Big Bear|29 palms|Teenager in a skate team|Part 4

That night turned out to be one of the weirdest nights of my life.

After the kid got hit by his uncle and we being kids did not know how to deal with, we chose to do what most kids do and we ignored the situation.

When we got to the main cabin the uncle played our voicemails so that all the younger kids could listen to us and laugh , all the little kids had no idea that we were all dealing with a person that was a little off or maybe a lot .

The kid got sent out to a part of the cabin that we did not have access to...(really weird now that I think of it)

We were sent to out cabin were all the older teenagers would sleep.

And the uncle stood with the younger kids uphill at the main cabin.

An hour into our supposed to sleeping time the uncle came in ,we were all messing around trying our hardest to settle down because the long and crazy day that we had so far.

He told us that we were punished and because we were punished we had to give him all our blankets,pillows,jackets and stuff and that we were not allowed to have any comforts because of the trouble that we had been to him and that we should of never called him to come get us and that it was the only rule that he made for us and how could we not even follow that rule, he even took the phone.

We just wanted him out of the room so we agreed to his terms and he left. We had a rough night that night trying to keep warm in the middle of a mountain with only the mattresses to keep us warm....we built a fort made of the beds and laid in between them and tried our hardest to keep warm.

In the morning we were all angry and could not believe that we were made to survive in the cold like that.

So some of us, skated down the mountain to a store that we found and called our parents to come pick us up.

My parents came to get me and some of the other kids got rides back but there were still a few kids that were left behind that either did not want to call their parents or were not able to get their parents to come and give them a ride.

It was a really weird experience, we all just told our parents that we just did not want to be there anymore but I am pretty sure none of us gave our parents any details for fear that they would never let us out unsupervised again or at least thats why I did not tell my parents about it.

The skate team continued to form and I would see the truck full of kids heading out to the cabin every weekend and then one day they all came by to pick me up saying that the uncle bought a really big property in 29 palms and they were going to build a half pipe there for the skate team.

But I never went with them again, I knew things were not the way they were suppose to be with that kids uncle and made sure to keep my distance.

This survival skill kept me safe from alot of things in City Terrace and it is a tool that I still use in my everyday life to keep me well away from trouble.

If my gut says no then it Means "Hell NO!!" and stay away far, far away.

Always wondered who that guy really was and if he really was that kids uncle and I also wonder why this guy kept buying far away places to take all these kids to.

That's it , Thanks for reading...now to post some not so sour stuff if you know what I mean...


Evilchavo Out.

Big Bear|29 palms|Teenager in a skate team|Part 3

So the kid called his uncle and told him around where we were....

The kid was frightened, we could tell and this did not seem normal to me...the amount of fear that this kid was showing made it seemed like he knew that he should not of called and that by him calling he had just something terribly, terribly wrong.

We could hear the truck before we saw it and we knew that it was not driving at a safe speed we all ducked out of the way when the truck came around the bend to pick us up.

He told us all to get in the back of the truck and yelled at him to get in the front, when he tried to explain that he got lost he was told to shut up.

As we drove off, The uncle hit the kid straight across the face...hard....this guy was big, not fat just thick like a bear. We all scattered across the back trying to figure out what happened and why the kid got hit so hard.

We were all from the neighborhood and all knew about violence, we grew up in it..but it was different this time...something was wrong...we knew that this was not the fantastic journey that it had started out as.

To Be continued...

Evilchavo Out.

Big Bear|29 palms|Teenager in a skate team|Part 2

So , all the teenager got geared up and after listening to some Violent Femmes for inspiration, we headed down the paths to the center of town with the kid that knew his way around.

He was a teenager also so he was allowed to go with us , he took us down a path by a lake that we all skated down.

On our way down the path that is bordered with pine trees and air that smelled so clean and was so cold , we all realized that we in our cargo shorts and skate t-shirts were not properly dressed for Big Bear but did not care and our sense of adventure was the only thing on our mind.

We headed down the way to the center of town walking up to it and past all the weird houses with confederate flags and us flags flying high in the sky.

We felt like the only Mexican kids and did not feel weird about it , in fact we were glad that we were the only ones there that seemed Mexican and enjoyed what seemed like alot of attention.

As we walked into town with our skateboards in our arms the local police man drove by to say hello and we all said hello and laughed at the fact that he was so weird looking and weak compared to the bad ass La cops that we had to stare down on a daily basis.

We walked past all the tourists looking in the stores at stuff that we could not afford and wondering where the best spot to skate in this town would be and found basically nothing.

Nothing except for some other kids that were super excited that there were other kids in town their age that skated and they introduced us to the only two skate bettys (Chicks that dig skaters) the holy grail of girlfriends for us in those days.

We skated around for a while and then they all gave us a ride down to their house so we could party...was like 5 or 6 of us from City Terrace riding on the hood, trunk and crammed into this kids tiny little car.

We drank and had fun and I think one of the guys made good friend with one of the skate girls.....the kid got drunk and we did not know our way back to the cabin.

It was like 3 in the morning and we were all cold and tired and the buzz was fading and the kid with the car was gone and we had no idea where we were but did not want to go and wander around in town or the woods so we forced the kid to call his uncle, we called several times and left messages and he finally got a hold of his uncle.

We knew that this was something we were not suppose to do but did not see what the big deal was, The kid after talking his uncle sobered up real fast....He was scared , really scared..he turned really pale and told us his uncle was on his way.we did not know what he had been told but we assumed that he got yelled at and that his uncle would just come and pick us up.

