“You’re a dick.” says, Jack.

“I know.” agrees, Xavier.

“All this time goes by. all these years, and nothing.” says, Jack.

“I know.” agrees, Xavier.

“We were brothers, man. We were family. You were the only person in this fucking world that I could count on!” yells, Jack.

Xavier can’t look at him.

“I tried calling you. She tried calling you! Man, you hurt her so bad.” Jack says. He pauses. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Xavier looks up. Tears swimming in his eyes.

“Nothing happened, man. We’re just friends.” Jack says.

They stare at each other for a long time. Faces have changed many years over. Wrinkles and bags are where they weren’t before. Eyes have lost half of lives. Age has arived.

“Can we drink?” asks, Xavier, motioing to the bottle of whiskey.

Jack looks over. He looks around his apartment. He looks over his life.

“Sure…” he says.

Xavier picks up the bottle, takes a monster swig, and hands it over to, Jack.

“That feels special.” Xavier states, eyes reddening instantly. Jack takes his turn.

“Do you know why I’m here?” asks, Xavier.

“No.” says, Jack handing, Xavier the bottle.”Why the fuck are you here now?”

“I’ve never heard you cuss so much, brother.” Xavier smiles, loosening up. “Well, it’s because one story is done. And a new one is about to start.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that. One story is done. Another one is about to start. you know what I mean?”

Jack takes a deep breathe. Scans his apartment again. There are many things here he know he doesn’t need. All around him.

“Yeah. I think I do.”He takes the bottle from, Xavier. Walks to the kitchen. Throws the bottle in the trash.

“Time to start cleaning up. Time to start editing.” Xavier says, standing up.

“Alright, man.” Jack says. “There’s a parade outside. Wanna see what we can do to change peoples lives?”

“Yeah. I think we’re done here.” Xavier says. “Should we hug or hold hands or something?”

Jack snickers. “Shut up, you asshole. Let’s get out of here.”

They walk out the front door. Brand new world.

News Years Day. With her best friend. In her house. All by themsleves. All day long. Cuddling with the curtains drawn. Playing finger tag. Memorizing a million smiles. Inhaling each others breathing. Completely vulnerable and with pure trust. No other thing ever created by the universe was more beautiful. He knew she knew what love was truly. And he felt like the luckiest bastard on the face of earth because he was one of four people in the history of the world who would ever experience it.

Last night was blur. She was sad because she didn’t have a date for New Years Eve. She had recently broke up with her boyfriend for 5 years. They were supposed to go to her co-workers New Years Party, but since they broke up, she decided not to go. After all, they all worked together at the hospital. She was a nurse and he was a doctor. All the ER workers would be there. So she decided to stay home.

Out of habit she called, Xavier. Her best friend. The man who was always there forher no matter what. She knew he could make her feel better. So she called him. He was preparing to go to his theatre company’s New Years party. But when he got her phone call, he canceled and drove straight to her new place in Alhambra. She was right. He would always be there for her no matter what. That was most comforting for her to know.

He was cute. He was wearing a tuxedo, top hat, and carried a cane. With him he brought roses and a couple of bottles of wine to cheer her up. He also brought a few video tapes he rented from the video store for them to watch just in case, acording to him, his jokes wouldn’t work. He was the best friend she had ever had.

They talked, drank, talked, drank, talked, drank, and talked and drank. Before you know it, the countdown was happening. And something else. A closeness she had never felt with any other man before. A comfortable, trusting, open and honest kind of love she had never realized before. A shared, calm aura. He felt like home to her. And it felt perfect. So they kissed and went to bed together.

Now, here he was, in the kitchen, beaming brighter than five suns, the morning after his life has been affirmed, cooking fluffy scrambled eggs, just the way she liked them. He poured her some orange juice, half-way in a glass, just the way she liked it. He lightly toasted two slices of white bread, covered it with butter, just the way she liked it. He went into the backyard, picked the brightest red, closed-face rose he could find, went back into the kitchen and placed them all beautifully on a wooden breakfast tray.

He smiled. It was perfect. This was perfect. The world was perfect. His life was perfect.

As he made his way out of the kitchen on his way back to the bedrom to surprise, Anna Lisa Kristina, he passed the living room and coincidentally glanced at the coffee table. Sitting on it was a paper bag filled with envelopes. He was curious. He walked over to it, carefully placed the breakfast tray next to the bag and pulled out an envelope.

