looking back once. Later that day in between classes he confronted me in the hallway as I was retrieving my books for algebra 1. “You know, Maya, walking away is what you need to be doing all the time, regardless if I’m there to stop you or not. You already know the consequences of you start something with those girls.”


“Me? You think I started that crap? Lucas you know-”


“I know you didn’t start that little commotion out there, I’m saying if you ever did-”


“I would never start anything with them, Lucas! They’ve been on me since day one here and you see that I try to ignore them, but today that just got out of hand. I mean, they were throwing things at me! If-”


“I’m not asking for the whole story, I just need to know you won’t cooperate with them when they try to upset you!” I took a deep breath before I said anything else in return to him. “Will you promise me you’ll just ignore everything they do to you?”


“Lucas, I-”


“No! Please just tell me, do you promise?” I looked down at the ground then back up into his eyes before I responded.


“Yes, I promise.”


“Thank you. Now can we please go to class because Mr. W already threatened to give me detention if I ever showed up late again?”


“Yeah, I guess,” I said sarcastically and we both chuckled as I slammed my locker shut.

Later that evening after school Lucas and I were getting on track to walk back home together as usual. The weather felt as if it were way below zero. When we began the walk I kept my hands in my comforting fleece sweater and didn’t take them out. Already, I knew my cheeks and nose were beginning to get red. I glanced up at Lucas before I began any conversation and saw he was doing the same. His eyes stayed gazing at the ice cold ground and he took a deep breath. Knowing that he hated the winter I watched as he struggled to get warm. I swear he was acting like he just moved here from Florida. He should know that Wisconsin weather isn’t the best. “Here Lucas, you want to use my ear muffs,” I questioned. Though I didn’t wait for him to answer I knew he wanted them. I drew them out of the book bag remembering why I never wore them. Out came the most sparkly and pink ear muffs that you would ever see in your life. Giggling, I handed him the winter gear and surprisingly he took them from my hands.


“Thanks,” he replied. When he put them on his head I could tell that he loved them, even though he looked completely ridiculous. Both of laughed a bit then we both began to speak to each other. “So why do those girls mess with you anyway,” Lucas wondered

“Well at the end of seventh grade remember how you, Adriana, and I used to have those prank wars between each other?”

“Yeah, man do I miss Adriana.”

“I know what you mean, I miss her too... Anyways, Adriana and I went off and began to prank one another on our own when you took that one vacation to New York. The prank idea I had for Adriana was to wait till she came around the school building so that way I could drench her with goo. Apparently that day she wasn’t walking home, her parents were coming to pick her up. While I was sitting behind the bush waiting, I mistook Stacy’s bright purple hat for Adriana’s.”

“Let me guess, you came around and dumped the goo all over her?”

“No, it wasn’t just her there. Stacy’s friends were with her as well because they all were going by her house to celebrate the last day of school.”

“So you got all of them soaked with goo,” Lucas stated. I just nodded my head and went to staring down at the sidewalk. “That’s hilarious! Oh my goodness, they must’ve been mad! I would’ve bullied you after that day too,” he said sarcastically. All I did was glaze up at him in disbelief. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” joked Lucas.

Once both of us stopped kidding around, we walked a couple minutes more in silence. Again I could feel the cold breeze crawling up my hood. Lucas had his nose tucked into his jacket like it was about to fall off or something.

“Are you alright,” I questioned. He lifted his head out of his coat and looked towards me.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just freezing my butt off over here. I chuckled and shoved him playfully to the side. “So,” he said. “Do you think you can stop by this weekend? My family and I are getting together for the packer game on Sunday and my mom said I could invite a friend.” I quickly glanced down at the floor then back up at him thinking about how I was going to answer his invitation. During the weekends my grandma was actually there sometime during the day just not at night. She would make me do every single chore that needed to be done in the house. Angel, I would have to watch him simultaneously while serving as my grandma’s waiter as she stayed in the dining room with her guest. If I didn’t get her the beer at the exact time she wanted it I would get hit for it. My grandma wasn’t going let me go anywhere and I knew it.

“Um, I actually can’t this weekend.”

“Why not,” Lucas speculated.

“Well, um, it’s because we’re celebrating Angel’s birthday this weekend at my grandma’s,” I lied.

“I thought Angel’s birthday wasn’t till next weekend, the fourteenth?”

“My grandma actually decided to do it this weekend because next weekend we’re, uh, going to visit my uncle in Chicago.

“Oh, alright then,” Lucas said with a bummed voice. Again, our walk together grew silent until we had to split up again. “Well I catch you Monday at school, Maya,” Lucas said before turning to the next corner.

“For sure, I’ll see you Monday. Hey, I’m really sorry about Sunday ok?”

“It’s fine, maybe some other time right?”

“Yeah, some other time,” my voice lowered because I knew that meant never, but he didn’t know. Then both of us took off into our different directions. I didn’t even want to know what new adventure was going to take place once Angel and I got home

Walking down two more blocks was all I needed to do to get to the babysitter’s house. Every time I reached her block I could always reimagining what took place that horrid day my dad was taken away from me. The only reason my brother is still with the babysitter, Elizabeth, was because she’s the only one who really supports us. Besides, she also agreed to watch Angel for free because she knew I couldn’t find a job yet. The only time I had one was over the summer. Every day I had to work at some stupid summer school making sandwiches for some ungrateful kids. I’d give Elizabeth a small portion of what I made and my grandma takes the rest away from me. All she ever does with it is fill our fridge with the things she wants’, beer. She doesn’t even realize she only does well for herself which is the sick part. The only food or drinks Angel and I get are leftovers that Elizabeth will provide us with from earlier that day, which I’m completely thankful for.

While beginning to walk down Elizabeth’s block the vision came back into my head. Every single day I pray that I don’t have to run into my dad’s murderer again. Luckily I’ve never seen him here after that day. Who knows where he’s at now, probably off doing drugs or something. With starting to think about him again I’m forced to see what happened.

“Papi,” I whispered. “What should we d-”

“Shhhh, be quiet and get down now, you hear? Stay down.”

I tried to stop thinking about it but the thought wouldn’t exit my mind.

“Get off the phone,” the boy demanded. “Now get out of the car,” the teenager yelled at my dad. “Get out! Now! C’mon! Get out!”

It was like that moment kept on a continuous glitch mode on and off inside my head.

“Hey,” my dad yelled. “You need to go! Now! Go!” Boom! The gun fired.

Thinking of that time brought the most aching sensation into the back of my mind. Tears began to form in my eyes as I looked up again at the tree near to where my dad passed away. Heavily, I took a deep breath and rubbed my eyes clear of any tears. Slowly, I began my walk once more towards Elizabeth’s house. Once I made it to her porch I was very hesitant to knock on the door. I looked back as I waited for Elizabeth to answer the door and I saw a man with an all gray business suit across the street. Never have I seen him around here before which was strange. He glanced towards me and he seemed very familiar but I wasn’t sure where I’ve seen him before. The man looked as if he was in his twenty’s and he also seemed very tense; like he had super long, stressful day at work. As he passed by he appeared a little uneasy as our eyes met like he recognized me too. Then he just looked forward and tightened his grip on his brief case. My eyes followed him as he was walking further down the block beginning to quicken his pace. From behind me I heard the squeaking of the door. Quickly, I turned around to find Elizabeth standing there beginning to open the screen door.

