Bully This

Alberto's Dilema Part 1

He was running out of options on how to walk to and from school.  It felt like there was a gang on every corner, by the school, by the mall even at the library.  While his parents were ecstatic about the neighborhood, Alberto didn't share the same sentiments his parents did, little did they know they had moved to a war zone.  Either you were Blood, Crip, Latin King or you rolled with them.  From the first day of school, Alberto stood out like a sore thumb.  He dressed different, spoke different, so he was treated different.  In the eight months since his family relocated to New York, Alberto managed to make two friends, June and Luis.  They shared a couple of classes together including lunch where they would sit together.  But they couldn't stop or intervene with the bullying, unless they wanted the same treatment.  Luis knew and was relieved that ever since Alberto came to the school, they left him alone and Alberto became the target.  It was open season on Alberto once he spurned the Latin Kings.  He was unaware that wearing a certain color was known as flagging and repping your set.  So when he was spotted with a red hoodie it was an open invitation for the Crips to harass and threaten him.  Unfortunately for Alberto he found out the wrong way, a beat down and a ripped sweatshirt. 

Luckily for him, his two buddies were teaching him the ropes, the ins and outs of the neighborhood.  His counselor had offered him protection but Alberto's pride wouldn't let him accept it.  So once his friends had exited the bus, he knew at any moment somebody was gonna try him.  He would get off a few stops before his so he could navigate new ways to make it home safe.  One afternoon he was walking home by himself when he was confronted by four guys with yellow bandanas covering their faces.  He recognized the voice talking to him, then made a crucial mistake, he looked him dead in the eye.  Before they rained on him they told him "who you looking at like that?" in turn they left his eyes black and blue. Thankfully it could be written off as a sports accidental. He would tell his parents false stories so it wouldn't alert them to what was really happening.  One night while showering Alberto felt so overwhelmed and hopeless that he cowered in a corner and cried until he couldn't cry no more.  How could he tell his parents?  Both of their careers were taking off and he didn't want them to lose that or be afraid for him. With the long hours they worked, he would avoid them or throw up a façade when they ate dinner or talked.  He painted a picture of a happy teenager but in reality he was scared stiff.  He would convince himself that it was normal, but he knew it wasn't.  He felt like a dead man walking. 

He would occasionally mention how the high school his cousin Willie attended received better reviews than the school he was currently in.  His mother would always remind him "Alberto pero Willie lives in the Bronx, a whole different borough hijo." He envied his cousin Willie, Willie was everything he wasn't.   Cool, popular with the ladies but most importantly he was accepted and never bullied.  When he visited and took a walk with him, he felt like he was walking with a celebrity.  Everyone knew and saluted him, the girls would fix their hair and always ask him when they were gonna hangout.  Alberto admired that with a passion.  Willie always offered him protection, but he would always down play his situation so Willie could back off.  "You know cuz Brooklyn and Bronx dudes don't get along but we family.  Give me the word cuz and I'll have the whole X out here."  Alberto knew he couldn't match his cousins swag, the aura in which he carried himself. Even if he imitated it he knew he wouldn't get the same results Willie could.

Monday mornings were the worse, a brand new week of pure hell.  He could already hear some of his tormentors from the corner store.  He wouldn't dare look out the window, they might notice him and start the bullying instantly.  Exiting out the back was just as bad, crews all over and with the projects a few blocks away the more the merrier.  His parents bought him a chain with a crucifix medallion that he would clutch and stare at every morning.  Alberto knew he would get robbed immediately once the chain was spotted, so he never wore it.  His father asked a few times why he doesn't wear it.  He told his father that the last time he wore it, it popped during gym period and he didn't feel safe placing it in his locker.  His father nodded in approval and told him he loved him.  After every lie he told Alberto would lower his head in shame.  He contemplated running away, but where would he go?  No money.  He could sell his chain and bracelet he received on Christmas, but he knew it wouldn't be enough, harsh reality always settled in. 

Several mornings he would be spared the harassment and humiliation by taking his mother's offer of dropping him off at school.  His mother couldn't detect that her son was a victim of bullying. Alberto masked his pain and would reply with a one sentence response.  She looks at him and says "so which one of these girls has the privilege of calling you big Al?!?"  They immediately stared at each other and loud laughter echoed in the car, it was moments like this that made him feel normal.  Loved and accepted, even if it was only by his mother.  He wanted to scream and shout, beg for help.  Then she interrupted, pulling him from his deep thoughts, "there goes your buddy Luis, he such a respectful young man Alberto."  "Yeah mom Louie is a genuine guy, a true friend."  If she only knew that besides June, Luis was his only friend.  He enjoyed those times, he felt safe.

Other times, which was most of the time, he braced himself as he stepped off the bus knowing any minute he would be the recipient of a verbal or physical attack. It didn't stop in class, if he wasn't being peppered by spit balls, it was sunflower seeds. One afternoon he was "accidentally" drenched by a vanilla milkshake. In class they would place things on his chair or simply remove it causing him to fall and become the butt of jokes that filled the classroom.  The girls were just as cruel as the guys, they would use and abuse if he didn't comply with their demands.  He would buy them lunch, do their homework or suffer a beatdown at the hands of their gang banging boyfriends.  Alberto knew the school had metal detectors so a weapon was out of the question.  Every time he contemplated bringing a weapon, he feared someone seeing him stash it, taking it and using it on him.  Every conclusion and scenario ended up with him being harmed and hurt. 

He put his name on the list for self defense classes but hasn't heard back from them, so for now he would avoid being a punching bag.  Two more years of ducking, dodging and avoiding every gang in the neighborhood.  School was supposed to be a safe haven, but for him the hallways were an apache line, outside of that was a war zone.   These gangs were ruthless, attacking students, one time a History teacher, they're  specialty was preying on individuals like him.  Coming out the gym one morning, guys were grabbing any and everybody, slapping them up and destroying their school bags all while screaming out "WorldStar!" which was a popular website, where people post videos for likes and views.  Usually kids would post videos of kids getting jumped and bullied.  Alberto knew one day he'd be the one in the video getting pummeled and berated while a group of guys would cheer and record it.