It was addressed to her mothers house with her name on it. It was from him when he still lived with his family. Back in 1997. He opened it and it read, “Dearest Anna Lisa Kristina…” The letter he wrote to her was about how, Long and, Corn, and himself were going to aply to community college to get a degree in something because stealing and gambling was getting them nowhere. It talked about how she had influenced him in such a way he wanted to live. He smiled.

He picked up another one. It was dated April 23, 1999. “Dearest Anna Lis Kristina…” This one was a happy birthday letter explaining how proud he was of her starting nursing school.

He picked up another. February 14, 1998. It was Valentines letter letting her know how much he will always love her and how it didn’t matter to him if she would ever feel the same way because that’s not what love was.

He picked up another. August 20, 2002. It was a letter about how hot the summer was.

October 22, 2001. It was a letter about how he went to New York to see grond zero.

March 12, 2001. It was about how he, if he had enough money, would take her to see New York.

December 25, 2003. He wrote about how he was going to go to his theatre company’s New Years Eve party and that he hoped she would have as much fun with her doctor boyfriend at their hospital’s New Years Eve party as he would getting drunk with the Artsy Fartsy’s.

The whole bag was filled with every letter he had ever written to her in the past ten years. He wrote to her nearly every day. That was a lot of letters.

He put the letters back in the bag. Grabbed the breakfast tray, smiled, and skipped his way back to bed where the love of his life was waiting.

The door was slightly ajar. He nudged it pen with his bare foot. Anna Lisa Kristina was sitting on the edge of the bed, back to him. She was twiddling her thumbs, meaning she was nervous. This wasn’t a good sign, he knew.

“Xavier,” she began with a cracked voice. “We need to talk.”

“Hey, man, what the fuck did you say i needed to roll, again?” asked, Long, chomping on potato chips.

“A natural 20.” replied, Jack. “Anything less, and you’re dead.”

“Well that sounds like some bullshit to me, man.” said, Long a little irritated. “That don’t seem fucking fair at all.”

“Dude. Let me explain the math and the mechanics behind what it is you want to do.” said, Jack determined to make, Long understand the level of difficulty. “You want to pick up a rock, throw it between the flame gorgon’s eyes, and then do a blackflip onto you hippogriff and fly away to safety.”

“Yeah. So?” Long said, picking the perfect potato chip.

“Oh my God…” Jack said, shaking his head. “You don’t get it…”

“Look man, this is some heroic movie kind of shit we’re doing here, right? This game is all about who’s gonna save the world and shit, right?” began, Long. “Well, fucking fuck, man, let us do some crazy fucking shit! Give us big ass explosions and shooting lava and unbelievable acts of hero shit! Let’s make this Mount Evil shit memorable! Let me be a hero, Jack! Ass!”

“I’m not saying you can’t be a hero, dude. Dude, I’m not saying you can’t do it. I’m saying you can because anything can happen. I agree, this is a game and there should be flash and excitement. Dude, but, all I’m saying is that what you, specifically, want to do, is pretty friggin’ difficult. So your die roll has to indicate that.” explained, Jack, calmly.Nothing was worse than having an angry, Long on his hands.

“Yeah but a natural 20?!?!?” Said, Long, unmoved. “That’s like…that’s like…” Long struggled to grasp the math.

“That’s like 1 out of 20.” Said, Xavier sarcastically. “Because it’s a 20 sided die.”

“I know!” snapped, Long. “1 out of 20. I know.”

“So what’s the percentage on that, Einstein?” asked, Xavier, smiling. “What chance do you have of pulling off this miracle?”

“Dude! Man!” Long said, exasperated. “Why you bitches ganging up on me?”

“We’re not ganging up on you.” said, Xavier, matter of fact. “I think, Jack just wants you to know that what you’re trying to do is fucking difficult as hell. He’s giving you a chance to rethink your action.”

“Yeah.” Jack, agreed.

“So if your genius ass knows that a natural 20 on a 20 sided die is 1 in 20, I’m asking if you know what percentage chance you have of pulling this off.” finished, Xavier.”Ya know. To make it easier on your head.”