“Ven pa dentro que esta bien frio afuera,” she told me. One amazing thing about Elizabeth was that she is from Puerto Rico. From there she moved to Florida then she came here to Wisconsin. Since she speaks all Spanish and very little English it’s a huge help for me at school. It’s not like my grandma really talks to me at all.

“Hola Elizabeth, como estas ,” I asked.

“Estoy bien! Y tu?”

“Estoy bien. Como se porto Angel hoy,” I questioned.

“Angel se paso tociendo y le di un poco de medicina.Comio bien poquito hoy y durmio para una hora y media. Pienso que se esta enfermando. Probablemente puede ser el cambio de temperature afuera. No le hace bien.”

“Si, entiendo.” The rest of the time I spent there Angel’s cold was the only thing running through my mind. I wasn’t sure how I could get him better without anyone else around to help. Honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable suggesting to Elizabeth to take him on the weekend, it would be asking way too much from her. Besides, on the weekend my grandma is more alert than usual as surprising as that sounds. She would notice if Angel wasn’t there. While at Elizabeth’s otherwise, she offered me dinner as usual so of course I took it. Who knows if there was going to be anything at home, especially for Angel? Right away I got him ready to leave as he was in his half awake, half asleep mode. I had to go home with him right now, especially since its winter. It gets a lot darker so much quicker now and I don’t need to be stuck out here in the dark with a three year old boy. “Gracias, Elizabeth,” I told her as Angel and I were heading out the door.

“No problema, Maya. Cuidate.”

“Gracias. Igualmente,” I politely said while closing the door behind me. Once I got outside the ice cold air hit me quickly and it began to give me the chills. Right there I knew I had to cover up Angel real nice and tight in my arms. Holding him, I felt like I was finally keeping him safe; where he needed to be.

Once I got home there was no one there as usual. Right away I ran upstairs to Angel and my room. Most of the time I would just babysit Angel on the weekend. He wasn’t that hard to entertain. Usually I would just watch him play with his very few toys. Elizabeth gave them to us for over here. If it wasn’t for her who knows how I would keep him entertained? These days little kids were into snatching people’s phones and pushing buttons that they thought would do something extraordinary. I didn’t have a phone at all, wasn’t allowed to, so really there would be nothing to keep his mind going. The only thing we had in that house was a TV, which my grandma kept in her room. Every thing she found of value is in her bedroom. She takes everything for herself and gives nothing to others.


While Angel remained occupied with his toys I began doing my chores. Why not get them done now? I wouldn’t want to hear the old bat begin to complain and yell, “Why isn’t my toilet sparkly enough?” First, I began cleaning our room then I went into the bathroom right across from her room. Whenever I would take a step the dark cherry wood floors always made a terrible screeching sound. Walking around that house everyday I was always brought down at how empty the halls were. When my parents were alive and we had our own place there would always be something hanging on the walls. Family photos, pictures, and birthday decorations. Here, there was nothing but cracks in the wall. Once in a while I would try to imagine my old house. It was such an uplifting place. Just thinking about it there was a slam coming from the downstairs door that interrupted me.


“Where you little brats at,” I heard my grandma’s voice question.


“I’m upstairs cleaning, grandma, and Angel’s in the room playing,” I yelled back. No answer came from her just the slamming of the refrigerator door. I knew that she pulled out a beer once I heard that door close. It wasn’t ‘til after she popped the cap off the bottle that she replied.


“Well good! After that you better get downstairs! You’ve still got this whole kitchen to scrub,” she screamed in return. “More work,” I thought to myself. “Whoo-hoo.” So right after I finished my work upstairs I checked up on Angel to find him running around the room with his airplane. He reminded me of a dog chasing its tail that’s how fast that boy was moving. Right away I ran down the steps to find my grandma waiting there slurping on her beer. With one hand behind her back she told me to get to my chores. I knew that if I didn’t I would get beat as usual, because behind her back she would always hold something hard to whack me with. I didn’t think twice about running to the kitchen. The rest of the night I continued doing my chores, I know…exciting. That’s how I always spent my Friday nights.


Saturday morning I woke up on my bed with Angel’s head on my stomach. After I could actually keep my eyes open all the way I went downstairs to get a cup of tap water. No noise, still nothing changed. I knew my grandma was out somewhere. What sucked was I would have to get the house ready for her guest. Every Saturday she always brought a couple of people over, those who I don’t ever recognize. All they would do for the rest of the night was talk and remain drunk for hours. It made me sick to watch them enjoy themselves knowing Angel and I were both here. The only advantage we had with them being there was the food. Of course my grandma would never let us actually eat with them. I would always have to sneak things away. It was like Angel and I never existed until she really wanted us to.


Later that night my grandma came in with her buddies and did the usual. Keeping Angel upstairs was always a challenge, especially when I had to be the servant for the night. “Hey, girl,” that was my name at home, girl.” Sad to know that my grandma doesn’t even give a crap about her grand kids. Angel and I were so used to it though that it never really bothered us anymore. He was ignored more than I was though which was good because I didn’t want him getting attention from her. “Fetch me a drink why don’t you? Oh, and grab two more for us,” my grandma demanded. Never have I heard her say or show any manners towards us. I thought the adults were supposed to train the kids! Anyway, it wasn’t that big of a deal to her and besides I had to obey her no matter what.


In a couple of seconds all three of the beers made it to the center of the table. While walking away one of her guest found it so hilarious to attempt to trip me. I swear being around drunken people always made me feel like the smartest person in the room. When I hit the ground the group of people laughed including my grandma. I could feel I was beginning to get angry. Quickly, I pushed myself up from the floor and began to walk towards the kitchen. Right away I took some food and ran it up to Angel. Any chance I could get to be away from them I took it. Seeing Angel fill his mouth with food made him the happiest child on Earth. I’m glad he knew how to keep himself busy. While I was beginning to walk out of the room I noticed something that wasn’t there before. It was my grandma’s TV remote. Once I spotted it I froze in my place.


“Hey,” came a voice shouting from downstairs. It startled me once I realized that it was my grandma’s. In a rush, I tried to find somewhere to throw her remote while she came stomping up the stairs. When heard that she was close down the hallway I squeezed it under my mattress. All that was going through my head was, “Angel, please don’t get me killed…don’t get me killed” When I found my doorknob begin to turn in came my grandma flinging the door open. “What are you doing,” she questioned.


“Um…well I was just checking up on Angel, making sure he was alright.


