San Marino

Friday February 12th 2010 10:15am

When I picked up Marisela to head to the office to meet Rueben, I was incredibly surprised to see her daughter Marirosa coming with us. I figured if the place that we were going was too dangerous for only Marisela and I to go without someone else, it would be too dangerous for a five year old girl also. Apparently not.

We got to the office, and Rueben was already there waiting for us. It was already 2:00, and we decided to stay and chat in the office for a couple of hours before heading out, which made me feel very uncomfortable. The later we stayed in the office, the closer it got to turning dark, and though 4:00 seems awfully early to be worried about the dark, I was very aware of who I was traveling with, and knew that nothing that we would be doing was going to be a quick simple journey.

The neighborhood is called San Marino and it is not very far away from the office. We were there by 4:30, and our shadows were already stretched out across the street. Although at the time, the area seemed really calm, I was very tense and was constantly looking around over my shoulder, and keeping one eye on Marirosa as she danced around the sidewalk. We bought the furniture and loaded it up without an incidents, but as we got back into the car, we heard some gunshots, and quickly buckled up and told Rueben to step on it.

As we neared the exit to the neighborhood, we saw a crowd of people. A crowd is never a good thing here. The people were parted just enough for me to catch a glimpse of a blue tarp with a person-shaped bulge protruding from the middle of it. The crowd gathered closer around the red ring around the edge of the tarp, and the blue and red disappeared from my sight. Luckily, Marirosa was in the back seat, and couldn't see anything.

We sped out onto the main road, and drove quickly to Marisela's apartment to drop off her couch. When we had finished, Rueben dropped me off at my apartment. I took some time to reflect on the day and say a few prayers before making some dinner and enjoying my cathardic Thursday night television. I laughed out loud during Parks and Recreation, the Office, and 30 Rock. I needed some good laughs.