Gangs And Pains

6 Tyler

"Okay, so I need to remember the formula of y2 minus y1 over x2 minus x1? And then if possible simplify the fraction?" I ask Melissa. She rakes her hands through her hair and groans.

"Yes! What part of that did you not understand?" she shouts.

I shrug. It's a half day at school due to parent teacher conferences and I had to come over to Melissa's house. Mom, dad, and Lizzy weren't home and mom's the one with the key. Melissa said her parents are never home so they wouldn't care.

"That is it, you my friend, are a hopeless case. What am I going to do with you? This is literally the easiest formula, it is at eight grade level!" She shouts. I laugh.

"Okay, on the next one i'll try harder."

"Yeah you do that. I'm ducking out for a smoke. Be right back." she says.

"Hey, where's the bathroom?" I ask before she leaves.

"Up stairs down the hall." she says. She grabs her cigarettes and lighter from her pocket before going out.

I go upstairs and see that I can either go left or right. I just go left, if i'm wrong i'll find out. I go all the way down the hall. I stop at a door that is painted grey and has three M's painted on it. I don't know if I should open it, but my curiosity is taking a toll on me so I decide to open it. The room is quite spacious. By the wall are bunks beds, a set of three mind you, and there are little pictures in each area. There are three dressers off to another side and a huge closet near the door. But above the door, is a large portrait. It's a bit beat up and torn but one can still make out the faces. The frame is of glossy brown wood and with little skulls carved in the corners.

There is a woman sitting in a chair with three kids at her feet, and with what I assume to be her husband standing behind her. Out of the three kids, the two little girls look identical, the boy looks a bit like them. The woman has long dark locks of hair and pale green eyes, her lips are a dark red color it could be mistaken for black, she is wearing a formal green dress with black embroidery. The man has light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He is in a neat black suit, white dress shirt, and a green tie. It isn't clear but I am sure that his hands are clasped behind his back.

The three kids at the woman's feet are smiling, they each have a few missing teeth, and bright expressions. They go in the order from left to right, one girl, the boy in the middle, the other girl next to him. The three of them have obsidian colored eyes and jet black hair. The boy is wearing a green dress shirt with a black bow tie and black dress pants and dress shoes. The girls are both wearing identical dresses. The top is like a t-shirt with a black lace collar, at the waist is a black bow tied at the back, the bottom is a flowy skirt with black lace lining the bottom. The only difference is that the one on the left is wearing it in red and the one on the right has it in green. Both have white tights and little black flats. They both have short hair that goes to their shoulders and have black headbands in their hair, keeping it out of their faces.

The little girl on the left stands out from the others, while the others wear green and black, she is wearing red and black. I don't know why but it just seems odd, like her the boy and the girl should be wearing red too, not green. I look at the plaque at the bottom of the portrait and read what it says.

Cruz Family

Lucas Cruz Inna Gonzalez

Melissa Cruz-Gonzalez         Melardo Cruz-Gonzalez      Melanie Cruz-Gonzalez

This is Melissa's family. I don't get it, she had siblings, why is she a only child now? What happened to them, and why do they look so much alike? What happened to her family? And why is Gonzalez a part of her last name? I know that Hispanics have long last names, but her's is just Cruz. Why did she leave out Gonzalez?