Dark Chocolate Part II: The Barrio

I started this day very flustered. Little things were bugging me as I lost sight on how I know that ultimately, they are all meaningless. By the time my lunch came around with one of my best friends, Dani, she even told me I looked frazzled. Lunch with her and her sweet baby really turned me around, though. As I was on my way to get Isabela from her playdate with her cousin at my mom's house, I made myself take the drive slowly and really look around my "hood". I reconnected with that 13 year old I used to be on those streets. I marvelled in that I get to give that to Isabela by taking her to my mother's house so that she can take in the same sights, smells and noises as I did when I was a kid. Looking around the East End of Houston, it is obviously created differently than where we reside now. Every time I walk up to my mom's house and scour around for Isabela, I am always hoping that she enjoyed the non-air conditioned house, the scent of Mexican food sizzling in the kitchen, the sounds of the neighbors interacting with each other over the Spanish soap operas blaring through the rooms in every house. As I had hoped, she was very happy to have been there and I was happy that she got that piece of my life.

Then....... as we were leaving the neighborhood, yards away from Downtown Houston, someone targeted me and shot at Isabela's passenger window! As we were both passing around the cellular phone thanking Dani for sending Isabela a flamingo cookie, my little girl's life was threatened..in my barrio. Her window shattered into a million pieces as she was screaming asking me what was going on. I am mad, still frightened, but I think mostly I feel betrayed. Right now, as I write this, I am looking for that moment where the sweetness kicks in, just like in my other pieces of chocolate. I realize it won't be today, but I know it will come.

Isabela and I are both ok. Daniela offered to go get us, but we were blocks away from Sammy's office. As usual, he always has the answers and knows just what to do....love you for that, Sammy. To Daniela, thank you for, as usual, offering to drop everything to come and save us. I guess I already did get some of the sweetness in all this :-)