outfield Alex Verdugo

36

Claudia
Twitter//
@claudiatihan: ya girl is off the cast now .... but on the brace now

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Its been a few weeks now. Alex and i had been in Arizona for his and my rehab. I have recovered GREAT , but they wanna make sure everything is 100%. It's been 2 months since my injury. Tomorrow alex goes back. Today we're going to the prison tour for victor. We talked to the main officers involved and i told them what was going on. They agreed on letting alex and i tag along. We're taking stuff for them , hygiene items and just stuff. Like books , notebooks , towels you know just stuff. Its 6am. Weve been driving for an hour. Well alex has. Its two hours away. We gotta be there at 7:30am. "Is he still asleep?" Alex asks. I look back and he's knocked tf out. "Yeah" i say.

"Vic" i say. "Victor" i say and shake him causing him to sit up straight. "What?" He asks. "Wake up" i say. "We're here" i say. We get to the gate and alex puts down his window. "How can i help you?" he asks Alex. "Hello , we have a tour today. We're guests" alex says. "Names?" He asks.  "Alex Verdugo , Claudia Tihan and Victor Tihan" alex says. "This will go on your center consol" he says giving us a paper then opens the doors then gives alex directions. "Are you nervous?" I ask vic. "No. I'm tired" he says and alex chuckles. Alex parks and we get off. We brought 6 boxes with 30k items meaning in total we're donating 180k items. "Hello goodmorning , Officer Pederson" he says. "Officer Garcia" the other says. "Officer Rivera" she says. "Claudia Tihan" i say and shake their hands. "Alex Verdugo" he says and shakes their hands.

"You must be Victor" officer garcia says. "Yea" victor says oh god. "Alrighty starting off with this great attitude" officer garcia says and vic chuckles. "Put your hands on the car" officer pederson says. "How old are you?" He asks. "16" vic says as he gets patt down. Alex and i take out the boxes and the officers take them. We start walking into the building. I put my phone along with Alex's and vic's inside my backpack and give it to officer rivera so she can keep them in her office. We get checked then they give us passes. My pass and Alex's is different from vics. They both say "Visitor" mine says Claudia Tihan and in the bottom it says "Los Angeles Dodgers". Alex says Alex Verdugo and in the bottom "Los Angeles Dodgers". Vic's says "STRAIGHT PROGRAM JUV" and his name Victor Tihan. We get an outter look first then get taken to the first level.

"The inmates are aware of you guys donating" officer rivera says as we get to the first "stop". I'm scared af. Alex and i have been holding hands. Vic is with other teens. Inmates come out and intimidate them. I'm more scared i feel like and were standing behind the door. We aren't even inside. We talk to other officers then they take out the teens and let us go inside as they take vic and the teens to another cell block , Alex and i no longer holding hands but still staying together. "She is Claudia Tihan , major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers" officer garcia says. "He is Alex Verdugo , major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers" he says.

We talk to the for a bit , they thank us then ask questions. "Do you feel more pressured to succeed ? more than the other girls?" He asks. "In a way yes , everyone expects every girl to give their best at every game but for me its they expect every game to be perfect" i say. Then others ask questions. "I just want to thank you , i think i speak for all of us here with daughters. Your part of the movement. You're putting out a good example for these young girls. My daughter comes and she love you , she talks to me about you everytime she comes. She's 11 , she got into baseball because of you. So thank you for being a positive example for this crazy new generation that really needs it" he says. "Thank you" i say and they ask us more questions.

"You. Victor. You're 16. What are you doing out here "gang banging" ? Your sister is the one who brought you here. Your 18 year old sister. You have a younger 5 year old sister and a brother on the way. You do know and understand its your job to watch and take care of the two young ones. How are you going to do that if your inside jail? How are you going to do that if you get killed by a random drive by or by an overdose?" An inmate asks. "Your sister 18 years old , working her ass off , working out of state. She expects you to take care of the family" another says. "She loves and cares about you. She wants to see you do better. She wants you out of this life. She doesn't want to see you continue going down this path" another inmate says.

"You need to get the help she's offering you. You need to listen to her dude. Trust me i know from experience. At first i had help from my whole family. I didn't listen and slowly i starting losing support. The only person i have is my sister. My older sister. To this day she's the only one who's been there for me. You need to do what she says" he says. We're in a room with 5 inmates , they're talking to victor. They finish talking to victor , tell him their stories. Then we go somewhere else and help give out the things we brought.

"Thank you" i tell each of the officers. We're about to leave. "Thank you for your donation we really appreciate it" she says. We talk for a bit then we go to Alex's car and we leave. We stop at a restaurant and we eat. Its 5pm. We eat and have small talk here and there. Then we get back in his car and get ready for the two hour drive. Music is the only thing you hear. Victor hasn't said anything since we left. "I'll be back" i tell alex as we get to my parents and he nods.  "Wait clau" vic says as im about to knock. "Yeah?" I ask. "I'm sorry. For everything , I've been nothing but selfish. I'm sorry" he says. "I just need you to stop doing these things. This life won't lead you to anything Vic. I know what your capable of, which is why i get more upset. I love and care about you i don't want to one day get a call saying you died" i say.

"I want you to stay in school , graduate and get yourself a career YOU want. Do something your passionate about" i add. "I know and i will. I'm sorry" he says hugging me and i hear him sniffle. "I love you Clau. Thank you" he says.  "I love you. I'll always be here for you" i say. So the day we snuck out at night we had a deep talk , he told me things and we got closer. We pull away and i open the door. "i brought back your child" i tell my parents who are in the living room watching tv.

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