The Boy and the Aunt

The Boy and His Aunt

August 4, 2005. I'll never forget that day. That was the my Aunt died and from that day on, my life was more of a train wreck than it already was. For my whole life my aunt was my closest friend. I've never had a friend that wasn't outside my family. Almost all of the kids in L.A bullied me, beat me up, cut me, and even shot me with a paintball gun repeatedly in my leg over, and over.

I had lived with my Aunt for as long as I could remember. My parents weren't always around and when the were, they were always drunk and they would fight and argue for hours on end. My aunt was smarter, faster, and stronger than any other woman in L.A. She was also the most sweetest, most down to earth person that anyone could imagine. She worked for a small, friend owned, bakery.The bakery was located two, almost three blocks away from one of the largest schools in L.A, the school that I just happened to be enrolled in.

The day before our weekly activity wasn't the best school day. "How was school today?" She asked. I didn't respond. " What's wr-" She got cut off by the new trainee that they hired earlier in the week. "Is this your boy?!" The trainee said quite obnoxiously. My aunt gave him an evil stare and he said,"Bad time?" She nodded slightly." I'll... just be going then" The trainee said as he side-stepped away."Was it the older boys at school again?" I nodded "What did they do this time?" She said at almost a whisper."In the morning... the boys beat me up behind the school...again, and they took all of my money for breakfast and lunch and the lunch lady's wouldn't give me lunch." I could feel my eyes start to tear up. "That's horrible!" My aunt got up, ran to the kitchen, and came back with a sandwich in a little under a minute.

Only a few customers came in but the last customers voice caught my ear. I turned to look who it was to only see my nightmare standing in the doorway. I only got a quick glance but I wasn't going to take my chances. I quickly got on my hood to my hoodie and buried my face into the table."I'm going to go and help these customers. I'll be right back." said my aunt as she got up and went into the kitchen.

Someone ripped off my hoodie and a couple hairs from my head along with it. I looked the person in the eye in fear and they said," What are you doing in a place like this? Aren't you a little poor to be in a place like this?" this was indeed my nightmare "My aunt works here." I said a little quieter than anticipated."What was that? Cat caught your tongue," He said while he was chuckling,"how pathetic." I was about to knock his lights out"My aunt works here!" I said a lot louder."Don't get mouthy with me. Do you even know who my parents are? I'm going to tell you anyways if you've forgotten. My parents are Lucy and Harold Blu. You know... only the CEO's of BluNation, the largest company in L.A." he said as he checked the time on his platinum watch as if it bored him."Oh so exciting!" I said sarcastically under my breath. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and said,"You better watch your tone, little boy! I am not afraid to beat up a little kid." His cold remark made me lose my temper."I am not a little boy!" I yelled as he raised his fist.

Just when I had lost all hope, my aunt walked up to me and the bully right as she prevented him from punching me."What in the world do you think you are doing to my nephew?" He let go of me and put on a devilish smirk,"He had something on his shirt. Anyways, I'll see you at school tomorrow!" He said as he walked out the door with his parents."What an idiot... tomorrow is Saturday. Did he hurt you in any way?" My aunt asked caringly. I just shook my head side to side. "By the way, what are we doing tomorrow?" I asked "Tomorrow we are going hiking."

My aunt and I enjoyed going outside. We both love the great outdoors and what Mother Nature offers. Last week we went fishing. To me, the first three hours weren't all that fun,(because I didn't catch anything) that was until my aunt picked me up and threw me into the river. It seems that she could always make a boring time into a great time, almost like an angel.

Morning came. It was a nice, sunny day. Nearly perfect for our activity. It started out pretty normal for us. We ate breakfast, drove to the mountains and started up the trail. We hiked for hours. We talked about everything from the people at the bakery to the bullies at school. She always made me feel better just by talking. But as we sat and ate lunch on a cliff overlooking the city, my happy day turned into my worst nightmare. There I was eating my salad, enjoying the cool breeze and the sunshine when my Aunt suddenly smelled smoke. She looked over the side of the cliff and saw the fire burning below us.

"We need to go," she said in a rush. We packed up our trash and took off away from the fire. As we ran through the trees trying to get away from the fire behind us, my Aunt was trying to get the radio out of her backpack to try to call for help. Once she got it out she kept trying to call for help, but all she got was static. We couldn't get a signal. As we looked behind us, the fire was catching up to us.

We climbed up the mountain to try to see a way out of this mess, but as we got to the top we realized that the had fire surrounded us. "We are gonna have to try to run through it," she said. "We can't!" I screamed "We have to," she said in a whisper, "if we don't we will die."

My aunt took our water bottles and poured them on our heads. My Aunt quickly jammed our repels into the ground and we started climbing. As we started to climb down the mountain to run for our lives, I could feel the heat rise and I could hear the fire raging. I got down first and then continued to encourage my aunt to climb faster. The rope wasn't strong enough to her and was starting to fray. Then when she was about half way down the rope gave out and she fell. The last sound I heard from her was her scream and the crumpling sound her body made as it crashed into the rocks. She never moved. Just like that she was gone and I was alone with the fire creeping closer.

I knew I had to run or stay with her body and die too. So I ran. I ran as hard and as fast as I could until I saw the fire trucks. That's when I broke down and cried. One of the firemen asked if I was alone and I could only point to where my only friend, my Aunt's dead body laid.

A part of me died in that forest. And from that day on, my life was a train wreck.