He did, but that is not all that happened......To be continued

Evilchavo Out.

Big Bear|29 palms|Teenager in a skate team|Part 1

I was a pretty good skater in my teens and I always skated at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary school in City Terrace it was my skate spot.

It had fiberglass benches and stairs and tables that we could skate all day and was always the place we would meet at before heading out to look for skate spots.

One of the guys that lived in the hills came by with a kid , kinda shy that had never been there before and was learning how to ollie so was not very good yet.

But as always if you could keep up ,you could go on the long trips with the more experienced skaters.

This kid was o.k. and could keep up but did not want to go anywhere with us and would always meet us at the school and would always leave when who we thought was his dad would come by in a pick up truck to pick him up but he said it was his uncle.

This kid always had money though and would always buy us soda or chips or whatever we wanted....he never went to the store with us...he would just give us the money and we would go and get him whatever he wanted....Mercado Hidalgo was just down the street so it was no big deal.

One day (When I was not around) they all went to the house of the kid and talked to the uncle who I thought was the dad and he said that he would sponsor them and that day they formed a skate team.

I don't rememder the name of the skate team anymore it was only a short time that I was in that skate team due to our trip to Big Bear.

So one day all the guys came over and told me that we were all going to Big Bear and that we were going to sleep over and be over there for three days .

My mom never let me sleep over anyones house , she always would say ..."I don't care what time you come home but come home"

We all got together and talked to my mom and stepdad and after lots of promises to clean the yard and the house and the car I was allowed to go but only after they met the kids uncle.

The uncle came to our house and talked to my parents and they deemed him trustworthy after he told them he would keep a close eye on us and make sure that none of us got into any trouble.

I was so excited, I had only gone back and forth to Mexico and never anywhere out of Los Angeles for anything and thought that this was an awesome thing to do....we of course convinced ourselves that we were and awesome skate team and that we deserved to be going on tour to have a demo and that no one in Big Bear skated and that we would be bringing skateboarding to a new place.

We all loaded up the truck with skateboards and parts for the skateboard and backpacks with clothes and got picked up by this kids uncle.

He drove and the kid sat right next to him for all of the trip and a few of the other friends but the rest of us sat in the back anticipating the awesome things that we were about to experience in this mountain lake area most of us had never been to.

We got there and it was a big parcel of Land with a main house by the roadway and another down the hill of what looked like a forest.

We were all gathered at the main house and told that we were going to have a meeting and that the kids uncle needed to talk to all of us at once.

He told us the rules.....basically I stay here with all the young kids cause they need supervision and all the teenagers stay at the house down the hill and could do whatever they want...there was one rule for us teenagers and that was if you go into town...you can't call up for a ride and if you do everyone will be in really big trouble.

It did not make much sense to us but we did not care all we wanted to do was skate down to the center or town and have fun. So we agreed and went on our way.

To be continued....


Evilchavo Out.

Don Pablitos in City Terrace

Don Pablitos was located at the corner or City Terrace Drive and Carmelita.

Don Pablito the owner was a older man that wore a hard hat and a lab coat to tend to his store and always chatted up whomever came in to buy something.

Don Pablitos wife....scared me.

She looked like she would beat me up if I asked for the wrong thing.

I went to Don Pablitos since I was a little kid and thru little kid eyes she did not look like she liked kids.....(weird how we think when we are young)

They had so many things.

Don Pablitos was a corner store with a long walkway that had to large diplay windows down a narrow corridor that you walked thru to get the the door of the store and it contained..arcade games...a bunch display cased and shelves lots of shelves with a bunch of hidden treasures . The shelves were everywhere and extended all the way to the ceiling (or that is what I remember)

Don Pablitos had toys...from Mexico...Piñatas,candy,....all kinds of stuff.

I bought my little brother his first birthday present there...a wind up tin tricycle that I saved up for(see the City Terrace Label for the story) .

When you went into the store you were greeted by Don Pablito or his wife...they would ask you what you were looking for and in what price range and they would sort thru all their stuff and get it for you if they had it.

They even developed film...(probably sent it out) I was into taking pictures and would always be the one designated to go to Don Pablitos to get the film developed and pick it up when it was ready......

One day I forgot that I took the film in and about three weeks later my brother came running in the house to tell me that I had to go get the film from Don Pablitos...he was so upset and embarrased...

He said that Don Pablito posted one of our pictures on the display window of his shop and everyone could see that we did not pay for the pictures and that they were available for pick up.

I skated down the hill to Don Pablitos and looked at the picture that he had displayed and it was a picture of my cousins and my mom shaking hands with our relative that lived in TJ,.....My mom was sporting a I just woke up Fro and my aunts was also....it was a really funny picture....but not something I wanted displayed like a scarlet letter for everyone to see.

Don Pablitos is no longer there.....not sure what happened to Don Pablito and his wife...but his sons started BJ Brothers on Ford and Cesar Chavez street by the freeway(it is now called Party Planet) not sure if still owned by Don Pablitos family.

For those of you that have not been there it is a set of (What looks like) warehouses that are all on one huge lot and they sell party supplies....rent out brinca brincas and all kinds of other stuff...they even have a private investigator service in case you are looking for that long lost love.

Don pablitos was exactly like that but enclosed in a corner store that was about 40x10.

Funny how the things that you remember from your childhood are things that seemed so trivial , funny how all you want to do when you are young is get away to see new things and all you do when you get older is remember those little things that made that period of your life special.

Evilchavo Out.

Working hard for a living

I used to sell electronics door to door in City Terrace.

