Thursday, May 02, 2024

Everyone Has A Story, Here's One of Mine

 
I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.

Thanksgiving 1985

In 1985 my uncle Jack's ex wife, Geishla, her husband moved to California from Germany. With them they brought their 2 sons and my uncle Jack's daughter, Vicki. They moved near where I lived at the time. My uncle Jack and his wife Wanda also lived near us so they were able to see his daughter Vicki too. I was excited because I got to meet my cousin Vicki and her family for the first time. She was 12 years old so just a couple of years younger than me at 15 years old. 

That year at Thanksgiving we were all invited over to Geishla and her husband Joe's house. So me, my mom, her boyfriend, Jose, uncle Jack, his wife Wanda were all over at Geishla and Joe's house visiting with the whole family. Geishla and Joe's other two sons were older than me and Joe Jr had a car so after Thanksgiving dinner, all the kids piled in the car and we went for a ride. When we got back a little while later we saw the police, ambulance and fire department at Vicki's house. 

We were not allowed to go in for a while but we found out that all the adults were drinking and there was a fight between my uncle Jack and my mom's boyfriend, Jose. Jose took a knife and stabbed my uncle Jack in the abdomen. He was a big guy and had a big belly which is what saved him from any real damage. He just needed to go to the ER and get stitches. Jose was arrested and when we went back inside after all the police, ambulance and fire department left, my mom and Wanda got into a fight and my mom ended up with a black eye. 

My little brother got really mad at Wanda and tried to punch her in the face but Vicki's step dad, Joe stopped him. That Thanksgiving was a complete shit show. I don't think my uncle Jack ended up pressing charges because Jose was out of jail soon after and nothing ever came of it. Everything was back to normal soon after and we were all hanging out again like it never happened. 

At that time I lived in Hawthorne, California. Which is really close to Compton, California. Geishla and Joe bought a house in Compton, California and they still live there today. If you know anything about that area then you know it was a hugely bad place to live even back then. Which is probably why the boyfriends my mom found there were so bad, the wife my uncle Jack found there was always ready to fight and there was always something bad happening near where Vicki lived. I went to Leuzinger High School which in in Lawndale, California. You think I live in a bad neighborhood now? This is nothing compared to where I used to live. Maybe that's why none of the things that happen here really bother me now.