Nicolas Santiago Chavez: A Short Story

Nico. They call me Nico. Well my full name is Nicolas Santiago Chavez. I live in Inglewood, California with my mama and papa. We are very family oriented for “la familia es amor.” Growing up in Inglewood, life hasn't always been facil. We live in a neighborhood known as Sunnyside Park, though it isn’t the sunniest place to live in. I didn’t have many friends growing up except for the kids on the cross country team. Also, I would play with the neighborhood kids, we called ourselves los chicos malos. We had been together since we were seven. Everyone knew who we were, we were like brothers. Growing up my papa always taught me two important lessons “never forget where you came from , when you make it big one day” and “Inglewood isn't the safest place so survive with instinct not heart.” On November 12, 2015 I made a heartfelt decision and it changed my life for the next two years. I have never been an open person, I am more reserved and shy, for when I was a nino, my peers used to pick on me. Growing up in a strict household, I held in the emotion and decided to use it as motivation. As I grew up, the members of los chicos malos always made sure I was taken care of, life in Sunnyside became more manageable with them on my side. The day of November 12th will
My family and I became distant as time passed. One afternoon, I decided to take a drive through the city and came across an ad for people dealing with depression. I thought about the impact it could have on my life. I was still determined to lose the title of ‘Sophia’s killer.’ It took me a couple of days of thinking, but I had finally decided to call the number. Some man answered the call, his name was Edward. Edward Churchill. Our first session was the following day. I would meet him at a different location every day at 2:00. Whether it was the park, a restaurant, or the zoo… Mr. Edward would always arrive on time and eager to fulfill me with positivity