Pelon (One of my stepdads friends) came around one day and asked me for a ride to pick up some electronics.

I was bored at home and gave him a ride....I thought it will be a bunch of crap.

When we got to the shop I discovered that I was also going to be the translator...Pelon did not speak english and needed my assistance.

I talked to the guy at a tv repair shop and asked him what they had available....I found out they got their electronics cheap and just needed to sell them (Now I realize that they probably fell off a truck)

They asked me why the other guy was not there with Pelon and Pelon said the other guy did not know about him being there and that he was going to be using his own money and the other guys to make so money of his own.

We negotiated a price and I loaded up my Audi 5000 with a few boxes of electronics.

We got back to the house and I asked Pelon if he wanted me to help him sort out the stuff.

He asked me what certain things were for and I explained...since I was the one doing all the explaining I asked him if he wanted to leave the stuff at our house so I could find out what worked....what did not work and what we could sell...I told him I needed to see how much profit we could make from the stuff that he bought.

He left the stuff behind and the next day came over to see what pricing I had come up with.

I told him and he was shocked....he said that he and the other guy were selling the stuff for alot less....actually he said that the other guys was telling him that stuff was selling for less so that he could keep the unreported money.

I did my research and found out by visiting the electronic stores the day before that he has some pretty good stuff and that he was getting screwed by his partner.

He had Cd players, vacuums, dvd players....etc...etc...

So he asked me to help him sell the stuff....I was working at Thrifty on the weekends and did not mind having the extra money since my mom and stepdad were in Mexico.

I started knocking on the neighbors doors, talking to them about what I had and I made a few sales.....I made most sales because of my trustworthiness and knowledge of the product.

Sold a few vacuum cleaner and portable cd players and got tired of know so went back home to see what we had sold together....Pelon...sold nothing..I sold most of what I had.

We split the money....(I made more from a few hours of door knocking that from working 12 hours at Thrifty)....I learned some valuable lessons that day....

1) Always have a partner that is trustworthy if you have to have a partner

2) Never be afraid to ask for the sale

3) Learn as much as possible about the product that you are selling.


Needless to say , I quit my job at Thrifty scooping Ice Cream and started selling electronics door to door....We started making good money together...When we would buy our electronics I would do the research....teach Pelon about the product.. and go out to make some sales.

I started wearing my nice pants and shirt while selling and Pelon did too...we both worked hard....we started buying the electronics between both of us.

We made some pretty good money, but then my stepdad came back from Mexico and started taking Pelon with him to run "Errands"

Sold l the rest of my part of the stuff and retired from the selling electronics business.

Pelon would come around once in a while to get a ride of something but something was different about him now....he did not seem right...he smelled of alcohol and was not someone that I wanted to be around that often.

Then he finally CONnvinced me to take him on one last ride to to buy some electronics....we had the car filled up with vacuums and as I was making a right turn the axle on the Audi broke.

We called my stepdad , he came and picked up the vacuum cleaners and gave us both a ride home and that was the last time I did business with Pelon. He bought all the vacuums so he and my stepdad started selling them together and I got out of the electronic business for good.

Pelon was one of my stepdads many friends that would live with us from time to time, my stepdad is from the DF...all his friends had nicknames....

Pelon was nicknamed Pelon...but he was not a Pelon....he was missing and Eye and I think they called him Pelon from Childhood because his family made him keep his hair really short.

I will write about the different people that would come and stay with us from time to time....the little details that I can remember....Under the label boarders..

Evilchavo Out.

Rat Hunting in the Neighborhood|Bonding with the extended family

Before the divorce, My parents and my brother and I lived in a 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment above two single car garages.

It was a really old apartment, well really more like a room.

I think I was about 10 when this happened.

One day while getting some no brand cereal that we bought at Best Buy at Soto and Cesar Chavez.

I took the box out of the kitchen cabinet and all the cereal fell out the back.

We had Rats.

Shortly thereafter my mom saw one...HUGE

So when we told my dad , he and his brothers and my older cousins went rat hunting.

We got bats and sticks and told my mom to stay at our aunts while the men did the hunting.

What we would do is poke the bottom of the cabinets for rats and if none were found then we would move on to under the sofa or under the bed or under the clothes.

When we found one...we would all make it come out in the open and then we would all bash it to death.

Pretty cruel, but my dad and most of the cousins were Ranch folk so they did not have any issues with killing and animal especial if it was messing up clothes and food.

Funny how I remember this as one of the few bonding moments I had with my Dads family.

After that we started buying rat poison and I had the awesome duty of picking up the rats and throwing them in the trash can.

When our neighbor saw me doing this she said that if I picked up a rat for her she would give me a dollar....so I did it...everytime a rat was found the kids would come to me and I would pick up the rat...I never touched it....I would always use a plastic bag to pick it up.

I would collect my dollar and go down to the store and buy myself some Chee-tos :) ahh what great memories.

Evilchavo Out.

Moving out of City Terrace|Taking City Terrace with me wherever I go

I lived in City Terrace since I was a baby boy.
It was my neighborhood, I knew all the alleyways and shortcuts.
Where to get good food for cheap.
Where to skate when I was happy, Sad and angry.
I knew where to go when I had money and also when I had none.
Where to go with friends and where to go when by myself.
where to go to write and were to go to read.
I knew everything about the place. Everything.

Where to go and where not to go..How to be and how not to be.

I am much older now and you would think different, but I am still the same.

I am just farther away.

I miss the sense of community, the knowing that my neighbors would back me up....
The knowing that I would back them up also.