“Well next time he can wait! I’ve been calling you for these past couple of minutes to get served some food for us and you didn’t answer. When I have guest your little brother comes second, you hear? Now get downstairs before I knock the crap out of both of you!” At first I was hesitant to move but when she shouted at me I ran out that door like there was no tomorrow. Once I left the room I noticed a gasp from behind. “Were you in my room,” I heard her yell. I must’ve not got the remote all the way under the mattress. When I turned around I found the remote in her hand and the most upset stare coming from her eyes. Right away she ran out of my room and into hers. When she opened the door she must’ve seen something bad because her eyes grew wider than ever. Turning around she jolted after me and grabbed my collar. Eye to eye we stayed until she banged the back of my head against the wall. On the floor I sat in pain as she raced after Angel and slapped him full force in the face.


“Hey,” I yelled after her. “Don’t touch him!” I rose to my feet and began to walk towards her and crying Angel. She stared at me as I began to comfort Angel then she pushed me off of him.


“I can touch him whenever I want,” she sternly told me.


“Not as long as I’m here keeping him safe,” I replied.


“You! Keep him safe? You can barely keep yourself out of trouble,” she told me. Then she bent down and backhanded me in my right check. There was a long stinging feeling on my face for a bit. “C’mon! Get up since you think you’re so tuff! C’mon, get up!” I stayed put on my side next to Angel. She yelled at me once more but still I remained on the floor. When I didn’t move I could see it in her burning eyes that she was aggravated. Out of nowhere she came at me and began to kick me a numerous amount of times on my side. Then she got down on her knees snatching Angel’s big plastic airplane out of his hands. Right on the side of my head she banged me with the toy. Again and again she banged the toy down on me. Then her fist came at me.


“Stop,” I shouted. Then I pushed her away from me. She flew back and into the metal bar that sat at the edge of the bed. I could see that the hit hurt her. That was when my advantage popped up. Quickly, I rose to my feet and began to drag her out of the room like a rag doll. Once she was out of the room I slammed the door right in time just as she flung towards me. When the door was fully closed I instantly locked it and we were safe but only for a while. Tears started to fall from my eyes because of how much I hated being here. Right away I crawled towards Angel and started to embrace him. I felt his warm tears slowly slide down my arms.


“Don’t worry, girl, I’ll get you! You can’t stay in that room forever! When you do come out, just wait and see!” I tried to ignore every word she said but Angel didn’t Every time she raised her voice Angel would tear up and cry even more.


“Shhh…shhh… it’s ok. It’s ok, Angel.” Both of us stayed huddled up together the rest of the night praying that tomorrow wouldn’t come any sooner.

The next morning as I rose from bed, I woke up to silence. I didn’t want to go near the door for the life of me. When Angel awoke was when I was forced to go downstairs. All he wanted was to eat. Constantly, he wined until I couldn’t take it anymore. At first, I was slow to open the door. Quietly, I tried to walk down the stairs but it didn’t help with all of the squeaking. Once I made it to the bottom of the steps I ran to the kitchen and flung the refrigerator door open. Luckily, there were leftovers from yesterday. Rice and beans…yummy. Quickly, I snatched a plate for Angel and I, heated it, and ran it upstairs. Him and I ate and attempted to stay in that room for the rest of the day. When I realized no one was there but us we both exited the room and got ready. While taking showers I locked the door the entire time. I didn’t trust my grandma one bit. She could’ve ran into that house at any time. The whole day we remained in fear of what could happen. Thank God she never showed up that day. Who knows what she could’ve been up to? I was just thankful Angel and I was safe for the day.

There I was again, like every other morning on my way to school. Each morning since the day Stacy and her little group threw the paper balls at me, they still haven’t stopped. Annoying as they were, I would always ignore there actions towards me but only because Lucas said so. If he hadn’t stopped me I would’ve went after those girls and they wouldn’t even have seen it coming. Of course no one was going to tell an adult either. Teenagers were considered as wimps, snitches, when they would rat others out. All of it was idiotic but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want any more drama then what was already taking place.


Once I made it to the throwing position the girls again took fire. I didn’t block anything as usual; all I did was take it. Peeking over towards the group of girls I saw one of them drop one of their small balls of paper. Rolling my eyes then looking back in front of me was my response to her action. Right then and there something rough hit my back. A sharp pain instantly jolted into my body, which brought me down to the ground. On my knees I glanced towards the left of me to find a rock sitting there. After that Stacy then kicked in my nose. Already, I could feel my blood coming over the top of my lips. At that moment anger brewed inside of me. While still on the ground Stacy began to talk crap.

“Yeah, you can’t take it can you? Huh?” Then she came walking towards me and kicked with all her might into my lower rib area. The feeling was like having a stack of brick being put on top of me. Still, I stayed on the ground thinking over and over about what Lucas told me. “Maybe she should call her daddy to come and help her girls! What do you think?”

“She can’t! Her dad’s dead remember,” one of the other girls’ shouted. All of them laughed in unison, and the horrible memory trying to leap its way into my mind again, but this time I wouldn’t let it. Rapidly, I swung my arm around knocking Stacy really hard causing her to fall in pain to the ground. Everyone, with mouths wide open, was in shock as she fell to the ground. Trying to rise was torture for me. Once I made it to my feet though the other three girls in the group didn’t hesitate to come after me. First, I wiped the blood from my mouth then I looked all of them over. All of their styles screamed I’m a girly-girl so I knew I wasn’t going to have much competition. All three of them came walking towards me at once attempting to swing. Moving out of the way of every shot that blew towards me I thought to myself, my turn. The first girl who walked up towards me was the one who spoke about my dad. Honestly, I was hoping she came at me last that way I could beat her the worst. Luckily, she didn’t though because after I knocked her to the ground with a punch a teacher came to separate the fight. It was Mr. C.


My eyes widened at the sight of him standing there. Behind him stood some other boy who I had no idea who he was. He wasn’t the problem though, the look I got from Mr. C was. It was the worst look you would ever want; the disappointed face. Calmly, I put my arm down falling apart as he pointed towards the school door. I knew he couldn’t have wanted to speak to me at that moment. What made this moment hurt the worst was because he was there. Mr. C was my sixth grade teacher, the greatest help I’ve ever received once my mom and dad died. That year in sixth grade was unexplainable. To watch him stare at me as he did broke me.

Walking into the school I regretted every single thing that just took place. Right behind came Stacy, her other friend I punched, the other two girls, and Mr. C. While on our way into the school every student’s eyes were on us. Constantly, blood kept flowing down from my nose like a waterfall. My sweater was drenched in blood and every step I took brought pain into my back. When I walked through the school door I found Lucas standing right there. He wouldn’t even look at me; he just kept his glance down at the floor. My eyes followed him as I was pacing forward. By the time all of us made it to the top of the first flight Mr. C was in the lead. Still, he said nothing to me. Being ignored by him upset me; it was like losing my best friend.


