Age:
High School
Reading Level: 4.7
Chapter 1: Stage One—The Egg
Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly—Unknown
She could feel the child moving within her. She could feel the tiny thumps against her tummy. It was as if the baby knew something was seriously wrong.
Sylvia was 17 years old and had lived a tragic life. After today, life would never be the same again for her and her unborn child.
She wanted to quit. She wanted to give in to the pain and the sorrow. Even getting out of bed was a struggle. She would not survive a day without him in her life.
Her tears fell like heavy raindrops. She could not believe he was gone. Her teary eyes kept looking at the door, hoping this was all a horrible dream.
She thought that maybe, just maybe, he would walk in the house like she remembered him.
“Hi babe,” he would say as he walked in and wrapped her in his arms. This was the safest place she had ever found. In his arms nothing mattered.
They were each other’s first love. “Puppy love” they called it, and it showed.
She caressed her unborn baby and whispered, “He will be back, little darling. He will be back soon. You will meet your father in a couple of months. We will be a great family.”
But, deep within, she knew she was lying. He really was gone. Forever.
His laugh would never echo throughout the house again. His sense of humor and goofiness would never again make her laugh.
He would not get to meet his son, to play with him and give him horsy rides. He would not show him how to throw a ball or ride a bike.
Death was final. It was not something which could be undone. To die at the age of 19, in the spring of life, was a colossal tragedy. Too big to be accepted.
The thought alone was too painful to bear. Sylvia’s sobs became a snowball going downhill. They grew louder and louder, until they became gasping heaves, which echoed throughout the house and seemed to shatter the very fabric of the heavens.
Chapter Two
The cards were stacked against Sylvia from the very start. She hardly had a chance.
She had been born to very young parents. Her mother, Veronica, was 17 years old when she had given birth to her. Her father, Victor, was only 16.
They both used drugs. They both were gang members. In El Paso, everyone seemed to belong to one gang or another during this time.
Gang murders and rivalries were rampant. The whole city seemed to be a war zone. You couldn’t go anywhere without the fear of being attacked or robbed or questioned by gang members.
The nightly news reported gang violence almost every day it seemed. The authorities were trying to find ways to deal with the problem, but it was a slow process.
Many children lost their lives to gang warfare. Some were actually killed. Others lost their lives due to incarceration caused by their gang ties.
Veronica belonged to Barrio Nuevo, BN. Victor belonged to the Barrio Campestre Locos, BCL, gang.
These gangs were bitter rivals when Victor and Veronica met.
Their relationship was doomed before it even started.
Chapter Three
When the homies from his gang found out that Victor was dating Veronica, they were furious. They threatened to kick him out of the gang if he did not end the relationship immediately.
Veronica’s friends weren’t too pleased, either.
The rivalry between these gangs was deep. People had been murdered on both sides. Whenever they saw each other, they would fight on the spot.
At school, almost every day members were being suspended or expelled for gang-related fights. They fought in classrooms, in the cafeteria, in the schoolyard, and anywhere else where their roads would cross.
Many times, they had shoot-outs in the streets, in broad daylight. If a gang knew where a rival lived, they would go over and do a “drive by” shooting at the house itself. It didn't matter who was inside.
It was the wild, wild west, teenage-gang style.
But Victor and Veronica continued their relationship despite the threats and disapproval of their respective gangs.