Reminds me of a story,

When I was a teenager....my neighbors were having fun with guns.

My neighbor happened to look and have the same name as me.

So the Cops came knocking on my door...looking for me.

They put my stepdad in handcuffs and drew their weapons while searching the home for me.

I was at "Phantom of the Opera" in downtown with my girlfriend.

Came home and my mom was freaking out and asked me if I had shot a gun.

I told her I did not have a gun and was at the opera.

Then she told me about what happened and that they needed to take me to the police station.

I had long bangs in the front with the rest of my head shaved and had blue and black streaks in my hair.

I entered the sheriffs station and my stepdad talked to the guy at the counter and he asked me to enter the door ....when I did he threw me up against the wall and tried to handcuff me (he could not get the 1 set of handcuffs so he had to use two) He freaked out when he realized that one was not going to work (It messed up his perfect handcuff manuever) the other cop at the counter realized what was going on (I guess they really can smell fear) so the other cop gave him another pair of cuffs and he was able to complete his awesome handcuff manuever.

I was just up against the wall telling them that I did Not shoot the gun and that they did not need to arrest me...I told them that I was at the "Phantom of the Opera" and I could show them the tickets and I had witnesses.

They told me to be quiet....Be quiet "Blue Streak" I then realized that I should not have blue hair going into jail....Just did not seem like a good idea for being in jail......I told them that I did not know who did the shooting (But I did) I was not a rat.

I had just turned 18 and knew that I would not go to Juvenile hall...so I was not happy about possibly going to Real jail as a youngster.

They kept on bringing in different detectives to "Talk" to me....they did good cop , bad cop.....we are just trying to keep you from going to jail....tell us who did it....my partner wants to just send you to jail...blah...blah...blah..."Bluestreak"

Do you know what happens to blue haired guys in real jail? blah..blah...blah.

My neighbors were not very friendly but they were my people....we all grew up together and even though we took different paths...I knew that I could of easily been them....I could of easily been shooting a gun in the sky to celebrate something.

So I gave the cops the tickets and they made a report....after hours of not getting anything out of me...they let me go.

I came home that night tired, angry, I keep thinking about the person that called the cops....

Next day while me and my brother were trimming the bushes in the front yard and picking up the leaves at our house....My neighbor (Who was making some carne asada) asked us if we wanted some....he hooked us up.

We were tired and dirty and our neighbors never hooked us up....never.

That day they thanked us for not turning in the person that really shot the gun....since that day....everytime they had a bbq we were hooked up....they always said "Hello" to us and showed us respect.

I know that shooting gun up in the air is dangerous, I know I could of turned in my neighbor...but what would of been gained...My neighbor thanked us without thanking us every single time we saw him after that.....

I learned alot in City Terrace...and I miss it everyday...even if City Terrace was not so good to me sometimes....

Evilchavo Out.

Buying my brother a wind up toy for his birthday

My brother and I have alot of similarities,but are completely different.

I remember when he was born, I was so happy to have some company.

I was seven when he was born.

When he got a little bit older ...maybe 2 or 3 I bought him a wind up toy from Don Pablitos on City Terrace Drive for one of his birthdays.

I saved up for my brother...I was about 9...I had never saved up for anything.

It was made of tin and was of a kid riding a tricycle.

I went to Don Pablitos with a bag full of coin and then after we counted it all, he showed me what my options were......Just the one wind up tricycle thing.


(Like the one above it has been a while so I don't remember exactly what it looked like, just the way it looked but none of the details)

It came in a colorful box! I wrapped it in Newspaper(Which is still how I prefer to wrap things,then I just draw all over the newspaper)

Then I got a string from my mom and wrapped it around the gift and gave it to my little brother.......he tore it open and just put it aside....I did not understand why he did not play with it......

My brother has never liked toys.....never....I have been obsessed with toys ever since I can remember...I still collect toys....

He was into Nintendo and Arcade Games.....but just for like a month

Never any cartoons (Which I love) or Transformers (Rock!) or GI Joe's (were way too expensive for me) , He did like the Power Rangers (but for like a week)......

We have such different brains, but we have one connection....we both were raised in the same place and know all the same people...even though he did not hang out with all my friends he knew them and I knew his friends.....he was my witness.....he lived most of these times with me....

When we got older.....Before I started working at a Movie Theatre I had a car and we would all pack into it to go to the Dodger Games or Eat(Jack in Crack) or Just go to the Mall (Montebello) or Movies( Commerce or Monterey park Mall)

They were good times,

Now we are both far apart, being grown up is keeping us apart.

They can't leave work to come see us and we can't leave work to see them.

Time to save for my brother again, and this time for something he actually wants.

Hard to believe that My brother is getting married , but he has always been the type of person to do what he wants when he wants.....no one can keep him down when he sets his mind to it.

I like to believe that Ihad a hand in raising him to be different than me, so that he could not face the same obstacles as me....but I think he did it all.......I just witnessed it.

Happy Birthday Brother.

Evilchavo Out.

Doing Laundry and another Superchiken adventure

When my mom and dad broke up.

I was told that I was going to be the one doing the laundry.

I would get all clothes for my mom and brother and me and load it all up on my board and roll it down to City Terrace drive to the Coinwash(Laundromat) pictured above.

The most I was ever involved in doing the laudry was going to get my mom detergent from the Mercado Hidalgo or Plaza Market.

I did not know how to do the laundry.

My mom told me to read the labels and wash it like the labels said.....she said white with whites and black with blacks...and don't put bleach on the blacks.