“Man, fuck this. Fuck you guys.” Long said, standing up, getting ready to walk out of the garage. “I’m taking a fucking smoke fucking break. Fuck you guys! C’mon, Corn.”

“Why me?” asked, Corn, mid-chew of his cheese puff.

“Because you got the cigarettes!” yelled, Long.

“Fucking hell…” Corn stood up, and followed, Long outside of the garage.

Jack sighed. Shook his head. Things weren’t going according to plan. They were supposed to find the secret passage way that ran under Mount Evil and crawl through the dungeon that he painstakingly drew the previous night. They were supposed to meet the avatar of the good god, Barnabius, who would give them the crystal sword that would put an end to Villechez once and for all. Then the 20 sexy virgins, whom, Villechez had trapped as a sacrifice, would come rushing out of their prison cells and becoem their queens.

But, of course, Long had to take it in a different direction. He just had to follow the goblin scout up the mountain to the tower of low sorcery. He just had to try to make it explode, letting, Villechez know they were coming for him. Long just had to start the avalanche that would cover the entrance to the secret passage way and he just had to wake up the sleeping flame gorgon and start a fight with it.

What the fuck, Long. What the fuck, indeed.

“Well, that went well.” Sighed, Jack.”This is going good.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s just mad because he can’t count.” joked, Xavier.

“Ha.” laughed, Jack. “Hey, Xavier. Do you think this story is okay? Like, do you think Long and, Corn like it?”

Xavier grabbed, Long’s bag of potato chips. “Yeah, man. It’s fine. I like it.” He began eating. “I like how it’s ending. Good versus evil, the fate of the world hinges on our next move. It’s good, bro. Don’t worry.”

Jack forced a smile. He opened an accessory book and searched for more rules that might help, Long succeed in his roll.

“So where’s your mom? And her boyfriend, what’s his name?” asked, Xavier.

Jack looked up, caught off guard. “Uh…they’re gambling near San Diego. They do that all the time. I think that’s her job, ha.”

“That’s cool. Professional gambler. And you get the house all to yourself.”

“Yeah, most of the time. But even when they’re here, they just stay in their room. I don’t see them much really.”

“You got a good life there, brother. My family is always home. ALWAYS! My two sisters, my mother, my father, my grandmother, my uncle and his wife and their kid. It’s a packed house. I can’t stand being there. I don’t even have my own room.”

“I don’t know, dude. It get’s kind of lonely around here. It gets cold. No one to talk to. Shoot, sometimes I end up talking to myself. Just to hear some sort of human voice.”

“I’d trade with you in a heartbeat.”

“I would, too.”

They looked at each other. Best friends they were. For some reason or another. Somehow they knew they needed each other.

“Say, Jack. Can I borrow twenty dollars?” Asked, Xavier.

“Sure. What for?” Jack asked, pulling out his wallet.

“I wanna take, Anna Lisa Kristina to the movies.”

“Like on a date?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“What do you mean kind of?”

“Like I’m not going to call it a date. I’m going to call it ‘hanging out.’”

“‘Hanging out?’”

“Yeah. So she won’t feel weird.”

“But don’t you like her?”

“I love her. I’ve loved her the moment I saw her.”

“So why won’tyou take her out on a real date?”

“Because that would make her feel weird.”

“Why? Doesn’t she like you back?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not in that way. But I know she loves me.”

“Like a friend?”

“Kind of. Dude, it’s weird. Can I just get the twenty?”

“Sure.” And Jack gives, Xavier the money.

“Thanks, man.” Said, Xavier. “I’ll pay you back next week. After me, Long, and the fellas go to Northridge.”

“What’re you guys gonna do?”

“We’re going to the arcade.”

“What game?”

“Street Warrior III. Those motherfuckers won’t know what hit them.”

“Sounds fun. Good luck.”

Long and, Corn walk back into the garage.

“Alright, man. Let’s do this!” said, Long, pumped up. “I’m gonna do this fucking thang!”

“You sure?” double-checked, Jack. “It’s pretty difficult.”

“I don’t give a fuck!” Yelled, Long. “Let’s do this shit, motherfuckers!”

Long picked up his blue 20-sided die. Looked it dead in it’s eyes. If it had eyes. Whispered, ‘Don’t let me down motherfucker.’ Blew on it for good luck. And threw it on the table.

