I Remember

Taking Chances

Daddy moved to the country near my Tio Mario, and my sister found a guy friend neighbor whom she grew close to, soon she began to be sexual with him, she was looking for something normal, something that take her away from her hurtful reality, she was still looking for a father, looking for love and soon she was pregnant, daddy died shortly after that, she said it was this guy's baby, she wasn't coming home to Leo.
His mother moved her in and she was there with them for a couple of years. They couldn't get along, they were kids 15 and 16 years old, he started doing drugs, they fought like dogs, his mother put him out, he turned to the streets, went to jail and she started dating other people. The lady enrolled her back in school, she didn't stay there long, she never finished.
She stayed with her until the boy got out of jail, they tried to make it work but the boy was lost to the streets. He went back to jail, this time she started dating other guys so logically she had to move from there. The lady and Mirta shared the same name. Mrs Mirta never had any girls. Just two boys. She was in love with the grandbaby, she loved my sister too. She still and always would.
My sister moved in with my uncle Mario and his family, for a little while, he is a no nonsense type of dude, so he ran all the guys away with death threats. My uncle Mario is a fool.
She left from over there, she was back and forth from her mother-in-law house to uncle's house. More time passed she fell for this one guy she dated him for ever. His mother built him a room behind her house and they stayed there for a while. She was in love again. One thing we all knew was that she was going to do everything not to ever come back to Leo's house.
I never went back to San Pedro to see grandma, it was all a mess, so I hung around locally. I frequent my aunt Mirta's apartment, it was located in a neighborhood named "Villa Gabriela" I loved it there, it was on a hill and it was breezy up there, at nights the wind got wilder and cooler, they even had to close the balcony's door and all the Windows to keep the picture from falling. It was different, my grandma's house was a flat roof house and it was scorching hot there and a little cooler at night. Aunt Mirta's apartment was cool and breezy all day, I spent a weekend there it was the best sleep ever. Her daughter was beautiful slim with the most beautiful black wavy hair I've ever seen, and conceited, still is beautiful I don't know about the conceited part. I haven't heard from them in years, but seen a picture on a social network. Her son's were nice and spoiled. Polo was cool he is the eldest, always funny and extra nerdy. Luis was dramatic and always looking for a way to show off some skill, he wasn't very bright so the others will pick on him, he was a big cry baby. The baby boy was just that. Cute and small. Aunt Belkis will go over there often, every time I came over she would be there. Alonso would drive me there. Everybody loved him. When we broke up I was coming there alone. My aunt Belkis was dating a guy way younger than her. She always had a new boyfriend. I was told by my aunt and the boys that there was a beach trip the next weekend and they invited me to come along. I barely remember the beach part, I can only recall the bus part of it. The guy and my aunt had broken up, of course I didn't know anything about it because apparently they hid the fling, anyways he was cute and sat by me all the way there and back we kissed a couple of times but that's as far as it got. I was not over Alonso and he was obviously trying to make aunt mad. Aunt got mad alright..... but only at me. It was drama after that so I stop going there, I didn't wanted to make auntie uncomfortable at her sister's house. Everybody told me to not worry about it but I was. I didn't wanted to be the boyfriend snatcher. He knew better, he was older than me. That's how I lost touch with my dad's family.
I went to aunt Mercedes house once with daddy, she lived in the hood. The ghetto to be exact. She had 2 daughters and lived in a rental room. She lived in El Chorrillo closed to El Marañón. She was a hustler, she sold a little dope she wasn't educated, was a single mom and that's all she knew. She sold Chance' too. Chance' is clandestine lottery numbers. The lottery in Panama will play twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. Chance' started with number 00 to 99. One could buy as many numbers as you wanted.
Such as 100 1s 100 2s etc. So I can buy 10 number 12s one 09, 2 22s etc. The lottery played like 4 numbers on the first one, four on the second one and four on the third one, first row paid more money Like:
0987
1235
5678
They sold up to 100 of the same numbers. Unlike the lottery tickets with Chance' only paid for the last two numbers: 0927 you only win if u had #27. IF u buy 100 #27s you win big. The real lottery tickets had 4 numbers only. Clandestine lotto worked just like the Florida lottery.
Aunt Mercedes and a whole bunch of others sold clandestine lottery. It is against the law. They have a big underground ghetto corporations ran by big time lottery sharks. You could buy up to 1000s of any amount of numbers from 00 to 99 and sell them from your house and pay whatever out. Like a dope deal. You buy and flip. Or you could chance it and do it yourself cutting the big man. But you wasn't protected and will chance going to jail if ever busted. The big timers would pay the police to not bother their operations. Enough of Chance'. Moving on. She sold it. I even sold Chance' and everything that had to do with clandestine lottery but on a really small scale. Raffle just about anything. That paid for a lot of my outfits for Sunday's games and school supplies. I'm a hustlers is in my blood.
All other of my grandma's kids were young or older than her. The women only had a place to live. Aunt Mirta is a nurse, she was the only established one.