She did not say anything about the lights..so I put all the lightest lights with the darks and the lightest with the whites.

She did not tell me anything about how the cold setting is for the blacks and the hot for whites or anything like that...

So I figured I would play it safe and I put all the clothes on the warm setting.

Needless to say it was not a good first attempt.

Some clothes shrunk...some lights got bleached and some whites did not get washed the way they should of been washed.

I was told that I needed to try again, My mom said she had told me how to wash the clothes many times and she did (But I was too busy reading my skateboard magazines or skating outside to care about laundry or how to do it)

One day on my way to the Laundromat I had my board all loaded up and was rolling down the hill trying to keep it from going away from me....when my friend Superchicken rolled up and said that he would go with me to the laundromat.

I told him I could not skate , I had to do the laundry......He said ....let's go I will show you how to do it fast.

We got there and he got the big cart and separated the clothes into....black, white, lights and other.....

Then we loaded the washers and he taught me how the whites go with hot water and Bleach (I was not using it properly or at all before) I would use the bleach money to buy my cheetos and Orange Crush....

He told me how the blacks go with the cold water and no bleach....then the lights with the darks only if there was not enough cash to wash it seperately... and to use warm water when washing lights on their own .....

I was told that for the others I had to read the labels and see what those clothes needed....some said hand wash seperate....(We put those in bag to send back home) then some said dry clean only (Those went back home also) then on the others it was just a matter or sorting out where it should go in the washers that were already loaded.....some needed their own small washer and he showed me how to take care of those.

While loading it up he showed me how to flip over the clothes (so the jeans would not fade)

He laughed at some of my mom's chonies and mostly mine...but that was a small price to pay ....for what I was learning.

Then he laughed at some of the clothes that I washed on my own before and saw that one of my skateshirts was bleached and said he would show me how to make designs in it with bleach and he did at home by tying rubber bands into the shirt and washing it in bleach with the whites.

The laundromat was run by a older man that looked like he was in the military in the past...he reminded me alot of Chilindrinas dad...he was tall and skinny and always looked like he was mad....but the laundromat was next to these apartments that had a bad reputation so I figured he had to deal with alot of crap from the residents most of the time.

While washing the clothes Superchicken asked me for the fabric softener, I had never used it and told him I did not even know what it was for....I did not have any money for it but he told me how to use and that he would help me next time and to make sure I had my mom buy some , cause it made a difference in how the clothes turned out.

He taught me how to sort out the clothes in the dryer and how many dryer sheets to put in it....I had enough money for those.

When I did the laundry by myself I would just throw it all in the dryer (No fabric sheets) and just keep adding quarters until it all was dry.

Superchicken started sorting all the clothes in how it would dry fastest.....jeans in one dryer...lights in another and misc in another.

He started opening up the dryers in between quarters and started taking clothes out as it dried...and then he asked me for hangers and I did not have any(He told me that I needed to bring hangers).....he showed me how to fold the clothes and we put it all back in the trashbags.

Then he took one of the Laundry carts and started loading it....(We were not suppose take the laundry cart out cause they had these tall poles on them so that they could not be rolled out of the laudromat) But he showed me how to get it out and I did....loaded up the cart and rolled up Van Pelt to my home....I was happy we did the laundry in half the time and I had a pocket full of quarters left over from not using it all for the dryers.

On our next trip he showed me how to put in on the hangers instead of folding everything, It made everything alot easier.

My mom did not like Superchicken when we first became friends because she thought that he would be a bad influence....but she never complained about him after that...

It saved me alot of money the way he showed me to do the laundry and was alot faster.....

Evilchavo Out.

My cousins and a lesson they would never forget|Why you should never mess with the quiet kid

It started when I was very young...my cousins and uncles on my real dads side would mess with me because I was quiet and was no like any of them.

My mom was not my real dads wife, and those that were around (My cousins) made it their lifes work to harrass and mess with me...by telling me that my dad had another wife (A real wife) in Mexico and kids (Real Sons and Daughters)

One day when I was about nine, they made the decision to mess with me at our house...it was summer so I was home taking care of my little brother...when they started knocking on my door....trying to kick the door in, they made the decision to take the screen off the window......yelling and screaming at me that I was a "Bastard kid and that they were not my cousins" I was scared at first...but fed up with their bs...

I was nine and made the decision that I would not take it anymore...and that I would do whatever I had to do to protect my brother...I took a knife and started slashing at them thru the window closest to the door.....when I did this they all scattered like roaches when met by the light in the middle of the night.....

I did not think that they would run...I thought I would have to kill one of them.....I had heard this kind of talk from them from as young as I could remember and was not going to have them treat my brother the same way they treated me.

When they ran away they kept saying things...so I dropped the knife and ran after them and one of my cousins (The slowest one) tripped while running away from me , I pounced on him.....and started hitting him while I had him pinned down.....my cousins all gathered around and started telling to let him go...and I did but not until I saw the blood red coming out of his nose and mouth.....

My aunt came out and told them all to go in the house and when my mom got home they made sure to tell her all about me trying to get them with the knife and how I beat up one of my cousins.....My aunts (Of course) did not tell her about how their kids were harrassing me and harrassed me since I could remember.

My mom came home and asked me what happened (I never told her before this that they always told me that ...called me a bastard , I always kept it in) I told her and she was furious but proud of me for protecting my brother ....she did not talk to my aunt for a long time after that, and they all eventually moved away.

They never messed with me after that, and no one ever messed with my brother.