Slow motion. Eyes got wider. Bodies leaned closer. The die slowed to a stop. And landed on 1.

The world died.

He had the same attitude while he entered high school.

10th grade Honors English, taught by Mrs. Castle, a nice, older, Jewish lady who was a huge fan of William Shakespeare, most likely due to her failed career as a theatre actress. One of her first assignments was to have the entire class pair up and perform a scene from the tragedy, MacBeth, although she never allowed the class to ever utter the word “MacBeth” in class, urging them to refer to it as “The Scottish Play”, another reference to her days as a stage actress.

Xavier didn’t know any of the other kids. In fact, he didn’t like them very much. With their weird colored hats and their brightly colored pants and their strange way of talking. Barely a ten minutes drive from each other, Pacoima and North Hollywood were completely different worlds. And that was probably why, Xavier didn’t like it much. It wasn’t his world.

“Hey, dude.” said this mousy voice. “Do you have a partner?”

Xavier looked up. This skinny Asian kid, with bifocals, buck teeth, and bags under his eyes stood in front of him. He smiled dorkily at him. Then, Xavier looked around the room. Al the hot chicks already had partners and all that was left was people like this kid standing in front of him.

“No.” said, Xavier. “Do you?”

“No. That’s why I’m asking you, dude.” said the kid, still smiling. “Wanna be partners?”

Xavier sighed. “Sure.”

“Cool, dude.” And the kid sat next to, Xavier. “What’s your name?”

“Xavier. What’s yours?”

“Jack.”

“Nice meeting you, Jack.”

“Nice to meet you, too, dude.”

And they had been best friends ever since. Well, that is until, Anna Lisa Krstina.

10…

9…

8…

He closed his eyes, scared to death that the same thing would happen this New Years Eve.

7…

6…

The screaming and yelling increased outside of his window. He pulled the covers over his head hoping it would make some sort of difference.

5…

4…

Cars screeched and crashed into each other. More screaming and yelling. Brawling could be heard.

3…

2…

And then came the gunshots. 81 rounds.

1…

Quickly, police sirens rang in 1988.

“Xavier…” whispered a male voice through the darkness of his room. “Xavier. Crawl over here. Crawl to the door.”

Xavier literally rolled out of bed, and crawled slowly towards his bedroom door. More gunshots were fired. Loud, crackling voices were heard through bullhorns. He could hear scuffling coming towards his house.

“Hurry!” urged the male voice.

Xavier finally made it to his fathers arms. Quickly, they ran through the hallway and into the bathroom that was positioned at the farthest end of the house. There, his mother and his two sisters huddled together, crying.

“Wait here.” said his father. He left the bathroom.

“Where’s Daddy going, Mommy?” asked, Xavier’s little sister. She was only 7 years old. These kinds of nights were nothing new to her. Almost familiar and unfortunately expected.

“He’s going to make sure we’re going to be okay.” Xavier reassured her. “He’s going to protect us.”

Just then more gunfire. And more. And more.

“Make it stop!” screamed, Xavier’s older sister. She was 17 years old. She didn’t go to the same school, Xavier did. She was bused to North Hollywood for high school. She hated Pacoima. She wanted to get as far away from it as she possibly could. And five days a week she did. During school days, she would stay with her aunt and uncle who lived in North Hollywood. But on weekends and holidays, she came home, much to her disliking. No wonder she did so well in school. She never wanted to leave. “I hate this place!”

More gunfire. And more. And more.

“Stop it!” Demanded their mother. “Don’t scare your sister!”

And then the gun fire stopped. It became eerily quiet.

The family huddled there for fifteen minutes, not moving, fearing that this was just a pause in a battle raging on outside.

Then the lights flickered on. There stood their father, holding a revolver. “It’s okay. The police have everything under control.”

He picked up the little girl. The mother held on to the older sister. And they all left the bathroom. Xavier stayed there, standing, breathing hard, and blinking back tears.

He wasn’t bused out of Pacoima. He didn’t want to. He wanted to stay there and live there because the friends he grew up with all lived there and went to school there. Since he was the age of his little sister, 7 years old, he’s known them. He didn’t ever want to leave them alone.