Our first destination was to the office. There we left behind those who weren’t as injured as me. Mr. C then walked me to the nurse and stayed with the whole time. The nurse first took care of my nose, which was excellent because I didn’t need any more blood on my sweater. After that she went to my lower rib area. For that she shut the door on Mr. C. The first thing she made me do was lay down on what reminded me of a hospital bed. After that she lifted only a little bit of my shirt to find that area all bruised up. All of it was a dark purple-bluish kind of color. When she pushed down on it the pain was excruciating. I winced for a couple of minutes as she applied an ice pack to my wounded area. After that she made me turn over to see how my back was. Not as bad as the front, was what I was informed with. She put a smaller ice pack there as well then wrapped bandages around me continuously making sure everything would stay in place. Once she was finished taking care of all my injuries she handed back my bloody sweater. I swear if I would’ve attempted to ring it out I bet a bunch of blood would pour out.


After me came in Stacy with a bloody nose and I went back outside to sit hit in the hall with Mr. C. The entire time I stood because it hurt to move in any other direction. Constantly, I kept glancing back at Mr. C and still he didn’t turn towards me once. I felt like crying because of the reputation I just began to build for myself and if he would ever talk to me after this. Everyone would think of me as the bad girl because Stacy and her group were the popular ones. All I was trying to do was defend myself. If I didn’t, who knows how much worse pain I’d be in right now. When we were done here of course we all headed to the office. There was when they conversed with us about the issue, how it happened, and what could we do to fix it, the usual speech. After that our principal, Mrs. Luepke, called home for the rest of the girls. I was the last one whose home she attempted to call. A couple of seconds past as the ringing of the phone hit our ears. No answer. Again, Mrs. Luepke dialed my house number. Frightened, if my grandma would even answer, I kept my eyes shut the whole time. A tear hung on the edge of my eye, and with a feeling of relief hitting me, there was no answer. One last time Mrs. Luepke called and again there was no answer but she didn’t stop there. She began to leave a voicemail explaining everything that had just passed.


My heart began beating like the drums in a drum line; nonstop. Every time I swallowed there was a sick feeling flowing through my body. I already knew what was coming after I exited this school building. I already saw the future as to my beating. My grandma was going to get me hard, not like usual, but ten times worse. Frightening thoughts were running through my mind just thinking about beginning to pace through my block. When I was to enter that front door, if I even made it that far, I was going to be brought down. The scariest part was Angel was going to be present.


The rest of the day I was stuck in the exact same place for seven whole hours, the office. Each minute someone walked in, even if it was a teacher, another student, or one of the other girl’s parents, I was afraid that it could be my grandma for some reason. Every scowl that I received from sitting in that chair reminded me of her. The only time I received out of that room was when the lunch bell hit. Putting food into my mouth made everything worse. My stomach began to turn and every move I made clogged my throat. When the final bell rang for the day I felt like throwing up. Thinking about what could happen to me felt like a nightmare.


“Ok Maya, you may leave now,” Mrs. Luepke told me. Pacing as slowly as possible out of the office, trying to take as long as I could to get home was my goal. I was about to walk out of the front door until I ran into Mr. C and his son, Sean. Once my eyes met his, my heart stopped. Suddenly, I halt before we were to crash into each other. With kindness I held the door open and watched them go out. Following behind both of them I quickly ran down the stairs and into an opposite direction. On my way to retrieve Angel I was hoping that I wouldn’t run into Lucas. I would hate to know his feelings towards everything that had happened earlier. I’m sure he would be disappointed in me as well. Talking to him at this moment just wouldn’t feel right.

As I was a block down from Elizabeth’s house my eyes caught the exact same man that I had seen for the last couple of days. Always trying to stay out of his sight but it was like he would find me every single time. Never have we spoken to each other. Only one time I gestured hello to him but he kept on walking. This time I stopped right in my tracks and stayed behind the bushes at the edge of the block. Staring at him I noticed he was looking around as he was about to pass Elizabeth’s house. He seemed very uneasy and at that moment I knew he was searching for me. Still, I stayed hidden. Today, it seemed like he just couldn’t move past that tree, like he had some type of burden over him. He just stood in front of it like he was waiting in line for the new I-pod to come out. Studying him, I noticed that he then began to rub his eyes. That was when I realized that he began to cry. Then he dropped down to his knees, digging them into the snow. While he continued to remain on his knees I slowly hesitated to walk towards him.


Once I made it up to him I asked,


“Are you alright, sir?” He lifted his head as quickly as possible and I noticed more tears falling down his bright red cheeks. Then he rose to his feet without saying a word. He stood about two inches above me, his knees were soaked, and he began to roughly scrape the tears from his face. “Are you okay,” I questioned once more, placing my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. When he looked into my eyes again that familiarity hit me.


“Yes, I’m fine,” he answered with an upset tone. He then fixed his suit coat and began to walk off in the opposite direction. While he began walking away I stopped him by grabbing his arm. Suddenly, he turned around and pulled it away slowly.


“I’m sorry, sir. You just look very familiar to me,” I tried to explain. “Do I know you from somewhere,” I questioned. No words came from his mouth. All he did was slightly nod his head and again begin to walk away. “Wait,” I called out. Once again he turned around. “Will I ever see you again?”


“Maybe some other time. Hopefully, one of us will have a better understanding of what happened next time.” It was official he knew me as well. Quite confused at what just happened, I ignored it then started to slowly walk up to Elizabeth’s front door. Calmly, I knocked but ended up waiting longer than usual which was strange. When Elizabeth came to the front door she showed up with tears shedding from her eyes.


“Elizabeth, esta todo bien? Que pasa? Que paso? Donde esta Angel,” I questioned her many times. It wasn’t until she could catch her breath when I got an answer.


“Angel! Se lo llevaron,” I heard her reply softly.

Angel’s been taken…taken…taken. Her words replayed many times over in my head.


“Que me estas diciendo? Se lo llevaro? I questioned. More tears began to fill her eyes. “Que me dices, Elizabeth,” I said in a calmer tone.


“Una mujer vino y se lo llevo...” Once she told me that many things were flying through my mind at once. All of my surroundings blurred out. I knew whom she was speaking of, my grandma. That was an easy mystery figure out but I needed to know how she found out he was here. Why would she do this in the first place? We did nothing wrong…Mrs. Luepke left the voicemail. Was this really going to be her way of punishing me? Did she have to hurt me emotionally as well? How could someone be so evil to do such a thing? That’s when I began to fill up with anger more than fear. Slowly, I released Elizabeth from my grip and began to race home through the streets. When I got to the edge of my block I heard a very familiar cry, it was Angel’s.


“Shut up,” I heard my grandmother yell at him. Once I reached the front of our house there she stood, waiting for me. Bat in hand, getting ready to beat me. She stood on the porch with Angel sobbing at her feet. My heart stopped as this moment was taking place, but I knew one thing. I wasn’t going to let Angel get hurt. “So, I hear about what happened in school today. As for that baby sitter of yours, yes I knew all along, I just wasn’t going to take care of this little rat! Glad you knew better about that. Apparently, you got into a fight today. Next time, maybe you should just keep your hands to yourself. Now you get to receive a real fight and let your little brother watch!” Quickly I took a couple steps backwards as she came at me with the bat.

“Angel, go inside,” I demanded.