I know that if I would of hurt one of my cousins ...I would of ended up in Juvenile Hall but ....it would of been worth it because my brother did not need to go thru any of what I went thru as a kid....

Evilchavo Out.

My first ditching party| Cheetos and Colt 45 do not mix well.

When I was in at Belvedere Junior High School.

I was a really nerdy kid....I thought I would be a biologist when I grew up.

I was really good at math and science and felt that I would have no problem being a biologist....It was years and years of elementary that made me feel that I could be anything that I put my mind to.

I did not realize that reality is a whole different thing....I knew as I was on my way out of Junior High on my way To High School (Woodrow Wilson High School) that my dreams would not become a reality.

I knew that it would cost money and that my Mom would never be able to afford to pay for my education once I entered college...so I made the decision...No College...

No one in my family went past 1st or 2nd grade in Mexico, I knew that they stopped going to school because there was no money...and they had to work.

I had really good grades going into High School regardless of all the tardies and days that I missed in Junior High...I did not even go for the last quarter in Junior High school.

I entered Woodrow Wilson with really good grades...I , up to the 8th grade had never missed a day of school except for when I had an eye operation.

I met my friend Greg in Science class, I would help him whenever he had problems with our experiments or with the calculations needed for an exam.

I was trying to be good and stay in school, but one day my friend Greg asked me if I wanted to go to a ditching party....I said yes....we walked somewhere to El Sereno and picked up his friend Frank....We went to a liquor store and bought some colt 45's 40's cause they were on sale(it was so easy, my friends already knew where to go) and I bought a bag of cheetos.

We entered the ditching party and there was a punk band playing (in the middle of the day!)...I was nervous I had never been around this type of crowd before...I was a skater and that is who I hung out with...so I made a decision to down 2 36 oncers in a row after I ate a whole bag of cheetos....my friend and I did some shooters and I was having a great time....the band was playing.....people were forming a small pit in someones back yard.

Then all I remember is that the world started turning...I was in the pit....when all of a sudden people started looking at me funny....they kept asking me if I was sick and I told them I was fine...then all of a sudden......like in one of those movies.......I started projectile vomiting (I have not done that since that day) everyone got hit with Cheetos and Colt 45 and whatever else I drank before I went into that pit....

Everyone was looking at me.....My two friends picked me up and took me home....I don't remember how I made it home....I blanked out...I just remember holding onto my friends shoulders and they just kept telling me to keep walking...and I did....and we walked and walked and walked and I don't remember how I got home....last thing I remember is getting my docs off and going to sleep in my bed...I woke up the next day and my mom did not even notice that I came home drunk....

It was a very odd day....

After that I made a decision to keep ditching...was way too much fun...but no more cheetos and no more colt 45s or at least not combined...and not all at once....and never to let myself be in a situation I could not control. (Was lucky my friends were there to take me home that day)

Evilchavo Out.

Happy Halloween (sorry, I know I am a little early)

I Love Halloween.

In my youth there was something that I always looked forward to.

Halloween, It is magic.

Everyone dresses in costume and has fun.

In City Terrace, we would all gang up and go with our moms to the rich or perceived rich neighborhoods and trick or treat in hopes of getting big ticket items...like Snickers....M and M's or money.

Sometimes we would luck out and get Mcdonalds gift certificates....yum...free fries.

Everyone had a costume, and if they did not ....we would make one up....I was Dracula most of the time......but would change it up sometimes....I was a hobo once....I was Frankenstein....A pirate.....

We would always walk to Monterey park....and see what we could get there.

There were all these rich people that seemed to have alot of money because they always gave us so much.

It's funny how when you are young you see things so much differently that when you are older.

I wonder what they thought we they saw like 5 moms and 10-15 kids walking towards their house....I wonder if they freaked out and wondered if they had enough candy for all of us.

I carry the tradition and now in my older years have learned to prepare for lots of kids , just in case...I have learned that it is so much better to give than to receive.

And now I understand how good those people must of felt when giving all us kids all that candy.

The weather changes and it gets darker earlier, Here in Arizona the weather does not change much (but I can feel it in my bones) Halloween is coming.....woo hoo!

In the bay area....kids did not come trick or treating and that was kind of sad for me...I thought.....too bad all this candy and no one to give it to....

We have had some good showings since we moved to Arizona.....Last year we ran out of candy and had to run to the store to get some more....

This year, we will have plenty...now that we know what kinda traffic we are going to get.....

Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween!

Evilchavo Out

Have any good Halloween Stories?Giving out Candy or Other? Post if you got them.

My 1964 Lincoln Continental

My Lincoln Continental is called Rosie.

Not sure why.

Just is a good name.

She is a white 1964 Lincoln Continental with a 430 v8 engine with a 4 barrel carb. and a turbo automatic transmission. She has red leather seats and is all upholstered in red leather with chrome accents.

Rosie has power steering, power brakes, power 6 way front bench seat, power windows (even the vent windows are powered) power antenna . she runs like a dream.

When Rosie first came into my life she ran, but on my second drive after bringing her home (Overheated) got a whole new radiator, ran her again and would not start....rebuilt the carb....

Would not start after a few months ...due to ignition so I put a pertronics electronic ignition in her (Got rid of the points)

Moved to the bay area and you would not believe how much stuff you can cram into a car this big.

Transmission was having problems so it was rebuilt.....brakes messed up...so the whole set up was redone....new drums (Huge drums) lines and master cylinder were replaced....power steering blew out and had a new rebuilt power steering pump installed.

Ran like a dream but once I started daily driving the suspension started to give way, so got new shocks all around ...it's like driving on a cloud.