But as they all grew older, it was soon realized how Pacoima was made up. Blacks on one side, Latinos on another, and in, Xavier’s case, one house in the whole city for the Pilipinos. He didn’t have those friends anymore. They changed clothes and hairstyles and walks and the way they talked. Xavier didn’t fit in anywhere. And because of that, he got it bad from all sides.

But that didn’t matter to him. He made his choice and he was going to live with it. There was nothing he could do about it anyway. He just had to take his lumps. He was just worried that he had to take them for the rest of his life.

“Xavier.” said his father, walking back into the bathroom. “Pack your clothes. We’re moving.”

Xavier closed his eyes. And sighed.

10…

9…

They held hands. A man and a woman.

8…

The house was hers. He was her best friend.

7…

6…

They hugged.

5…

4…

Many nights spent together. Just as friends.

3…

They pulled away only to be locked in by each others eyes.

2…

1…

And then they kissed. For ten minutes. No tongue. Just a thousand soft, gentle, pecks. In between every line they introduced to each other. Synchronized breathing.

“Happy New Year, Dumb.” She said.

“Happy New Year, Kris.” He said.

And then they kissed a thousand more times. 2004 was gonna be an interesting year.

“Wassup, brother!” said, Xavier loudly. “We got ourselves a game!”

“Ooooooh Yeeeaaaaahhhh!!!” Said, Jack, excitedly. “Where’s, Corn.”

“He got his jacket caught in the door. He’s trying to get himself unstuck.” Said, Xavier, confidently walking into, Jack’s mom’s house. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

At the far end of the living room, sittign in front of a computer screen was a purple-haired, purple-acrylic nailed, girl. On the couch reading a Charles Dickens short story was a brown-haired,chubby cheeked, glasses-wearing, little lady. And in front of the mantle, looking at himself in the mirror, was the tall, brawny, big-shouldered, mountain of a dude, Long.

“I’ve really like what you’ve done with the place, Jack. You’ve got some cute ladies here.” Xavier said, sitting on the couch, next to the girl with glasses.

“Shut up, Dumb.” She smiled, poking him with her foot.

Xavier pulled the books out of his pants, much to the disgust of, Anna Lisa Kristina, and tossed them at, Jack. “Corn had the other seven.” He leaned into, Anna Lisa Kristina’s reading space and kissed her on the cheek.

“You should stop smoking. It tastes like metal.” Anna Lisa Kristina said, turning the page.

“I’ll never quit. It makes me look too cool.” Xavier said, winking.

“Fucking shit, motherfuckers! You got all ten books?” Long said, flexing his jaw muscles. “You fuckers are fucking crazy fucks!”

“Do you ever say anything besides versions of the word ‘fuck’?” asked, Anna Lisa Kristina sarcastically.

“What?” asked, Long, dumbly. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“Nevermind.” said, Anna Lisa Kristina shaking her head.

Mai turned her head almost 360 degrees. Looked at, Xavier. Crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out. “Hi ex-boyfriend.” And then turned her attention back to the computer screen.

He said, “Hi, ex-girlfriend.” and smiled.

Jack looked around. He had to smile to himself. With his mom in the hospital, this was the closest he had to a regular family. His entire life he’d never had one. And so what if this rag-tag group of throw backs was the best he could do. He knew, deep in his heart, that they would be with him no matter what, for the rest of his life, no matter what, no matter what. This was his family. For better or worse.

Just then a crash was heard. a car crash. Or more accurately, a car crashing into a neighbors house.

“Holy shit!” Screamed, Xavier, jumping off the couch and running outside.

Mai asked, “When did, Corn learn to drive?”

“Hold up! I’ll be right there!” Jack says, barely opening his eyes.

The knocking gets louder.

“Fuck…” Jack says, stumbling off the couch and creaking his way to the door. “Who is it?” Puts his hand on the door knob and turns it open.

Standing there is a face he hadn’t seen in a long time. Wearing a suit. Black coat, black tie, tennis shoes. Large, refelctive sunglasses covering half of his face.

“Why the surprised look, bro? Don’t you got a smile for your best friend?” smiles the good-looking man.

Jack hadn’t spoken to, Xavier in two years.

“What’re you doing here?” Jack asks dryly.

