After the Storm, a Memorable Place

The night was young. And I’m outside roaming the dangerous streets In the Bay Area with my god sister waiting for some excitement to unveil, when my default bird chirping ringer goes off. A picture of a fair-skinned woman with nice long straight black hair along with the name Mom appears on my cell phone.

Before I could place the phone to my ear I could sense Irritation and my mood Instantly changed. Utterly confused and upset, my mother seeks clarity by asking “Did you leave the house last? “, and I said, “No”, but I could only imagine what was really going on.There were two possible outcomes either my mother’s ex-boyfriend was trespassing our apartment and had taken everything or worse someone burglarized our home. Disturbed from how my mother’s Indirect questions left me. I started to believe something happen at home, my excursion ended as I decided to drop off my god sister at her place.

I knew what was going on at my apartment didn’t seem right, I headed home furious to this not-so fun night. The thought of not being comfortable In my home was terrifying and nerve reckoning at the same time.

If something or omen done terrible acts targeted to our home, it would only make my house less of a home. Without safety and privacy, the house lacks a measurement of harmony, love, peace and serenity; it is not a place to call home. I drove my car so fast to get my god sister home, If you had seen me you would have thought I was a local teenager trying to get away from the police car. Where I’m from, Richmond, CA, everyone gets to experience firsthand and live high-speed chases for kids around my age and city officials such as county sheriffs and police officers.It doesn’t take a genius to notice our community by being plummeted by the residents and city officials who think they’re rebuilding our neighborhood. Sometimes I wish I lived in a different era of time when everything was suitable for all ages, free events for everyone no matter which block you grew up on. Back then you could literally hear guys talking on the corner with their friends enjoying the blazing weather during the summer, while the sun was setting and dinner particular ready to be served.

I wouldn’t mind even growing up in the late sass and early sass in Richmond, CA.Back then elder folks of the community noticed when you and your friends were misbehaving and acting inappropriate and spoke a few words to encourage children to make the right decisions. Instead of letting young adults make the wrong choices in the neighborhood the second time around, the neighbors would tell your parents or maybe just discipline you right there because they cared. Since then our community has changed and it wasn’t the village that could teach or raised a child to have respect and morals but how to get rich or die trying.The reckoned voice and words from my mother’s phone call stuck with me until I loud realize what had happened to my family and our valuables: this tragic event remotely had me feeling lost. I decided not to mind the demonic hoodlums who forced entry inside of what proposed being my home. The measure of safety and comfort present that was now gone.

It wasn’t fear that filled my heart but more Like troubles I would soon face starting a new home. Memories likes birthdays, holidays 1 OFF know many people in my age-bracket are violated homes and families, causing victims to move away.Disappointment overflowed my thoughts, shaking my head looking at the filthy sees left over from the thieves. I stepped around my bedroom everything seemed out-of-place, I looked at the empty desktop table to find no laptop, and bedding, and furniture destroyed by the intruder. In my state of outrage, being robbed my natural feelings as a human were to cry and I wasn’t alone. My Family and I were affected by this disastrous event. My mother suffered the most, a hard-working single parent: stood in the middle of the apartment with her face up towards the ceiling, on her knees, and out of luck when the police exited out of the apartment door.

The police as not in shock that this had happened and said fingerprinting would take more time than anyone would spend on the investigation. My family and I were cleaning up the aftermath of this catastrophic event and realized we were completely traumatized. Everything was puzzled but clear of what vividly I can recall was the storm. At the moment I felt hopeless thinking how we could recuperate. After feeling out of place in this grey building filled with some of our belongings, I swallowed my salty tears as the last of them to dropped from my cried out eyes, I grabbed my sister and my mother by the hand so can pray.Growing up in my family we believe in prayer because praying to our Lord in Savior brought a sense of tranquility. My family always prayed together because we believe God takes all his children by their hand and stands tall no matter what and never let them fall.

There is a saying that goes around the church and religious families that “A family that prays together says together throughout the struggle. ” My mother is religious of course and has belief that God had something better planned for us. This residency was soon to end and my mother set forth to end the housing lease.My mother ecocide it would be best if we left our home of nine years where the whirl wind hit it. Having a solid foundation like a place to live has kept my family strong and able to deal with unusually circumstances. Staying positive about my current living situation, I turn what most of my peers would have done, music. Good inspirational gospel and a taste of what I considered real hip-hop music from Outpace Shaker.

After all, Outpace, one the greatest hip-hop artist and a humble poet, had a similar background caught my attention. By experiencing hard-times, music became my creative outlet, so I’d listen to music, and read inspiring poems.One quote in particular always ran across my mind when feeling discouraged. “l know it seems hard sometimes, but remember one thing, through every dark night, there’s a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it gets, keep your chest out, keep your head up and handle it”, Outpace sought the struggles growing up without a father like myself and living in a trouble community. Home has the sensitive touch for the both us experiencing single parent families. It might sound as if I was going through a mid-life crisis but really changing homes affected me in ways I wouldn’t notice if thing happened differently.

By moving from Richmond to Oakland, from Oakland to finally settling at home in San Lorenz I found maturity within myself and clarity of home. I understand the difference between a house and a home. You can always replace the items in a house new home now has a measurement of safety, love, peace and serenity. While it appears that when a home lacks serenity there is no comfort for the one’s living there, for it is Just a place of shelter with misery. Although this unexpected invasion took place , the experience in rebuilding contentment in our new home was amazing like a baby’s first time breathing.