Back in the days: Personal Essay

Back in the Days

“Stop or I shoot!” that’s what the cop said, if I wasn’t running already, man, I was running then, for real. I knew they can’t just shoot you just like that, but just in case I zig-zaged like I was running around cones or something. But then I got to an edge of the building, so I breaked for a second and saw that it was just a parking lot down below, about 1 or 2 levels down, but I had to jump. So I jumped on one of them cars, landed on the top of a red car like the movies; but then I fell to the ground, then I was running again, not even looking back at the cop. I was gone, out of there, peace out. The homeys all dipped out also. Tyrone made the jump right behind me, and that’s why you see him limping now, you know he is smaller than me maybe he fell wrong, what is he? 12 or something? I’m 15, you are what, 18? Tyrone’s young buck, but he was up there in the mix. So anyways, let me tell you what happened, right as I was about to cross the street I saw more cops, everywhere, coming from both sides of the street, you know how its 2 way? They were coming fast as shit going around cars and everything. Man, I just kept running man, I figured I just cross the street, get away from the building cause they can spot me easy, had my Cypress Hill shirt, bandana on the jeans, you know. Soon as I did that, I had to go into the trees, like a small forest kind of, you know what I’m talking about? right across the street from the stores? I figured I would cut across to the other side and go inside a 7-11 or something. But it was to dark, way way too dark in that mother. So I just got behind a tree and chilled out for a minute. That’s when I saw tall ass Jordan, oh my God that boy can run! He flew around a parked cop car with cops right there! Crossed the street coming my way right, and kept going on the sidewalk. He was headed for more cop cars I thought he was gonna get caught, but he didn’t he told me yesterday he ran all the way home, I don’t believe him though. But that’s it; I didn’t see anyone else- Johnny, Renato, Tareek, Smiley, gone. Stevey and Romeo, gone, they were the first to bounce. And then guess what? Soon as I catch my breath, no more than a minute and I hear dogs! Dogs! They had dogs, I could heard them barking, maybe 2 or 3 dogs right there, on my side of the road. They were maybe about 1 minute walking distance from me. Man, I was thinking for a minute that I was gonna get chewed out by this bastards man, I don’t think I been this scared before no bullshit. But you know what I did? I saw this in a movie right, dogs can’t smell you if you are by the water, and I heard there was a creek somewhere behind me so I walked slowly, slowly till I got to the water… next thing you know, I’m right in there in a ditch, laying down flat on the mud, for real. It was cold as hell, that’s when I thought about my hoddie, I know I dropped it somewhere by the apartments. Man, I waited like almost 2 hours, until I couldn’t hear the dogs no more, the cops were gone but there was one or two left. So I got up slowly, washed the mud out from my arms, my face too with the water, I put my shirt inside out, left the bandana, and I got back into the sidewalk and walked slowly right pass one of them police cars. I didn’t even look at them though, and I walked slowly cause if you start walking fast then they think something is up. I crossed to the 7-11 but just went home after that. Man, that was just this Friday.
And you know how it all happened, because of a stupid party man, check this out, Johnny knows Jesica, you know which Jesica I’m talking about? Right, she’s a senior, she’s Leslie’s friend, that Jesica. So she told him to come to this party where she lives, in the apartments. I was chilling out with Romeo at the playground, Renato, Stevey, Salo, Jose, Nick, they were rolling a J, skinny ass J, I had my Blue Bull so I was straight, you know I don’t smoke that shit then comes Johnny and Jordan to see if we wanna roll up to this party he said it was going to be a bunch for freaks so we said for sure, right. Then we met up with the other fools and started walking. Went to 7-11 real quick to get some brew but no one wanted to hook us up, so we just kept going to the party right. But as soon as we got to the building, these preppy boys started blocking, yes, saying if we knew whose party it was and everything. Right, that’s what I said, what the hell did he care? It was a tall preppie boy doing most the talking, his girl and his other homey just staring. We were all in the elevator ready to go up when he started asking 1000 questions, then the girl told us to leave, but she was being nice and all. Man, you know I’m cool, I was ready to bounce Smiley too but Johnny man, you know Johnny, he tells the boy to push the botton and stop asking questions. But he doesn’t push the stupid button, he says it’s the wrong party… can you believe this guy? Man, that’s when Johnny got closer and clocked the kid right on the chest, pow! Man! That boy fell to the side, the girl started screaming, oh, and the other boy turned pale man… funny as shit, never seen someone more scared in my life. So we leave the elevator right, and we are outside just figuring out if we gonna get a hold of Jesica or what, when we see about 7 boys run out of the building right after us, man. I was like, for real? You know I’m cool and all but guess they wanted beef. So everybody is bussy just talking shit, I had this other preppy boy in front of me in my face, everybody is yelling, I saw Stevey, Stevey was pulling this boy to the floor, then a neighbor comes out from his window, some old guy and says: ‘I’m calling the man’, and guess what Johnny says? Man, you know Johnny is gonna say something. He says; ‘man, you wanna get shoot?’ For real, I know he was just talking shit, but that’s why all those cops came out, cause they though we had a piece or something. No man, I don’t got one- my pops find it, then I’m in real trouble.