“It’s a new year. I wanted to celebrate with my best friend.” Xavier says, practically pushing his way into the one bed-room apartment. “Jeesus! It smells like shit in here! You take a whiskey bath or something?”

“No. I was writing.” Jack says, fruitlessly preventing, Xavier’s entrance.

“Oh yeah. I heard about that. You writing and all. Are you any good? Hmmph. I wonder.” Xavier plops down on the couch, crosses his legs, and turns on the TV. “Wanna watch the Rose Parade? Or the Twilight Zone Marathon?”

Jack stands there. He just woke up. A memory comes storming into his apartment without any warning, without an explanation, without any apology. He wasn’t the type to get angry. But it was too early to be polite.

“Fuck, Xavier!” belts, Jack. “What the fuck are you doing here?!?”

“I said I’m here to celebrate the new year with my best friend.” Xavier says, nonchalanlty. “Rose Parade or Twilight Zone?”

“You know what the fuck I mean, asshole!” screams, Jack, grabbing the empty whiskey bottle like a weapon. Why are you here? Why are you in my apartment? What the fuck are you doing here?”

Xavier turns off the TV set. stands up. He’s a lot taller than, Jack. A whole four inches. Xavier has always had a stronger presence. He eclipses the hung-over, Jack without even trying. He takes off the sunglasses and looks directly into, Jack’s furious, blood-shot eyes.

“I’m sorry. For everything.” Xavier says. Tears start to swell. His lips start to tremble. His arms start to shake. “I’m real, real, sorry…” He starts to quietly cry.

The silver strip security system wasn’t in place at the Panorama Mall. At the Northridge Mall and the Glendale Galleria and the Sherman Oaks Plaza, these two were almost caught because of that sneaky, small, silver strip. Luckily, Xavier’s quick thinking and, Corn’s deft hands got them out before the mall cops got to them. After a while, however, the silver strip didn’t matter anymore. They figured out how to beat it by finding out the silver strip existed. But for what they needed, the Panorama Mall, the Dalton Books Store was perfect.

They needed all ten expansion accessory books for the 2nd edition D&D role-playing game. Each one of the accessory books was a soft cover, 200 pager, roughly 9″ x 11″ in size. Xavier could get 3 of them, but it was up to, Corn to get the rest. This meant they had to do individual swipes, tagging in and out, navigating the aisles, and utilizing the simple, call signs. They needed to be on top of their game if they were going to accomplish the title of, ‘Greatest Thieves The World Has Ever Known.’

The system was simple. Xavier would walk in first, make sure the employees knew he was there. He would puposefully make his presensce known so, Corn could slip by unnoticed. Xavier would make eye contact, salute, and walk towards the back of the store where the books waited. While the store employees kept on eye on him, Corn would pick the books he’d take on his first swipe towards the corner aisle of the store. Xavier would pretend to read a book at the mouth of that aisle, doubling as a lookout. Once, Corn was done with his swipe, would leave and make his way to the front of the store. Xavier would enter the aisle that, Corn left, and handle the books, Corn couldn’t get to. Corn would then make his way back to the aisle, this time standing at the mouth of the aisle, his turn as lookout. If an employee or a customer was headed their direction, whoever was playing lookout would drop the book he was pretending to read. That was the signal to abort mission. Run another day.

This day, this run, however, worked perfectly. So perfectly in fact, it gave, Corn and Xavier enoughconfidence to make runs at the Glendale Galleria and the Northridge Mall the following weeks. By the end of the year, they had every book ever published for D&D. All free.

Corn was handling seven accessory books. Xavier was reading at the mouth of the aisle. Corn was watching, Xavier’s bodylanguage. No one was around. Corn stacked 3 of the 7 boks together and slipped them in between his pants and his butt. Corn looked at, Xavier, who didn’t move. Good, he thought to himself. No one. He took the remaing 4 books and slipped them in between his pants and his stomach. Xavier was amazed. He could never figure out how, Corn could take so many books without easily showing book bulges. He was a small guy, too, but looking at him, there was no indication of bulge whatsoever.

Corn made his way to the front of the store, thereby grabbing the attention of the employees to him. Xavier walked into the aisle. picked up the remaing 3 accessory books. Waited for, Corn to stand at the edge of the aisle. When, Corn did, 30 seconds later, Xavier placed one book in the back of his pants and two in the front. It took him one second. Once everythings was secure, he walked out of the aisle, out of the store, out of the mall and into the parking lot and patiently waited for, Corn to arrive 2 minutes later.

