G-Dog and the Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle and the Gangs of East Los Angeles by Celeste Fremon

Author:Celeste Fremon [Fremon, Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2008-08-15T22:00:00+00:00

SILENT

My name is Carlos Santiago. When the homies were giving me my street name, I knew what I wanted. I said, “Just call me Silent.”

At first I wasn’t from TMC, I was from Clarence. I used to kick it with TMC but they weren’t really a gang yet. When Gato, Toker’s twin brother, got killed, I got out of CSL. We were really young. I’m seventeen now. I was eleven or twelve when Gato got killed. It was bad. We were both running together and we decided to split up. He ran one way and I ran the other. An’ he got shot. He was the first one in the projects to get killed. I guess nothing was the same after that night. Anyway, a bunch of us got out of Clarence at that time. TMC showed us a lot of love. So we got in there.

There’ve been a lot of deaths that’ve been hard. But nothing harder than my cousin Oso passing away.

I think Oso already knew he was going. Oso had told Shady from Cuatro, “Let’s go party.” And Shady said, “Not now, homes, I got to stay in. I got to work tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And Oso had said, “There might not be a tomorrow.”

A week before that, we were drinking at my house on top of my roof, and that song came on, “Someday We’ll Be Together.” And he told me that same thing, he said, “When I die, tell G to play that song.”

I said, “Don’t say that shit.”

The night that Oso passed away, G had took me with him after he came out from being with the doctors. I didn’t go up with him when he told my aunt. I didn’t want to be there when he told her. I stood in the car. I just heard her screaming.

I was filled with anger. I wanted to do something. I told myself to kick back. But, damn! Damn. I knew if I did something crazy it ain’t gonna bring him back. Maybe I get shot. Or maybe I get locked up and never see my baby again.

My aunt said, “If you guys are going to do something, just shoot me first. I don’t want to go through it no more. I seen my son laying there. And I don’t want to see you guys the same way. If you got to do something—shoot me first. Then do what you got to do.”

I been shot twice, once in the butt, once in the back. The first time I got shot I was with Wolf. The second time I got shot I was with Oso. We heard the shots. At first Oso was laughing. He thought they missed. And then I got up and I said, “They got me.”

“Nah,” he said. He still thought I was playing around. Then I showed him the blood on my back. “Damn!” he said, “they really got you!” He picked me up and carried me to the car, and put me in.

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