“Move little boy and I swear,” she began to raise her voice. “you’ll be next!” Angel knew better to stay put. It pained me so much to have him sit through this and watch. Ongoing, I kept taking as many steps backwards as possible. The quicker she came at me the quicker I tried to move away. Then I slipped. Next thing I knew I found the most determined face that I’ve ever seen before in my entire life come at me. She swung her arms full force with the bat onto my back. My face fell in the snow, which caused a stinging sensation on my cheeks. Over and over again she came at me with the bat. All parts of my body were busy screaming in pain. I blocked my face until I realized she threw the bat out of her hands. Then she threw her fist at me like I was some old punching bag. Trying to squirm away, she dug her nails into my hand. Every time I moved her nails went up my arm scratching the crap out of it. She then knocked me one hard in the face with her boney hands. I tried to fight back but it was like I was paralyzed. Angel was screaming and I saw him in tears through the corner of my eye. Watching him made me want to cry but I had to take this. In that moment it was like the world froze around me. My body was in so much pain that every time I was hit there was such an intense feeling that took place. For as many times as she drove into my stomach, face, back, legs I kept my eyes open. A tear slid down my face with blood and I just thought to myself, “God, keep Angel alive.”

After that day there wasn’t much that went back to normal. Stacy and her little group of girls never bothered me again. In fact, it was like I was invisible to them. I actually felt a bit freer once I entered school. There were only two things that had changed. The first was my movements. I couldn’t do anything to the point where I had to stay late once after class because I felt like I couldn’t move. Now I can’t pick up Angel or bend down at all actually. After that beating my physical stage just wasn’t the same. The second thing that had changed was Lucas and I. Still he has said nothing to me. It’s been two days and I actually longed to hear his voice again. The only thing I didn’t want to do was lie to him about my beating but what choice did I have. Luckily, later that Thursday afternoon he spoke to me, surprisingly. I was on my way to get Angel as usual until his voice came from behind me.

“Hey, Maya,” he hesitantly said as he put his hand on my shoulder. When I turned around to find him standing there I embraced him as tight as I could. Slowly, he put his arms around me. The feeling was unexplainable to actually have some give love to you after so long.

“Hi, Lucas,” I finally built up enough courage to say. After that he looked up at me in disbelief.

“What happened?”


“What do you mean,” I pretended not to know and then I turned to continue walking towards Elizabeth’s.

“Your arms and face,” he asked.

“Well, don’t you remember what happened on Monday?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think Stacy and her mob beat you that bad.”

“When you’re in the crowd it’s kind of hard to see what happening now is it,” I questioned It seemed like he was having trouble taking in what I told him. Lucas knew when I was lying but he never questioned me this time. The question I asked practically silenced him. It seemed like he knew he could’ve helped somehow but he didn’t. I wondered if he ever regretted what he told me the other day.

“Whatever you do just promise me that you’ll ignore them.”

That was the only reason I stayed on the ground to take it. The rest of the way to Elizabeth’s I was on my own. Lucas stayed speechless in the exact same position as I walked away from him.

The next day after school he didn’t hesitate to come and speak to me. Once I exited the building the frost cold wind he approached me. The first couple of minutes I continued to walk. It wasn’t until he pulled me by my book bag that I stopped for him. As he began to talk I knew he was on to me.


“Maya we need to talk,” Lucas said with a serious tone.


“Ok, sure. What is it,” I questioned with a curious attitude.


“Look, I don’t think you’ve been completely honest with me lately, Maya. I went to walk to the store the day my family got together for the packer game to grab some sodas. While I was there I saw a real nice gift for Angel for his birthday so I bought it. On my way back home I stopped by your grandma’s house to drop off his gift and saw that there were no cars around, any balloons outside, no banner or little piece of confetti, nothing! There was nothing there that showed you guys were having a party for Angel. So, I’m sitting here thinking well maybe she just didn’t want to come by, but it crossed my mind why would she lie to me? She’s my best friend; we’re supposed to tell each other everything. I-”


“Lucas, I-”


“No! I’m not finished! Then you come to school today with half of your face bruised up and scratches all over your arms. I’m sure as heck not stupid enough to know that Stacy and her little friends did that to you! What’s been going on? It’s like your falling apart and I can’t even read you well enough to know from what. Lately, you’ve just been shutting everyone around you out. What’s going on that you’re not telling me,” he asked with full confidence.

At that moment I did feel like I was falling apart. It was coming; I shouldn’t have been so stupid and blind to the fact that Lucas was going to find out my secrets someday. He was one the closest person to me and I couldn’t even be open with him. To ashamed to say one single word, I kept staring at the snow-covered cement trying to avoid glancing into Lucas’s eyes. “Well? Are you going to let me know because if not then I can just leave,” Lucas stated. Still I didn’t know how I was supposed to gather up a perfect explanation for him. Staying in silence was a horrible mistake. I didn’t realize at that moment what an amazing friend I could be losing if I didn’t say something. Then he took a deep breath, looked at me once more, and began to turn around and slowly walk away. Once he got further away from me I knew he wasn’t joking so I began to call out his name,

“Lucas,” but he wouldn’t stop. “Lucas! Please! Don’t go, please,” I stood there beginning to cry because of how angry I was with myself. How could I have let myself do this? I can’t just tell him. My grandma would kill me if anyone found out. That wasn’t worth losing Lucas though. All of the tears were blurring up my vision with every step I tried to take. “Lucas,” I yelled. Since he wouldn’t stop I started to swiftly jog after him no matter how much pain I was in. “Lucas,” I screamed once more. Then I saw him begin to turn around as I was instantly falling to the ground. I could feel there was a hidden piece of ice beneath the snow, which caused my fall. Once I hit the ground the force was so strong and painful against my head. My vision got worse and the last thing I remember seeing was Lucas leaning from above me. He constantly repeated my name until his shouting began to fade away. My eyesight went completely dark and I felt myself going into a deep sleep, something I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Hey Angel do you want to race down the block,” Lucas questioned him with the most enthusiastic smile I’ve ever seen on his face before. He, Angel, and I were on our way to Lucas’s house.

“Uh ha,” said Angel constantly nodding his head up and down so hard with excitement that he almost dropped his little football.

“Ok, let’s do this. On your marks, get set, go!” Both of them were off running down the block. Lucas was going Angel’s speed to make it fair until Angel lost the grip of his ball. Lucas without realizing it kept on going but Angel stopped and went off to retrieve his football, which bounced into the street. When Lucas saw that Angel wasn’t by his side he quickly turned around to find him out in the middle of the road. Further back came a car whose driver was reaching for his phone that had fallen. Lucas was darting as fast as he could towards Angel before the car met him first. “Angel,” Lucas screamed. Just in time Lucas pushed Angel out of the way to safety, but he himself wasn’t so lucky. I watched, stunned, there right before my eyes as the car hit Lucas.

“Lucas!”