“Nice!” said, Xavier, pulling out of the parking lot and on Roscoe Blvd. “We got all of them!”

“Yup!” said, Corn excitedly. “We got ‘em all!”

They high fived. Back to, Jack’s mom’s house to meet up with everyone else.

“Hey, Xavier. I got some extras, too!” said, Corn happily.

“Really? How the fuck? Where the hell did you put them?” asked, Xavier.

Corn smiled his usual crooked teeth smile. His right hand dug into his left hand’s longsleeve and pulled out two 4″ x 6″ soft cover books and then his left hand grabbed one from his right’s sleeve. He gave them to, Xavier to peruse.

“It’s the Trilogy of Dragon Saints! The new book series!” Xavier exclaimed.

“Yup.” Corn said brightly.

“You, my friend, are the best at what you do!” Xavier said, handign the books back to him. “We made a killing today!”

Corn smiled. He was happy. He was significant.

In 1797 Franciscan friars established The San Fernando Mission in order to educate and baptize the Native-American tribes who had been inhabiting the valley for at least 6000 years. In order to control the ever-expanding stake they had in ‘The New Word’, Spain made ‘citizens’ out of the natives. The natives would either become working, Spanish-speaking, tax-paying ‘citizens’ of the Empire of Spain, King Philip V, and Christianity or they would die. The San Fernando Mission was very, very successful in converting the indegenous people. Indeed.

1846 to 1848 the Mexican-American war was waged. After 21 years, 1810 to 1821, the idealistic peasantry  of Mexican born Spaniards, Mestizos, Zambos, and Amerindians, fought and won for Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821. They retained Alta California, Nuevo Mexico, and Texas. Soon after, however, the Texans became unhappy with their treatment received by the newly formed Mexican government and, thus, revolted in 1836, gaining it’s independence from Mexico. This new Republic of Texas was short-lived, as well, as they were offered admission into the Union by US president, John Tyler 1845. As a result, Mexico broke diplomatic relations with the United States, and one year after Texas’ admission, the Mexican-American war began.

America’s decision to go to war with Mexico was a highly controversial decision for it’s citizens and many of it’s high ranking officials, mainly because of the pending Civil War. Political parties within the United States used the Mexican-American War as leverage to benefit their constituents stand on the issue of slavery. Free states and slave states alike cited Manifest Destiny, ethics, codes of conduct, property value, economics, as reasons to enter or not into the Mexican-American War. It was never truly about freedom or human rights.

Mexico was not innocent in this war, however. It’s presidency changed four times, war ministry six times, and the finance ministry sixteen times attempting backroom deals with the United States government. Many of the soldiers were simple and  humble villagers conscripted specifically for the war. Treated, armed, fed, and trained poorly, these men had no reason to fight for the Mexican government which had given them so little. Dissertion was very high among the Mexican forces.

Mexico lost. Big bully beat small bully. The United States gained Nevada, Utah, California, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming. Some Mexican families moved to what would be present day Mexico, but a large majority of them were allowed to remain in the newly named, California Republic mixing with the pioneers of the eventual Gold Rush and all the types of characters that came with it.

For over 50 years, the San Fernando Valley was a quiet, rural, area. Farmers, leftovers of the Gold Rush, many Mexican, Mestizo, and Native-American called the Valley home. In 1915, with the controversial construction of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles Aqueduct, the San Fernando Valley was annexed into the city of Los Angeles, doubling the size of the city, the citizenry, and the tax money. Over the following 50 years, the San Fernando Valley became a much more comfortable living space, and as a result, many influential communities moved in, particularly the Jewsih community.

During the 70′s to 80′s, the population of the Valley saw a large increase in Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, and Armenians immigrants, each ethnicity carving it’s own piece out of the San Fernando Valley pie. Many of the non-Hispanic whites moved to the hills north of Ventura Boulevard due to the increase in poverty and lowering of property value. Today, poverty rates in the communities south of Ventura Boulevard have drawn a distinct line easily indicating the dichotomy of the residents of the San Fernando Valley.

