Gerardo Interiano

Period 4
Mr. Colon
11/16/2017
Beautiful Brown Eyes.
Nothing was the same in El Salvador, you were on your own now. People would see you

and try to attack you in order to get something from you. I have nobody else than myself and I

was the only one left in my family. Everyone lost someone due to the earthquake. It was dark

everywhere due to the ashes of the buildings. There were a lot of hopeless people anywhere you

can imagine. There was a huge destruction in my little town. You would imagine everybody

helping each other, but that was not the case.

Hi my name is Dylan and I live in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador. If you live here you’ll

know how hard life is here: everyday people assaulting, killing and kidnapping innocent people;

that’s just the way it is… Anyway I’m not gonna talk about criminology. Let me introduce

myself first. I live in Quezaltepeque, La Libertad, El Salvador, one of the most dangerous places

to live. I’m 17 years old and my family is not the most perfect one but I still love them. I’m at the

stage of my life where I suffer depression, anxiety and many other disorders secretly.

It was my birthday and my family couldn’t afford a present for me like every other year

since my 7th birthday, I couldn’t understand at that time and I used to cry but now is just fine. I

am 17 now and I needed to get a job desperately because I live in extreme poverty. I didn’t really

like to go to school because everyone bullied me. I didn’t have any friends here in town and my

only two friends were living outside of my town. My mom works 12 hours a day 6 days a week

but is not enough for our basic necessities. My brother died when I was 16 because he was a

gangster and after that I suffered depression because I saw how two guys murdered him with no
mercy. My grandma stays at home with me and she is the only one who I think understands me

better than anyone else.

“Ay, mijito cuantas veces te he dicho que estudies para que seas alguien en la vida, you already

know how hard your mom works in an industry where they don’t even appreciate her job” My

grandma said.

“Abuelita, es que usted no sabe qué bruto soy y eso del estudio no se me da” I replied

“Excuses, I know how hard studying is but let me tell you something, Do you really think you’re

gonna be young forever? Do you really want to work 12 hours everyday for $120 a week?, no

mijo piensalo bien” she said.

I was crying at this time because I know that my grandma was right but I was so stupid

because I use drugs and sometimes I didn’t care about my family. My whole family fell apart

when my brother died. I need him so much right now. I wish he was here because he got the right

words to say, also, I wish he was here because I didn’t hug him or say I love you too often. I

miss seeing him smile with his wide smile and his brown eyes, it just makes me want to smile. I

couldn’t hold it anymore and I walked to some kind of river. I love the relaxing splash of the

water and the amazing smell of the place, it reminds me of home in some kind of way.

The next morning, my mom was working like every other day and she wasn’t coming

until 6:00 pm so I decided to visit my friend Karla and my friend Osvaldo in San Salvador City.

It wasn’t really that far but it took 32 minutes on the freeway. I call an Uber. It was very hot

outside, I don’t know how people in this town can survive with this temperature. I was in Karla’s

neighborhood by 10:05 am. I felt like everyone was staring at me but I didn’t really care so I

walked towards Karla’s house and knocked on the door.

“ Buenos Dias, Dona Marta” I said

“Buenos Días mijo, donde has estado” Doña Marta replied.

“ I moved to Quezaltepeque” I replied.

“ Ohhh ya veo, bueno pasa dentro, Karla está en su cuarto” Doña Marta said.

“Con permiso y muchas gracias” I replied.

I was walking towards Karla’s room and I saw a picture from the three of us, Osvaldo

was smiling, I noticed his hands were full of watercolor paint, Karla was holding her hair and

making a funny face and I, I looked like a complete idiot nerd kid with suspenders. I used to like

being a nerd. My brother and my mother used to worry about me. I didn’t really understand why

people would make fun of me when I was just a kid. I made a big mistake thinking that people

wouldn’t judge me because of the way I dress. Nowadays I don’t give a damn fuck about

people’s bullshit so I guess being a nerd help me out to stand up against those who made fun of

me.

“Hi, Karla,” I said.

“Oh my God Dylan, I missed you so much, where have you been?” She said,

“ I moved to Quezaltepeque, it is not that far away from here” I replied.

“I guess, Maybe in Las Fiestas Agostinas I can go to your place or you can come pick me up and

then we can go to Consuma” She said.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. We can go with Osvaldo as well” I said

She started crying and I didn’t know why exactly so I gently hugged her and ask her

“What’s going on?”

“ You haven’t been around here for a long time and something happened to Osvaldo” she said.
“What happened, tell me, you’re scaring me, what is it?” I said

“Osvaldo and I went to a party in Elena’s house and we got drunk, so then I told him that we

should get an Uber, but he didn’t listen to me, so he decided to drive” she said crying.

“Omg what’s wrong with you guys, you should’ve called me” I said crying.

“So anyway, we were on our way back home, and a bus crash with Osvaldo’s car, I’m really

thankful to live, but I’m really sorry Dylan: Osvaldo died in the accident”

she said crying like a baby.

“Why did this happen to him?” I said crying.