“Lucas,” I screamed as I woke up from my deep sleep. My surroundings seemed very familiar to me. I was in the hospital. Calmly, I lay back down and tried to breathe and relax after the horrible nightmare that just took place. All that was running through my mind was, “what am I doing here?” I had no idea why I was sitting in some hospital bed. As I was about to rise there was a knock on the door, which stopped me. “Um, come in,” I said. When the door opened I found Lucas walking in. “Finally, someone who can give me answers,” I thought. “Lucas,” I exclaimed with excitement. “Gosh, am I glad to see you.”

“Hey Maya,” he said with an unhappy tone.

“What’s wrong,” I questioned him. He looked down at me then turned around to pull a chair closer to the bed. Once he sat down it was like he hesitated to grab my hand. When his large brown eyes began to fill with tears I really needed to know what was bothering him. It hurts to see someone you care for so much in pain. “Lucas what’s wrong? Why am I here? What’s going on?” He lifted his head up and looked me into my eyes. “Lucas,” I said once more hoping that he would finally respond to me.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized, but I didn’t know what for. “I’m so, so sorry,” he repeated again. Confused, I stayed staring at him until he was done weeping so that way he could actually tell me what for. “This is my entire doing,” Lucas sobbed. “It’s my fault!”

“What’s your fault, Lucas? C’mon, what’s your fault? What are you not telling me,” I questioned him. Again, he lifted his head and began to roughly wipe the tears from his cheeks. His eyes were still full of water, his cheeks were a dull red kind of color, and his hair was rough and all over the place from smashing it into the hospital bed. I stared at him in disbelief. How could I have been here because of him? He would never try to hurt me I know that.

“When we were outside, don’t you remember?”

Remember?


“Lucas, I-


“No! I’m not finished! Then you come to school today with half of your face bruised up and scratches all over your arms. I’m sure as heck not stupid enough to know that Stacy and her little friends did that to you! What’s been going on? It’s like your falling apart and I can’t even read you well enough to know from what. Lately, you’ve just been shutting everyone around you out. What’s going on that you’re not telling me?”


“Lucas,” but he wouldn’t stop. “Lucas! Please! Don’t go, please!”


Once I hit the ground the force was so strong and painful. My vision got worse and the last thing I remember seeing was Lucas leaning from above me.


When I snapped back to normal I glanced back at him with sorrowful eyes. I didn’t want to remember what happened outside. Staring at Lucas didn’t make it any better. Right away I turned to look at the wall


“Yes, I remember and it wasn’t your fault that I’m here, it’s mine. I wasn’t being honest with you Lucas when I should have been. It’s my own fault that I’m laying here right now.” His eyes were all dried up by the time I told him this. You could see that he was very curious to see what I had to say. “Lucas, ever since my parents died I’ve been with staying with my grandma as you already know. When I canceled on you, I did it for Angel and my safety. By her house we…we,” I was very unsteady with my words as I tried explaining to Lucas the truth. In my eyes there was a stinging sensation going on that I couldn’t control. The tears wanted to flow down my check so badly but it was like they couldn’t escape. “I get beat. Every single day I’m there Lucas! Every single time! When…when the other girls and I got into that fight Mrs. Luepke called home. While Angel and I were walking home together she was there…she…Lucas…she was waiting! She was waiting for me with a bat. Angel saw everything that happened, she made him watch! Lucas he saw,” attempting to finish the story was impossible. Lucas tried to comfort me, my head in his arms. I embraced him as long as I possibly could’ve. He was the only one there with me, which made him the only one that really cared. Grateful, was my emotion towards him.


“Lucas,” I said his name.


“Yes?”


“Would you like to know what she told me?”


“What,” he questioned.


“My grandma said if I were ever to tell someone about this I wouldn’t live to see another day. All I ask is one thing from you.”


“What is it? Anything, I’ll do it.”


“Just don’t tell anyone, please.” While saying this, his facial expression changed quickly; from feeling bad to what do you mean?


“You tell me this and you won’t let me tell anyone else. Maya-“


“Lucas look, you know what she-“


“No, Maya. You look! I can help you. You need my help. Maya, you can’t-”


“Lucas! Please you can’t say a single word to anyone! Please you can’t. I won’t let Angel go through what he just witnessed again. How would you feel to watch someone you love get injured so badly right in front of your eyes, and while being forced? Lucas there’s no telling what she’ll do to me the next time I wrong her. No one can find out about this, ok?” Telling this to Lucas I knew he wanted to find help for me. Not letting him was a huge sacrifice to make. Angel is too young to go through everything he’s experiencing. There’s no telling how bad my grandma will get me next time.


Lucas gave me a blank stare for the next couple of seconds until he finally snapped back to normal. When he did, Lucas told me he wouldn’t say anything to anyone. Then after that a doctor came into the room.


“Hello, Maya. I’m glad to see that you’re finally awake,” the doctor said. She had very bright hair and huge brown eyes. Most of the time her lips would form into a smile and she always sounded very excited about something. Walking towards me I read her nametag, which said Hello my name is: Anne. She looked as if she was in her early forties but she seemed to be very energetic still.


“Thank you,” I replied. “How long was I out?”


“For about an hour, hour and a half maybe,” she told me. Angel was then brought into my mind. Elizabeth would be wondering where I was at that moment.


“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m afraid I need to leave. I have to get my brother.” I tried to roll over to get off the bed but my body wasn’t cooperating with me. Beginning to wince in pain, I tried again. My ribs hurt worse than they did for the past couple of days.


“I think you should stay here, Maya. You don’t seem like you’re in great shape,” Anne mentioned. “How much could that fall have done to you?” Slowly she walked towards me as Lucas backed away. Anne moved the blanket off of me and lifted half of my shirt. Her eyes grew wide and a large gasp came from her mouth. “You need to get this fixed,” she told me.


“I can’t okay? I just need to go,” I tried telling her, I had to get Angel.


“Maya,” Lucas said. “Just let her help you. I’ll get Angel. Let me know where he is and I’ll bring him to you, alright?” I didn’t want to stay put but I had no choice. The more I moved the worse things would get for me. Not only that, Lucas insisted on me staying put. When he left Anne did everything she could to help me out. Many nurses came in to check me out. When they began working with me I felt like I was in the middle of surgery. All I wanted to do was stay awake the whole time, I couldn’t settle down. My eyes just shut on their own. “Maya…Maya...”


“Maya,” I heard Lucas’ voice calling my name. My eyes flashed open to find him and Angel leaning above me. My mouth formed into a smile as I saw Angel above me. I kissed his forehead and tried to hug him but I couldn’t. My body ached so much and I couldn’t even lift my head because of how exhausted I felt.


“Hi, Angel,” I said calmly. “How are you?”


“Good. What’s wrong Mi-ya,” Angel asked in a small tone.


“Nothing, Angel. Maya just got an ouchie,” I told him.


“Oh, ok,” he replied while walking off to grab the TV remote.


“Hey Maya. You feeling alright,” Lucas questioned.


“Yes, I’m fine, thank you. Did anyone ever tell you how long I had to stay,” I asked Lucas.


“No, I haven’t been told anything. Trust me, I’m sure you’d rather be here though,” he giggled. “Do you want me to run downstairs to get you something to drink,” he wondered.


