Maria was walking her normal way home from her after school job. She took the bus to Valley blvd, got off and walked across the street to the market to buy a loaf of bread for dinner then continued down Rancho until she got to Olive street where her little yellow house with the brown yard was. But today was different. When she got off the bus she noticed the huge crowd gathering on the next block, cop cars and ambulances were stationed there and as she got closer she saw the whispering, the tears and the cops trying to keep the crowd back. Maria fought her way through the crowd to see what the commotion was about and as she made her way to the line of policemen she saw a body on the floor and a girl with an expressionless face talking to an officer. As she was gradually pushed back by the crowd she started to ask to people "What's going on, who is that?" in her tiny voice with a thick accent.
Finally three women looked at her and said "That was Jimmy, you know the 16 year old who lives in the abandon house with his sister."
Shocked and confused Maria replied, "Well what happened to him!" with an urgency in her voice.
One of the ladies looked at her and mumbled, "he was shot but the 501 gang," another lady piped in "he was in the bakery and he didn't have any money, and when Carlos went to the back he stole a loaf of bread." The third lady not wanting to be skipped in sharing this gossip continued, "Carlos yelled to his boys once he realized what happened, the boys got in their car and went after Jimmy, he had barely gotten to the corner and they shot him in a drive by."
Maria was shocked and asked "well who is the girl the police are questioning?"
One lady replied "thats his sister"
Now Maria was especially confused, had it been her brother, which she fears everyday he walks out the house, she would be a mess, in tears, unable to talk or function, but this girl had a blank stare and glazed over eyes, it was like nothing had even happened. Maria finally said "well if that's his sister why isn't she crying or screaming for justice?!"
The ladies all paused and looked at each other, they shared a grimace and one stepped forward and told Maria, "Well the girl said it was only a matter of time, she knew it was going to happen sooner or later some way or another. She said living on streets like these you can't expect anything more than death."
Maria turned and walked away thinking deeply about what the women had said, what the girl had reportedly said. Maria couldn't imagine anyone thinking that about her own brother.
