Just Scraps

★ chapter one ★

-Elias

It's March 23rd, just a regular Monday. But, today also marks the fifth anniversary of my Mother's death.

Marianna De Cruz.

She was a beautiful woman who loved and cared for everybody like they were her own children. She died back in 2013 from losing her battle to breast cancer. I remember the night of her death perfectly as if it happened this morning.

The winter air nipped at my fingertips as my siblings and I walked to the bus stop. We went to the hospital to visit her like we would do every Sunday and Thursday. When we entered her room, things were a bit off. Instead of her jumping up and down in joy like usual she laid in bed, not even lifting a finger to acknowledge our presence.

"M-Mama?" I slowly approached her bedside and knelt down. She didn't hear me, she was asleep.

"Let's go guys. Mama is exhausted, give her a kiss goodbye and let's go home." Mateo instructed, he gave her a kiss on the forehead and the rest of us followed.

None of us knew that she was dead at the time, except for Mateo. I assumed that she was asleep and that we'd see her again the very next day.

I was wrong.
That day would never come.

I miss her, I miss her so much. Our lives have changed drastically since her passing. We live in a shabby home downtown with no one to take care of us but ourselves.

I live with my siblings Izaac, Tomas, Mateo, Alexis, and Jazmíne. Mateo is the oldest out of the six of us, he tries his hardest to play the father role. My actual father, Kalvin Ruiz is currently in prison serving a life sentence for a series of charges:

Murder, theft, drug trafficking, and kidnapping. They dubbed him as "the Escobar of Camden." He reached headlines, he even made it on national news. In all honesty, that nickname wasn't just given to him. It was earned.

He's vicious, cruel, brutal, and an overall rotten person. Because of him and my three brothers, I am seen as nothing but trash. The last name Ruiz is cursed.

To everybody, I am not Elías. I am "the son of Kalvin", "that Ruiz boy", "a fuck up".

I'm sick and tired of being labeled, I am my own person! I am nothing like my father, he's a criminal and I am not.

No matter what I do, what I say...
I'll always be compared to him.

"Breakfast everyone, come on down! Eat up quickly, I want everyone out of this house ASAP! Just in case this house gets swept, we won't be here!" Mateo shouted.

He poured us a bowl of cereal and cleaned up the kitchen. He's only twenty-four but he's been our number one supporter from the beginning. Mateo's been more of a father than Kalvin will ever be. He's been trying his hardest to keep us on track, sadly he failed when it came to Izaac, Alexis, and Tomas. He helps us with our school work, buys us our supplies and most importantly, gives us all the love we need.

The others hate to admit but if it weren't for Mateo, we'd be stuck in Colombia scrubbing the ass of our great-grandmother.

"Jazmíne, your bus is outside! Hurry before it leaves, I'm not paying for your cab again."

"Already? Adios guys, catch ya on the flip side." Jazmine tossed her empty bowl into the sink and took off running. Jazmine, the youngest.

She's very bright for a ten-year-old. She's a spelling bee champ, a triathlete, and a science major. Sometimes I envy her, wishing I had her intelligence. She's a spitting image of our Mother, I get teary-eyed sometimes when I look at her.