Baptism vs. The Mini-Skirt

First Point of View:

I attended a Baptism I was invited to this week but in reality went reluctantly- the parents were not best friends of mine, and I had suspicions to believe that I was invited mostly out of courtesy. So I showed up to the small church, suit, business shirt but no tie, as I wanted to look elegant to show respect, but did not feel that I needed to go the extra mile. As I said hello to the late comers, I begun to notice that not everyone shared the same enthusiasm for fashion as I did, but most of all, I noticed that some had a different vision of how one should approach a Baptism. I had gone to church, many times, and I can tell you that it is sometimes hard to focus on what the priest is saying: there are kids crying, I may not relate to the message, I could be busy criticizing the priest. However, skirts, in particular, extremely short mini-skirts, kind of distract you in a different manner. Now I am not thinking about the Baptism or even church at all, I am thinking… many other distracting things. It becomes a battle of will, focus, and of forehead muscle strength: how long can I look serious and stare straight at the short, displeasing looking priest while ignoring ‘tailored-fit’ mini-skirts….? A couple of this lady say hello, I, continue to be respectful and also greet them.

2nd person:

You reach for the closest suit you can put your hands, grab a shirt that matches, also nearby, and shut the closet door. You finish getting ready, take a deep breath and say to yourself ‘and, why am I going again?’ You drive the speed limit, there is no rush or penalty for being late, the objective is to show respect by being present since you were so ‘cordially’ invited. As you walk in, you greet the people that you recognize and are approached with smiles by some and indifference by others. As you attempt to focus on what the pries is saying in this very small church space, you notice that there are several late comers, additionally, you notice that some lack a standard sense of fashion, to say the least. You continue to look cool, you don’t make faces, you try to focus on the Baptism taking place. However, without warning, you see legs, moving fast, some moving slowly, all wrapped in a fashionable design called the mini-skirt. The battle is on, you try your best not to focus on this fashion statement, in fact, and you muster a certain amount of skill and discipline in order to keep looking straight at a displeasing looking priest, keeping your eyebrows semi-frowned, attempting to ignore ‘tailored-fit’ mini-skirts. You are started once again, as 2 of this ladies say hello. You are respectful, and say hello as well.

3rd person:

After some thought, he decides to pick the suit and shirt that is closest to his reach and shuts the closet door. He was dressing slower than usual since he was attending a Baptism which he really didn’t want to go to- he wasn’t good friends with the parents of the soon to be Baptized baby, but, he was invited to attend anyways. So his decision to wear that particular suit, shirt and avoid the tie revolved along the lines of attempting to be respectful, but not necessarily feeling that he had to go the extra mile. After finally getting ready, he takes a long sigh, and walks out of the door. As he enters the small church, he makes sure to be polite and say hello to everyone that he recognized, even if some of them did not necessarily jump up when they saw him. He was not concerned too much about that, his mission was to be respectful, not to have a good time or enjoy this in any way. As the late comers walked in, he began to see a pattern which alerted him a bit, some people did not share the same ‘fashion-values’ as he did, in fact somewhere really just terribly dressed. Attempting not to be distracted by this, he continues to listen to the priest. However, just as soon as he begins to intake the first 2 or 3 sentences from the mouth of the priest, he is totally caught off guard by a significant amount of ladies that just walked in. Without saying any words what so ever, other than a polite hello, they are saying: “watch out people, here comes my beautiful legs”. He attempts to ignore this fashion statement, to say the least, but he is distracted never the less. Summoning inner strength and courage, he takes a deep breath, and looks straight forward again at the displeasing looking priest. As he frowns a bit, attempting to focus on the Baptism and show respect, he is once again distracted as a couple of these ladies say hello to him. He recognized them and promptly says hi to them as well, respectfully so.

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My impression of how the tone of voice changes was that as I wrote in 2nd person, I found it very easy to be playful and wrote that paragraph very fast. When I wrote in 3rd person, I felt that I had to give more detail for some reason, and pay attention not only as to what the character was doing but also ‘why’ he was doing it. First person was also kind of easy since it was something that I was remembering. Nothing else really stands out as far as point of view at this moment.

Dancing with Juliet...and Romeo?

A believable character first of all, must have a believable ‘why’ and a ‘how’, and consistent actions, words and emotions to support the ‘who’. For instance, if a character is to fall in love with the enemy, the reader will believe in the character and his/her actions as long as the plot explains how and why this happens. We have all read Romeo or Juliet, or at least seen the movie (or heard about what it’s about, I hope), Juliet is a believable character because we understand the circumstances around her life, the how. We are led to understand how she falls in love with the enemy, and we ‘believe’ in the character, the how makes sense. At the end, we believe that she would take her life for Romeo, and when in fact she does, we believe it, its it consistent with the plot, and because we understand why. We believe in the characters as long as there is a convincing how and why, and the characters actions, words and feelings are supported by the plot.
From my perspective, readers believe in the plot out of faith. The plot in fiction can take place in a galaxy which doesn’t even exist, or in an underground Eden or anywhere, anytime. It can have circumstances which are illogical or out of the reach of reality. A reader picks up a book, is interested enough by the characters, the theme, something, then keeps on reading to gradually uncover the plot and begins to peel it like an onion. At that point, the reader will keep on reading as long as the plot moves along with the character, dances with him/her, and they move together through conflict and resolution, action and reaction. If, however, at some point, the plot and the characters become strangers, or if they are so different that they seem to be two different stories, then the plot may no longer be believable, or possibly, vice-versa.