Nuevo Paraíso

I knew him... Long Ago.

She was born in Escalera and she grew up to be very quiet.

Ronnie Adler was a girl with an American father and a Mexican mother, Trevor and Illana.
Her father was bushwhacked by bandits when he was traveling home one night and was killed in the raid, Ronnie was very young at the time and didn't really understand what had happened but as she grew up it pained her more.

Her and her mother continued on and went about life in the town of Escalera. Ronnie was lucky enough to be able to attend school and she was taught basic things; reading; writing.
She wasn't taught how to defend herself though and that is a key factor in her story because when she was ten some boys from the school decided to push her around and laugh at her because of how quiet she was.

This happened often but it never physically and mentally injured her.

This is when a friend of hers, a boy, noticed her.
The lonely, quiet girl from his school that he often wondered about. He always watched over her and made sure she was okay if she seemed down.

Seeing these bullies pushing her to the floor, kicking her and laughing, rage sieged through him, his eyes narrowed and he stormed towards the group of boys.

He pushed his way through the bullies and fended them away from her.
"¡Déjala sola idiotas!" He screamed in anger and when they didn't leave he grabbed the oldest one and smashed his head into his boot, which broke his nose.

The rest of the kids ran away and it was just Ronnie and her friend standing together. He turned to her and smiled.
"Are you okay, Ronnie?" He asked in a hushed tone, crouching beside her and caressing the cuts and bruises on her cheek.
"Sì, Javier" She replied, wincing at the sensation of his touch on her sensitive skin.

"If they ever bother you again, come find me, okay?" He said, pulling her into his arms.
"But what if you're not here?" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'll always be here"

But he wasn't, the next time it happened, it wasn't the same school boys, they had become bandits and this time they threatened her with guns and knives but she also wasn't the same helpless girl, she had learned how to fight and defend herself, she had too.

When she turned twelve, her mother died and she was alone, she was found wandering around in the desert, far from Escalera, by the Del Lobos.
A "violent Mexican gang of scoundrels and bandits" but to her they were like family. They taught her to fight and use weapons and she became a different person.

A year later the gang had travelled into America and her with them.
Still only young, life was difficult for her and she still struggled, despite what she knew.
She was protected by the gang for years until she reached the age of seventeen and she went around on her own a lot, going back to visit the gang sometimes but mostly staying on her own.

She helped locals and assisted people who were just traveling. Ronnie herself had become a traveller, no place to stay and wouldn't settle down.

One day she was back in Mexico to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death after six years. This is when she saw something that horrified her to the core.

A poster blew gently in the wind, a wanted poster.
With a drawing of a man upon it and this man had a very unfortunate face.
There was a name above the sketch.

Javier Escuella.

But what really tore Ronnie's heart out was the reward for his death.

1000 pesos for his head.

What on Earth could he have done to deserve this? Where was he? Was he already dead?

All these questions ran through Ronnie's head but she decided it was best to head back to the gang she called home and forget about it.
Although she knew that was impossible.

"Why do you look so upset, querida?" A gang member asked.
Ronnie sighed and looked at him
"I saw my only true love's face on a wanted poster" and she looked off into the sunset.
"Who? If you don't mind me asking" he asked solemnly.
"Javier Escuella" Ronnie said simply.
"You knew Javier Escuella?" The gang member asked.

"I knew him... long ago"