Mi Amor - Oscar 'Spooky' Diaz/On my block Story

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After Oscar dropped me off, I didn't spend much time at home. I got a call from Dwayne.

Dwayne: "Hey Elly, sorry to bother you. I know it's your day off, but I need help for like two hours loading things from outside the restaurant inside the pantry. Cesar and Ray already finished their shift and I can't reach them. Would you mind helping me out?"

Elly: "No problem, Dwayne. I don't mind at all. I got no plans. Give me some minutes and I'll be there."

Dwayne: "Thank you so much. You are my rescue. I am really getting old. My back can no longer handle that alone."

It took me about 20 minutes to get to Dwayne. I walked to the back of the restaurant because we needed to bring the boxes inside through the back door. He was already busy with that.

I greeted him and started the work immediately. After some minutes we heard a weird dragging noise from outside.

I turned around and saw the guys who talked to Oscar before walking in our direction. They had other guys from their gang in tow. The noise turned out to be a baseball bat that was dragged across the asphalt.

I panicked. I had never faced a situation like this before. I whispered fearfully in Dwayne's direction.
Elly: "Dwayne! Dwayne!"

He looked at me confused. One of the guys said something in Spanish.
19th Street: "We're gonna bust your head in."

I didn't know if they meant me or Dwayne, but I didn't like either. My pulse went faster and faster.

Dwayne emptied the box he was holding and turned around. That meant he was planning to defend himself. Out of lack of alternatives, I wanted to do the same and prepared myself mentally to take a few hits.

Dwayne turned to me.
Dwayne: "Elly, go! This has nothing to do with you."
Elly: "I can't leave you alone."
19th Street: "You really can't. Because we won't let you go. You stay and afterwards you can tell your Santo everything. This is our warning to him and to all who oppose us."

Three of the guys went straight into Dwayne's restaurant and we heard it rattle and crash. They broke everything. Better the restaurant than us, I thought. But the three guys who were still outside apparently intended to destroy both.

They came towards us and started to beat up Dwayne. I yelled at them to stop and tears started to fill my eyes. I didn't know what I should do. I couldn't just watch them hurt Dwayne any longer.

So I threw myself on the guy who was just pressing Dwayne's face with his shoe on the floor. He fell to the ground and I was on top of him.

He pushed me off and tried to stand up. Still lying on the floor, I kicked him in the stomach. He fell back on the floor again.

We both got up quickly. The adrenaline got my heart pumping like it never did before and my ears were almost numb as the blood flowed so quickly through my veins.

The guy walked towards me again. I tried to punch him, but he grabbed my hands and pinned me to the wall. His hands squeezed my arms tightly and his body pressed against mine so I couldn't move.

Out of reflex, I pushed my head forward with all my strength and hit the guy with my forehead on his nose. He staggered back, holding his nose, and I saw blood drip onto the floor.

He let go of his nose, looked at the drops of blood and now he looked really angry. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor and my head was pounding. I felt no pain, but I felt dizzy and my eyes were blurred.

After a few seconds I pulled myself together again and stood up, swaying.

I saw the guy reach out again to hit me and instinctively I put my arms in front of my head to protect myself. But there was no hit. Instead, I heard the voice of a different man.