Drove it from the Bay area to Phoenix.....best roadtrip ever.

She has been good to me.

This is the backstory on my Rosie .

It all started with " El guero Yonkero" My stepdads friend.....He was the local " I can get anything for any price guy"

He would come around selling.....elotes......Sandias....peanuts....eggs.....cars....bicycles...etc....etc.....

Whatever he could get his hands on, When I was a teenager...he came to pick up my dad in a 77 Lincoln Continental......White.....with red Leather......

It was beautiful.

I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said " I could never afford that kind of car"

This guy that was a nobody....was talking down to me....telling me that I could never afford this car.......

He did not know what I had in me...or what I could do.....How dare he tell me that.....I was a teenager and full of anger...I had just lost tons of weight (see previous posts) got my first job and felt that no one could defeat me.

It took me a while, but I got her....actually a much better version of her.....not long after he told me that.....

When I was in the process of restoring her.....he was at one of the shops that I took her to get the radiator rebuilt at....and he asked me how much I wanted for her....

I told him " You can't afford this car"

He looked at me, laughed like he was thinking....can't believe you remember that....and walked away.

I have learned to never talk down to people cause you never know where you will see them again and how they will remember you.

Evilchavo Out.

Side Note on Parts for 1964 Lincoln Continental:

I found parts online for many of the repairs that I made.

Living in East Los Angeles had its benefits.

I could just go the the radiator shop....and they would rebuild the radiator or get me a new one from the back.....most of the times stock parts.

I got the complete original exhaust in el monte....

But since I moved away from East Los Angeles....most of my parts come from :

Lincoln Parts International in Perris California....they always delivered when they said they would and always stood by their products....They had a website that I would order from but it is no longer available.....

Lincoln Parts International 707 East 4th Street, Building G Perris, CA 925701

1-800-382-1656

I have not used Bakers....their info:
Bakers Auto - target="_blank">www.bakersauto.com 196 Providence Pike (Route 44 East)Putnam, CT 06260
(seems like they have good stuff)

There is also Lincoln Land

http://www.lincolnlandinc.com/
Parts/Service: 727-446-2193 Fax: 727-447-6179

(Never used them either)

But if their is one thing I have learned from this Lincoln is that you can't be picky with who you get your parts because they are hard to find and most of the time expensive.

And if you are looking for rims or a system....sorry can't help you there....my Rosie is stock...no need 4 extras......all the system I need is the sound of the 430 V8 with the dual exhaust and 4 barrel carb.......

Hope it helps....EvilChavo Out...Again.

City Terrace Library

I would ditch school to go to the library.

It was my Sanctuary.

I could learn about whatever I wanted and did not need to hear someone else lecture me about how they felt I should understand the subject that I was reading about.

I was a sponge and I would read and read and read.

I remember the first time I went to the library on my own, I was already a teenager and on my way to high school.

I had been there many times before with my mom or teachers at Kennedy but never on my own.

I went in and towards the back of the library on the Northside.

I found the first full book I ever read by myself .

It was the Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.

I remember it well because I stole it. (It was very hard for me to do that, read previous post on Stealing)

It was one of my most cherished treasures.

Reading is something that I love and when I started to get older I would pick out a book and read it in a few hours.....it was the perfect escape.

City Terrace Library was my sanctuary, It was a safe place...no one wanted to beat on me there and I was left completely alone.....it was beautiful.

Evilchavo Out.

Stealing from the liquor store or being taught a valuable lesson

( I will post my Social Distortion paper later in the day, but I was just thinking about my favorite candy.....Now and Laters)

I was at Robert F. Kennedy elementary school when I made the decision to steal.

I was in between dads at the time ,so super broke.

My mom was busy working hard to get us fed and clothed.

I was not about to ask her for money for candy....

To be more specific: Now and Laters.....Cherry Flavor

I went down to the liquor store to the east of St. Lucys church (Did you know that there used to be a movie theatre where the church is before?)

The Liquor store was the kind where you walk in the door and directly to the left is a counter where they have a case full of candy by the register, the counter ran all along the west wall.

There they were, rows and rows of different flavored now and laters...mixed in with other assorted candies.

I...very, very quietly .....reached for the candy......I did not see it coming....the man behind the counter yelled at the top of his lungs that I was "Stealing!", "Stealing!!"" I will call the police"

I was so scarred that I nearly pissed myself.....He held my arm...and said "I was a thief"

I kept saying " I am sorry" "Please don't call the police" " I will never do it again"

He just looked at his wife and asked her if she was calling and she said "No"

She said that " she knew my dad and that she would talk to him"

I Never stole again, (until the library, just 1 more time,tomorrows post)

I an grateful that it happened, I know now that I probably would of never seen the cops.

They never came to City Terrace.

I know now that they could of just ignored the situation, I was only 15 cents for the now and laters.

But they did not and they taught me a valuable lesson that I will never forget.

Everytime in my teenage years that I thought of stealing....I remember that man...calling me a thief at the top if his lungs.

The liquor store is no longer there...it looks like (Per google Street view) it has been replaced by a used appliances store ...

Evilchavo Out

Skating the City Terrace park pool

We were not pool skaters.

We had streets and curbs and ramps that we made.

So everywinter , we would skate the pool at City Terrace Park.

It was not all cool like in the skate videos or like in the movies.

We had to jump the fence , try and sweep up as much chlorine as possible.

But that pool was layered in Chlorine, so when skated the trail of chlorine would trail behind us, it was super toxic.

I was not very good in those days but felt that these type of opportunities were not always available.

