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Call out to thewhiteangel213 and Valen Gonzalez for being my first reviewer this year.

And sorry for not update when I said I would. Something came up, so I didn't. If I don't update when I say it will be on that next Sunday night, Monday Morning, Thursday Night, or Friday morning.

                                               Life Worth 0

                                                        IX

IX (Sunday the 14th of July 1957. Ninth Ward, New Orleans, United States of America)

When people come to New Orleans, they always talk about the allure they feel. It is full of life energy. Its distinctive French architecture and French culture still stand equal after the Englishmen came and try to replace it with their idea and culture.

They talk about New Orleans's charm and of its unusual characteristics. Of its food, music, multicultural events, and the Mardi Gras festival held in the city.

But I wonder sometimes if they see or equally realize most of those multicultural events are funeral being held. And not just the New Orleans Second line parade, but people mourning in the most traditional way we can.

Trucking through the muddy water and pushing flowing objects out my way made me thankful that the flooding in the city has been going down a lot that I could walk through the streets.

When we got back into the city, the water was tall enough to reach my chin. Now it only comes up to my kneecaps.

Walking down Canal Street, seeing the ruination of the city that is usually called the Birthplace of Jazz, and will one day be called the Hollywood in the South. Make me understand why it was already being called The Northernmost Caribbean City.

Seeing a dead body hangs from those distinctive French architecture tangled up in the Mardi Gras beads of the last Mardi Gras. Make me wonder if that the allure they talk about.

The radio keeps going on about President Eisenhower sending people to help with the damages. And not allowing people to come back into New Orleans. Also, having a place for the citizens to go.

But I and my family have been back in New Orleans for a week, and we have seen nobody from the government here helping. The only citizens they have helped are people of Caucasian descent. Having taken them to the housing, the government has sat up for the places the hurricane hit that.

The only people that have been doing anything about the city are the citizens.

People of African, Japanese, Chinese, Native American, Creole, French, and Portuguese descent, are the people doing something about the city.

They are the ones moving lamp poles. The ones moving flipped over cars, sunken cars, and pieces of buildings out the way of the streets. For people, they come in and out of the city. For people to move around the city safely.

The church that usually pulled food banks every other Saturday is the people giving out food and clothing to the citizens. Not the Red Cross.

It the citizens clean outbuilding and make sure they are stable for people to live while the city is trying to give back on its feet.

Looking around again and see all the things the citizens have been doing to help each other out and the city makes me happy that I been born in New Orleans again.

Finally, making it to the area in the Seventh Ward where the Roma settlement is located. Make me want to shout in enjoyment for finally being here, smile in happiness at seeing the people, and cry in sadness for them.

Enjoy because the only way Ista have to allow me to come and see Andrei was for me to see how the city is doing. And that meant going to all the wards and checking on Louis's house.

Happiness because it seems like a lot of Roma people has been of surviving.

Sadness because I know it's going to be harder for them...for their community with all the damages the hurricane has brought upon them.

The Roma community neighborhood always looks like a run-down version of the French Quarter the few times I visit Andrei's house. But now the house that always, look like they were going to collapse on each other, actually collapsed. Make me think that that destruction was not as funny as I once thought.

There were only ten houses that were still standing. Those were the houses at the beginning that always look better than the other house. The farther you go down the neighborhood, you would see more and more collapse houses. The more run down your house was before the hurricane, the worse off your house was. I remember Andrei House was the most run-down house in the neighborhood made me realize he probably does not have a home anymore.

With that realization, I started running down the street, not paying mind to anybody else problems. I mess up piles of things; I bump into people running past, them, making them drop things, and just giving in the way.

But that did not stop me from trying to give to Andrei faster.

Giving closer to Andrei's house, I could see him outside moving pieces of his home into a barrel.

He must have seen me come because he put the pieces down and walk over to a woman who must be his mother. Because I own seen five people in the neighborhood with wild orchid color hair, and none was the woman he was talking to.

Slowly, before I crash into one of them, I was about to introduce myself to the gorgeous lady in front of me, but before I could Andrei grab my hand and start pulling me away from her.

*Andrei Pov*

Lying on the floor in the corner that was given to my family in the living room of the house-made to house all elderly of the community. Made me uncomfortable because of the bag Louise giving earlier that day.

Flashback

(Play Turning out by AJR)

"Why are you pulling me away," She said, yanking her hand out of my grip. Her doing that pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Louise, please," I said while turning around to look at her, but she must have seen something on my face because she put up her hand.

"Hey hey... Andrei, I'm... I'm here to give you this" She said while reaching for the backpack on her back then horsing it into my chess.

Grabbing onto the bag, I then opened it. I could not believe what was in the bag. It took her saying something for me to take my eyes off the bag.

"Yeah.. hey I will come back tomorrow to talk... alright so make time for me," She said then give me a tight hug.

"Meet at the park after five," I said in the hug.

"Oh okay, see you tomorrow," She said letting go of me and turning, waving goodbye.

Flashback end

Turning over and looking at the bag makes me feel guilty for not tell everybody in the neighborhood that Louise had gotten me more food. While the neighborhood is having problems, giving much food for the neighborhood.

But my family needs that food too, so I push down that guilt.