In this essay, I will prove with detailed accuracy, what has contributed to the current pathetic state of  the Valley and what we, it’s citizens, need to do in order to save it.

Read the essay…

“That’s just the beginning.” Said, Jack. “What do you guys think?”

“What the fuck is this for again?” asked, Long. He was rolling a joint.

“For Mr. Grundy’s class.” answered, Jack. “Humanities 110.”

“Humanities! What an omelette!” sang, Mai. She was figuring out how the computer worked.”Hey, do you guys know how this works?”

“Not a clue.” said, Anna Lisa Kristina. “Jack, it sounds okay. There are a couple of things you can leave out.”

“Oh? Like what?” Asked, Jack, almost defensively.

“Like your personal opinions. The writing is supposed to be empirical, not opinion.” responded, Anna Lisa Kristina. “You’re almost there, though. Good first draft.”

Jack sighed. It was his fifteenth draft. He was at the Panorama library for 7 hours reading and researching everything he could about the San Fernando Valley. And that was just this day.This paper was hard.

A writer he was not. He was more of a mathematician. The flexibility of words didn’t give him enough stability. Numbers however, they were solid. They were concrete. He could hold on to them. Too bad he wasn’t allowed to do math problems for Humanities.

“Say, Mai.” Said, Long, sparking up the joint. “You write poetry, right. Why don’t you help this motherfucker out?”

“Oh! Look at this!” yelped, Mai. “I can talk to people over this thing!”

“You can what?” asked, Long hitting the shit out of the joint. “Talk to people?”

“Yes sir! I can type and then they type back and it’s like we’re having a conversation but with different colored letters. And there’s more than one person here. Kind of like a room full of strangers talking.” Mai leaned into the monitor.

“What the fuck? That shit’s crazy!” said, Long. “Wanna hit this anyone?”

“No thanks.” said, Anna Lisa Kristina. “Hey, do any of you guys know when, Xavier is coming back?”

“He said him and, Corn were going to the mall.” Said, Jack. “They needed to get some books.”

“Get some books, huh.” Anna Lisa Kristina rolled her eyes disapprovingly.

“Well, it’s not like they have any money.” said, Jack. “And they need the practice.”

“Practice for what?” snapped, Anna Lisa Kristina. “They’re never going to become the world’s greatest thieves! I swear, you guys watch way too many cartoon!”

“Anime! They’re called, Anime!” jumped, Long. “Don’t go dissin’ the Japanese people, Anna Lisa Kristina. They work hard to give us quality entertainment! Hahahahaha!”

“You ever heard of a book, Long?” asked, Anna Lisa Kristina, folding her arms.

“Eeeeeew! Gross!!!” screamed, Mai. “That’s gross, gross, gross, gross!”

“What happened?” asked, Jack, running to the computer screen. He read what was written. “What a sick pervert!”

“I know, right!” said, Mai.

“You can write shit like that on the web? No one’s going to stop you?” asked, Jack surprised.

“I guess so.” said, Mai, typing her response. “This is so cool!”

Jack looked at her, befuddled. She was a strange one.

“Why don’t you have, Xavier look at your paper when he gets back?” said, Anna Lisa Kristina. “doesn’t he do that for money?”

“Yeah. But I don’t want to pay him.” responded, Jack.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make him do it for free.” Anna Lisa Kristina said, smiling.

Jack frowned. “I was at the library for 7 hours…it took me 7 hours…”

“Xavier can do it in two.” Anna Lisa Kristina said. “You know him.”

“I know.” Jack replied. And then he sighed.

“Hey, Jack.” began, Mai. “I bet one day you’ll be able to do all that research on this internet thing. you’ll never have to crack open another book ever again! It’ll all be right there! At your fingertips! I bet you all you’ll ever have to do is use this mouse thing-a-ma-bobber. you won’t even have to type anymore either! Woo hoo!!!”

“Fuck that.” Said, Long. “That would be one fucked up crazy ass backwards world, Mai.”

“Yeah. But can you imagine?” Mai’s eyes saw into the future. “Where you could shop, order food, watch TV, watch movies, play video games with millions of other people across the world, all on this computer! That would be sooooooo sexy!”

“That would be fucking freaky, girl.” said, Long. “That would be fucking a trip and a half.”

Then came the knock at the door.