So I would always try out my vert skills, but I was a street skater so it was just not that much fun for me.

The street skaters would always eventually get bored and go find stuff to skate at the park.

My friend that had just moved in to the neighborhood climbed the fence to the roof of the pool .

And we all started skating the roof.

This is what it looks like today.



It was so fast.(It runs from the park pool all the way down to the other side)

But the best and fastest spot is from the pool to just past the restrooms in the basketball court.

If you are ever in the area, and have your huevos on.

This is a fun place to sk8 (The pool was fun)

But the rooftops , fun ...fun...fun....

Watch out for the chota, cause they don't play.

Evilchavo sk8 the roof!

The Adventures of Super Chicken part 2

SuperChicken never let me do any drugs and rarely let me ditch school, he always stood up for me and never let anyone talk down to me or hurt me.

SuperChicken had a rough childhood , he sniffed spraypaint and never told me to participate.


SuperChicken would come to me when he was stressed out and I would always calm him down...


(He would never talk about what happened at home)


But I knew he never wanted to be there and when I was not around is when he would go see his old friends and sniff spraypaint.


One day I was in Mexico with my parents when he came around (Crying according to the neighbors) and that same day he tried to jump off a bridge.


I saw him when he went AWAL from the Institution they put him in after he healed from the fall.


He was gone, they had him so drugged up that he only seemed like half of the guy he used to be.


I saw him a few times after that and the last time (He just kept talking to himself) when I asked him who he was talking to he said that they didn't think I would understand.


On his last visit I gave him my Sk8board (He did not have one and I knew that was one of the only things that he still enjoyed doing and kept him away from trouble)


He got on the board skated away and he looked just like in the old days (Badass) .


It was towards the end of my days in City Terrace, I have no seen SuperChicken since.


I have asked old friends about him and the ones that are left don't even remember him.


Everyone else has moved away as have I , I hope he is good wherever he is, I hope he is sk8ing.

Evilchavo Sk8 or die

The Adventures of Super Chicken part 1

When I started skating, I was overweight, a very insecure kid.

I learned about confidence and how to carry myself not from my Dad (he was not around)

Or my Stepdad( He was not around at that time either,Until Later)

But from my friend Super Chicken (His Nickname, he had big pointy nose)

My Friend Super Chicken was a few years older than me and I remember seeing him down the street at the Mercado Hidalgo ( BreakDancing )

During the big break dancing craze alot of the neighborhood kids would turn into crews and breakdance.....my friend was one of them...they would lay their cardboard down in front of the Mercado Hidalgo and break dance against other crews.

When I started Sk8ing he was one of the first people that I saw sk8ing at the school.

After I thought myself how to sk8 I met him, he laughed at me cause of the skateboard that I had and called me a poser.

I did not even know what that meant but everyone started laughing at me...so I said " I am not a poser"

He said you skate like a poser...what is a poser? I said...then my mom called me in and I left.

I lived by the Elementary school (actually all you had to do was jump the fence to get to my house)

The next day he was on the street yelling out my name....I did not have any friends at the time so I was shocked that anyone was calling for me.

I came out and there he was , he asked if I wanted to skate and I said yes.

Then we went skating.....all the way to the Wedge (skatespot) by Montebello....7.3 mi – about 21 mins per google ( I had only sk8ted at the school by my house, street in front of my house and nothing else!)

I was overweight and not that good at skating, but my friend kept asking me if I was a poser when I would say "No" he would tell me to keep going.....when I wanted to quit he told me that I was a mommas boy and if I wanted he could call my mom.....so I kept skating.

When we finally made it there , I watched him skate cause there was no way that I could do anything at the ditch and then we went home on the bus.

Superchicken paid, I never had any money.....but the next weekend he came around again and off we went...but before we went...I was having an identify crisis....I felt Like a poser I did not have the right gear....so he said that he would tell me what to wear so that I did not look like such a poser.

He made me wear two different kinds of shoes, I wore them all day and felt so weird at the end of the day he told me that I should never worry about what other people think and to just wear what I wanted , He said to never let anyone tell me what to do.

SuperChicken taught me alot of lessons, how to talk to girls, how to fight, how to do laundry, how to cook churros,how to skate,how to make friends.

I will write more about all my adventures with SuperChicken and the lessons that he forced me to learn.

Evilchavo Out.

The Railroad tracks on the way to school

As I mentioned before ,I was a big fan of ditching.

There were these railroad tracks on my way to Wilson High that were really hard to cross for me for some reason.


I hated school, fun was more interesting for me at the time( But I wasn't always like that)


When I was younger I was a super nerdy kid, all the way until Junior High (Belvedere) I was in the chess club, the Algebra Club and wanted to be a Bio Chemist( In fact one of the only classes that I would attend in High School was Chemistry or anything to do with science and math)


My Grades from Junior High let me coast until the 11th grade.


Mom had to go to the school to talk to my teachers (She did not talk English!) and I imagine that this must of been really hard for her (I was a mean kid) she likes to tell this story :


When I went to school looking for my son, I had to go to all his classes to have them sign the attendance card and he was not there.


I went to his history class and his teacher said that he had no problems with me and my attendance (My mom was very happy, but I was nowhere to be found)


He pointed down at the bleachers and said that her son is always on time (He's right there)


Everyday he goes under those bleachers at the exact time(Right before my class starts) and when the bell rings...he hops the fence and leaves.


I liked to ditch, It was always an adventure(Had lots of adventures and met alot of really cool people)....I hated school.


Evilchavo out.