“Sure, a Gatorade would be nice. Oh, red flavor,” I mentioned as he began to walk towards the door.


“Definitely,” he replied. “You want me to bring Angel too? He’s been getting kind of hungry, unless, you know, you’d like him to keep touching things in here.”


“Yes, please. If you could that’d be nice,” I smiled at him.


“Alright, c’mon Angel! Let’s go get some food buddy.” With that I was left alone in the room with the television all to myself. Right away I snatched the remote from the table next to me. Flipping through the channels I found nothing that really interested me. Then I heard a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” I shouted. Coming in, I expected it to be a doctor since Lucas and Angel wouldn’t have been able to get back that fast. What I got was the surprise of my life. In came the man I saw crying by the tree in front of Elizabeth’s house. Honestly, at that moment I was freaking out a bit because I wondered how he knew I was here. Why would he come to see me? Why did he even care to visit me? Then he turned around and locked the door behind him. “What are you doing,” I questioned. My first instinct was to call for help but he replied quickly.

“It’s ok; I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to speak with you.”

“How did you know to find me here,” I asked. Right away he grabbed the remote from my hand and clicked the number six. On came the news and there I was. My whole story appeared on the news. First, it began with the killing that took place two years ago on my father. Then the news reporter showed up in front of my grandma’s house explaining my story to the world.

“Here, is where Maya Cortez lives. This is where we were told Maya and her younger brother, Angel, is abused every day by her grandmother. Behind me you’ll find that the cops are coming in to search for Maya’s grandmother, Maria Sanchez, to take her into custody. Currently, we are to believe that Maya is in St. Luke’s Hospital being treated for the beating and terrible fall she took recently. Best of wishes to Maya that she gets better soon. With that, back in the studio, Nichole Kuglin. After that, the man shut off the TV and threw the remote by the edge of the bed. I stayed speechless at what my eyes just saw.

“How…how did-”

“I don’t know how they found out,” the man interrupted me. “I just need to speak to you before someone comes. Look,” the man took a deep breath. He looked as if he wanted to cry. His eyes began to fill with tears but he tried to fight them. I stared at him and knew that this was what he meant when he told me outside one of us would get more clarity on things. He needed to tell me something that apparently I needed to know. While he was in his little stages I studied him, trying to figure out where I’ve seen him before. Then that’s when I noticed he begin to get angry with himself. He turned around and walked towards the wall and leaned his head against it. So quick he was to let himself get aggravated. That’s when I realized who he was. All this time he stood in front of my eyes, how could I not have noticed until now? Getting angry quickly, crying in front of the tree, seeming uneasy every time he would pass me up; he was my dad’s killer.

At that moment I froze, my eyes stayed glued on him and only him. I could feel my heart begin to beat slower than usual. That’s when everything just hit me again.

“Papi,” I whispered. “What should we d-”

“Shhhh, be quiet and get down now, you hear? Stay down.”

Constantly, I tried to keep my focus on the man.

“Get off the phone,” the boy demanded. “Now get out of the car,” the teenager yelled at my dad. “Get out! Now! C’mon! Get out!”

It was like he was freaking out about the same thing. Both of us with this moment haunting us and it wouldn’t stop.

“Hey,” my dad yelled. “You need to go! Now! Go!” Boom! The gun fired.


When my brain flashed back to normal my eyes were still on the man. He began to walk towards me and both of our cheeks were filled with sliding tears. I could tell he knew that I finally realized who he was.

“I’m so sorry,” the man sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry…,” he went off again. When he stopped crying he pulled up a chair and sat close to me. “I can understand if you’ll never forgive me. I’ve done so much wrong to you. I ruined your life and I’m so sorry,” I could see his eyes beginning to water again. He was filled with so much regret that I began to fill sorry for him. The man was hurting and so was I. Still, it was unbelievable to me that my father’s killer sat right in front of my face. All this time I’ve always thought of the amazing revenge that I would get on him. Now that he was right in front of me apologizing I just thought, “How could I have wanted to do so much wrong to him”


Glad that he actually realized what he did was absolutely wrong made me feel better about what took place two years ago in front of my eyes. “My name is Michael, Michael Jung. It’s about time you knew my name. You can rat me out, put me behind bars, let them all beat me, I deserve it.” Michael and I stayed eye to eye until I gave him a response.


“Trust me; I’m not going to tell anyone. This can be our little secret,” and with that he gave me the most confused stare I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face before. “I won’t say anything because you’re here right now confessing in front of me about what you did wrong,” he looked back at me with thankful eyes.


“Now that I’ve told you what I needed to say I must go. Just remember people will try to bring you down,” I knew he was referring to himself. “People will try to hurt you but instead of thinking of the negative things think of the people closest to you. Think of the ones who are always there, the ones who won’t let go, the ones who are with you now. Sometimes we don’t realize what other people do for us until they stop doing it, so try to keep them close.” After he finished speaking to me he unlocked the door but I stopped him.

“Thank you for that. Where did you get it from,” I questioned.

“Well,” he took a deep breath. “Let me just tell you… that’s what people say,” and he left.

. As he exited the room Lucas ended up walking in a couple minutes later.

“Hey,” he said when he walked into the room. Sorry we took so long Angel insisted on eating downstairs,” he paused for a minute. “Are you alright,” he questioned. I looked up from the bed sheets and responded.

“Yes, I’m fine. I mean,” I took a deep breath then I was reminded of what popped up on the television screen. “Actually, no, I’m not,” I sternly answered.

“What’s bothering you,” Lucas questioned.


“I was um…watching the news and found something very shocking.” Lucas rolled his eyes and seemed uneasy as I brought up the subject. “Everyone knows Lucas. They know about me, my situation, everything!” I knew Lucas was the one who said something. He was the only one who knew unless my grandma really wanted to go to jail that bad. “Lucas, please look at me.” He turned to face me with an upset stare. “Why did you tell? You told me you wouldn’t! Now look everyone knows Lucas, everyone!”


“Maya, you needed help! Why are you so upset? You should be happy! You’re free Maya. You’re safe! You and Angel are both safe!”


“No, Lucas! You don’t understand. We can’t stay anymore.” Angel was frightened at us shouting at each other and started to become a little nervous of what would happen next.


“What do you mean you can’t stay,” Lucas lowered his voice.


“With my parents gone, my grandma taken away, and my other two grandparents dead, were forced to go with my aunt. She lives in Ohio. All of my aunts and uncles live in Ohio and my dad was the only child so they’re the only other family Angel and I really have. I’m not being forced to go to no foster home either so we’re stuck moving.” He just stared at me with regret. I could see it in his eyes and he also began to breathe a little uneasy. Just then a knock came on the door. “Come in,” I said. In came Anne giving the news that I could go and the procedure of how to care for myself if I ever received any sharp pains again. Once I was released I didn’t know where to go.