I couldn’t see Karla anymore, I know it is not her fault but it reminds me of Osvaldo and

how everything would have been different if they just made a phone call to me. I remember how

Me and Osvaldo were so close to each other and he was like a brother to me and now he was

gone, how would I deal with this? My brother died and now Osvaldo is gone too and I didn’t

even go to his funeral, what kind of friend am I? I’m a completely selfish person or that’s what

my mind was forcing me to believe.

“Gracias por decirme la verdad” I said.

“Okay, I hope you’re not mad at me, everyone else including my mother thinks I’m the one who

killed him but you know I warned him about the risk of driving drunk, Do you believe me?”

she said.

“I do believe you but just give me some time until I can get through this” I said crying.

“Okay, be careful” she said.

May 31st, 2050.

 It’s been a week now since Karla told me about Osvaldo. I’m crying in my room and I'm

probably gonna die of starvation because I haven’t eaten anything. I’m not planning to eat, my

mom and my grandma are really worried about me but I don’t want to eat. I have 45 missing

calls from Karla but I don’t want to talk to anybody right now, not even her.

When my brother died I didn’t talk to anybody for at least 2 weeks and I didn’t eat for

seven days because food didn’t help me at all. I was planning to kill myself but my mother found

out so she call 911. The police took me to some kind of mental health hospital where they treat

you like shit but no one ever says anything. Anyway, I stayed there like a month and when I was

released my mom was really happy to see me and I was really to see her again too. I apologized

and I promise to her that I wouldn’t do something stupid like this after the death of my brother.

We went to a restaurant and we ate some pupusas and tamales and we talked for hours and hours

about our lives, that was one of my favorite times after my brother died. I decided to go eat

something.

My whole body was weak and I could barely walk because I was really tired. I ate grilled

chicken, pico de gallo and rice. I was really weak, so I walked back to my bedroom and I fell

asleep. I slept for almost three hours and I had a terrifying headache. At least I have some energy

now, but still I feel weak so I ate again. I ate some vegetables and fruit and then I went back to

sleep or at least tried to sleep. I couldn’t sleep because I felt like something bad was about to

happen. I understood later on that I was right. My body had enough energy now to move like a

normal person I guess. Before sleeping I prayed to God, so that he could protect us against

anything possible that may happen during the night.

Worst day of my life

 The next morning, I felt like never before. I was so happy and grateful to live for the first

time. My depression went away somehow and I couldn’t understand why. I’ve been in my room

for a week and suddenly the depression feeling went away. I’m sure there must be something

going on inside me, because I’m not usually like this. I saw my grandma and my mom eating in

the kitchen. My grandma made some pupusas, I can smell the delicious aroma of them. She came

straight to me and told me.

“Honey, there’s some pupusas on the table. Go wash your hands and come eat with us”

“Okay abuela, gracias” I said.

I went to wash my hands or pretend to do so… suddenly my house started shaking like

I’ve never seen before. I heard screamings from my mom and my grandma. I tried to go save

them but it was too late. The roof of my house fell down and I couldn’t see them anymore. I was

trying to search through the ruins but sometime hit my head and I couldn’t see anything

anymore.

When I woke up, I felt dizzy and everything around me was dark. I went running to

search through the ruins and then I found the dead bodies of my mom and my grandma. I cried, I

screamed; I wanted to die. I screamed to God, why didn’t you take me instead? I was so mad at

him. He killed my brother, my mom, my grandma and my friend. I knew happiness didn’t exist

or at least not for me. Every time I was happy something bad would happen after all. There’s not

a good memory in my entire life anymore. It’s like God forgot about me a long time ago. I felt

like I was living but I wasn’t alive. People around me were crying too. I didn’t care about them

or their loss. All the good emotions that I used to feel are gone now. My body felt empty. I

realized there is no point in living, so I got rid of my emotions. Maybe I’ll get rid of my life next
so I can finally feel useful for the first time; because I guess that’s the only good thing I can do to

humanity.

After two hard days of crying and trying to find hope out of nowhere, I buried my mom

and my grandma in my garden. I wanted to be in their place. I felt like my brown eyes were

turning red because I cried so much. People always tell you, hope is the only thing that can save

you; but after everything I went through that’s just bullshit. I remembered my mom and my

grandma so much. They were the reason I was alive and now they’re gone.

Nothing was the same in El Salvador, you were on your own now. People would see you

and try to attack you in order to get something from you. I have nobody else than myself and I

was the only one left in my family. Everyone lost someone due to the earthquake. It was dark

everywhere due to the ashes of the buildings. There were a lot of hopeless people anywhere you

can imagine. There was a huge destruction in my little town. You would imagine everybody

helping each other, but that was not the case.

People were killing each other; fighting for food, water and a refuge. The authorities

couldn’t control the town, so they took a supermarket for their own benefit. I didn’t care about

my body or anything bad that could happen to me. I knew it was the right thing to do when I

decided to come to a supermarket. A guy from out of nowhere came straight to me and I knew

what he was about to do. He stabbed me in my stomach because he thought I had money with

me. I didn’t, so he just left. I felt a coldness, the type of coldness when you’re dying. I was dying

and a tear came out of my eye. For the first time, I was really happy. I closed my eyes and there I

was, lying on the floor, dead but happy.