A Tear from the Past
Jonathan`s Story:
Hi, my name is Jonathan. I have 2 siblings, Joe and Lily. I`m 15, Joe is 8 and Lily is 6. One morning I woke up to the screaming of my mother. My father came in with her, and his hands around her neck. My brother and sister were crying, and my father said to stop. He started going after them, but I pushed him away. He let my mother go and then threw me to the ground and beat me up. Later, my mom had to get three more jobs. About a week after we were kicked out of the house. My father pointed to the cement and said, "Pick a spot."
Joe`s Story:
I was sitting on the park bench and my friend came running and he had a bag. He opened it and there was a gun. We marveled at it and then my friend started to say, "Man, you know one shot with this and it could…" He accidently shot himself. I sat there until the cops came. They thought I killed him, and took me to juvenile prison. I was 8. Prison is scary, no one is nice.
Nina`s Story:
My father was in prison. He had killed a man, and I had to tell them in court it was him. They asked me what I saw and I said, "I saw… I saw…" I took a deep breath and said, "Ponachio did it." I couldn`t believe it I ratted my dad out. The next day I walked out of my house and I heard someone say "HEY!" it was my dad`s gang. They chased me, three men, then, they threw me against the fence. One held me there, the other held my throat, and the other held a gun to my head. They said they would kill me if it happened again and walked off.