“Look Maya,” Lucas tried to explain. “I’m so sorry for telling the police. I didn’t know-”


“Lucas, please! I just need to know where to go. At this moment Angel and I have no home. I’m not going to my grandma’s house. If I do who knows what I’ll see. I don’t want the chance of running into my grandma again.” Just then a flood of reporters ran up the parking lot towards us. “C’mon, we need to go,” I told Angel and Lucas. Quickly, I threw my hood over my head and kept looking down trying to avoid the group of people. Following behind them were plenty of police cars enough to take out a mob for sure. I didn’t see the purpose for all of them being there. “Let’s go,” I said again picking up the pace which wasn’t much help for my injury. Before I knew it everyone surrounded us.


“Maya, Maya is that you? Look everyone its Maya Cortez! She’s alright,” one of the reporters yelled. Soon all of them were shouting my name. Cameras flashed, microphones were pointed straight towards me, and questions began flooding the air. “Maya, is it true your grandma would beat you?”


“Maya, why didn’t you just run away?”


“Why didn’t you let someone know sooner?” Luckily, the police helped with removing people from my way. Now I knew how all of the famous people felt, their lives must suck. Having to stay hidden all of the time, under cover like a spy. I don’t know how they do it.


When the police removed me from the center of the crowd I was forced into a cop car with Angel and Lucas. On the way to the police station was dreadful. I didn’t even want to go, but then I began to realize what Lucas was telling me earlier. Maybe this was better, everyone finding out. Angel and I were safe now where I’ve always wanted us to be. When we pulled up to the station another cop car pulled up from behind. Out of came two cops holding my grandma in a pair of cuffs. She was calm until she spotted us walking in the station from behind her. With force she tried to be released from the cop’s killer grip but failed.


“Watch when I get out of here,” she screamed. “Wait and you’ll see, Maya! You’ll get it twice as bad as before. This time Angel will get it too,” her shout soon became a loud obnoxious giggle. I couldn’t believe she said it in front of the cops. How stupid of her. That was fine with me though. The more she made it obvious of her beating us the worse her consequences would become. The rest of the way in I ignored every other word that came out of her mouth until the cops told her to shut up. Best moment of my life!


Later, I was taken from Angel and Lucas to speak with someone. I felt like I was in a movie. There was the exact same setup from Law and Order. Right away there was a man that came in who directed me to the seat in front of him. I sat down hesitantly and looked him right into his eyes.


“Hello Maya,” he said. “My name is John Harris. All I want to do is help you so if you could please cooperate in every single way you could I would really appreciate that. I’m sure you really don’t want to be here given by the blank stare you’re giving me.” I didn’t change a thing. All I wanted to do was get this conversation over with so that way they could give me other options to stay besides moving to Ohio. “I’ve heard about your story, trust me, your face is flooding the news right now. I’m sure by this time tomorrow you’ll be on the cover every single magazine. Now let’s get down to business. Your fall, was that the cause of your,” he didn’t finish the question. All he did was gesture around his eye to represent my black eye like I was some little kid.


“No,” I sternly answered.


“Okay then I take it your grandma did this to you then? We were informed that your grandma would on several occasions beat you. Is that how you received your black eye,” he questioned again.


“Yes,” I responded.


“In full detail will you please explain to me what your grandma did to you?” Slowly, I shook my head no. I didn’t want to think of that horrid moment again. Especially because I would end up crying in front of some guy who I didn’t even know. “Listen Maya, if you want help then you’re going to have to tell me what happened,” he said in a serious tone. After a couple of minutes of him convincing me I spilled. Every single hit she swung at me, every bruise I earned I told him about. When my story was over both of us then began discussing my family issue with my aunts and uncles.


“Is there anything you can do to help me stay here,” I asked with eyes full of tears.


“I’ll see what I can do for you Maya,” he responded in a considerate tone. He was gone for a few minutes before he returned with and honest answer. He came in, his facial expression showing he was upset. I already knew what was coming that I didn’t even want to take in his words. They just got quieter and quieter every moment.


“I’m sorry Maya but you either have two choices; go to the foster home or leave to Ohio.” The rest the time there was spent with me staying upset. I didn’t want to leave Wisconsin. I grew up here, I love school here, and people who I care for are here. Moving to Ohio would practically ruin my life. I’d have to start everything over again.

After us three were released from the police station I began to walk home with Lucas still there. Where else was I to go? Once I was to enter my house door Angel and I would have to get ready to leave. I felt safer going there because I knew my grandma was in custody. I didn’t want to keep that on my mind though so I began some conversation with Lucas.


“So…what did they talk to you about,” I questioned.


“Nothing much, they mostly thanked me for informing them about you.” I knew I should’ve thanked Lucas for helping but he was also the reason why Angel and I have to leave.


“Oh,” I said. The rest of the walk remained with us in silence. It wasn’t ‘til we got closer the house that Lucas decided to get a little playful with Angel. I was glad because it would’ve just been awkward the rest of the way if we didn’t do something fun soon.


“Hey Angel do you want to race down the block,” Lucas questioned him with the most enthusiastic smile I’ve ever seen on his face before.


“Uh ha,” said Angel constantly nodding his head up and down hard with excitement.

“Ok, let’s do this. On your marks, get set, go!” Both of them were off running down the block. Lucas was going Angel’s speed to make it fair until Angel lost the grip of his left over Gatorade. That’s when this moment then became familiar to me. It was my dream. Lucas without realizing it kept on going but Angel stopped and went off to retrieve his rolling Gatorade which ended up in the street. When Lucas saw that Angel wasn’t by his side he quickly turned around to find him out in the middle of the road. Further back came a car whose driver was reaching for his phone that had fallen. Lucas was darting as fast as he could towards Angel before the car met him first. “Angel,” Lucas screamed. I ran as fast as I could to get to Angel before Lucas would, but he beat me. Just in time Lucas pushed Angel out of the way to safety, but he himself wasn’t so lucky. I watched, full of regret with what I just let happen and Lucas was hit with the car.

Date: December 13, 2013


Time: 12 pm.


Location: Forest Home Cemetery


Applauses filled the air at the speech that Lucas’ mother just gave. After her I knew it was my turn. Once the funeral director announced my name I slowly walked up towards the platform. When I got there I had a very nervous feeling hit me. I hated standing, talking, and singing, whatever the case was, in front of people. At first I hesitated to speak but as I found the crowd become a little impatient I began to speak.


“First let begin by telling you all I’m very sorry for your loss. I was present when Lucas passed. Let me tell you right now though that he was one of the greatest friends anyone could ever have. He has always been there when I needed him. Sometimes I was too stubborn to see it or thank him for his assistance. Every day since he passed I’ve thought of him,” at this moment I saw the crowd begin to tear up. Tissues were handed out to people and sounds of blowing noses met my ears. I waited a couple more seconds to actually continue speaking again. “Let me just tell you all something. People will try to bring you down, people will try to hurt you but instead of thinking of the negative things think of the ones closest to you. Think of the ones who are always there, the ones who won’t let go, the ones who are with you now. Sometimes we don’t realize what other people do for us until they stop doing it, so try to keep them close. It’s just… What people say.”
The End