A Little bit of History... part X

This was a very difficult time for me. I started my fifth grade at Fundación Mier y Pesado, a Catholic School, that you needed to have high recommendations or contacts to be there... well, my mom, always fought at schools for us, and there was never a closed door for her. She was so persistent...

some times I question myself why am I so stubborn... so obstinate... from both sides... mom and dad.

Well, the fact is that my first day at school was awesome... I discover they had a chorus, and I always wanted to sing... and better than that... the teacher asked if some one played any instrument will be immediately accepted on chorus... and I had My beloved guitar! Also they had FREE breakfast for all the kids, Band, Sports... a whole new world was opening in front of me, so when I got back home I explained my mom about the guitar, chorus and everything, and she supported me and encouraged me so strong that I felt confident to participate. Next day I was at the bus stop with my guitar... and when I step up on to be bus, the Driver told me "Step up and sing on the back, please don't obstruct the exit door" AND HE DON'T ASKED ME TO PAY!!! so I started singing few popular songs and the journey to the school was just pure fun... When I stepped down from the bus, I was wondering if it was a possibility to save also the ticket back... wow! a new way to have some extra money... 50 cents a day saving!... So from that day I started singing on the public buses, saving some money, and even some times some one gave me a 20 cents coin or a five cents coin... I was ashame to ask for money, besides I enjoy and had fun while I sang.

That was the auditions day and when it was my turn, I just sang so confident that they approved me to be one of the first voices... I had a wide and high range... and I was not so good with the guitar, but I was able to perform harmonics chords, even when I didn't knew the notes, when I listen to some chord, I was able to reproduce it and memorize it... so they showed me the script and I pretended I read, but I was always listening to others to be able to play... My life at school was great, I got recognition and respect, I liked to read and to study so my grades were excellent, at least the first few months... not a shadow of "Arturo el Terrible" (Like Dennis the menace) My favorite class after chorus, was Science, discovering the functions of the human body, specially the Nervous System... I was so passionate about that matter, that I started searching for Neurology Books at the Library, and I decided I wanted to be a Neurologist to do some research on that area... Can you imagine? A Singer-Neurologist? I also enjoyed when we sang at church, every first Friday, we went to Coyoacan historical Church and we sang... beautiful worship songs, that was my best time on that season.

My older sisters were at middle school, and on that year something strange happened my dad took us one day to the Hospital with my mom, and leaved us at the car for several hours... and when he came back he told us... "you have a baby sister"... then he found that while he was away we were playing in the car and I broke a seal of the Cab meter... he was so upset that he hit me several times... Now I understand he was tense with my new sister and several complications that happened at the hospital on that day. Years later when my mom shared me what happened I understood, but not that day... I was so sad and depressed after that I was wondering why I was having a life... I wanted to be dead...

After that episode, when my mother came back from hospital situations at home where more violent that usual... It looks like my mother stopped to accept my father's bad mood, and that increased the fights... It looks like my new born sister was a new force for my mother to defeat dad...

Then like a new reaction, I started to be distracted at school, and Mr Trouble was slowly coming back to school... I also discovered that the Catholic discipline it was stronger that the public schools discipline...

One day my father brought a pantograph and instructed me on how to use it, and asked me to do a poster on the Digestive System and he leave to work. When he came back he asked me for the draw and he was really upset because I didn't finished, then a fight started between he and mom, and at that time, my older brother jump in to the discussion... I don't remember what they said, but my father walked to his room and my mom asked my brother to leave immediately. He ran out of the house, then my dad came back from his room with the gun on one hand... and he pointed to my mother... I was so scared that all my fear was turned into fury and I walked out from below the table (I was hidden with my sisters) and I step on the middle between the gun and my mom... and I said "Before you kill her you have to shoot me first"... He reacted surprised and lifted up the gun. After that, he hit me on the face with the gun. He reacted and walked to his room and I walked out of the house. I didn't notice I was bleeding, I walked several blocks thinking and thinking how to end with that situation... I was sad, upset, disappointed and hurt. Suddenly he appeared with the car and he jumped out the car and held me from one arm... he was pale... nervous... pushed me onto the car... he looked me and all he was able to said it was... "You are going to soil the car with your blod" Oh my God... he was concern about the car, not about me... He was so nervous and he didn't said any other word...

After that, things changed radically at home. There was like a strange peace at home like never was on the previous years... my older brother moved out to live with my Grandma Mary, he was studying to be an accountant... and I fall on a deep depressive state. I was watching TV and on a movie, the star wanted to commit suicide and went to the restroom, got a bunch of pills and ate it all... That was a great Idea for me... That was my solution... with no doubt I ran in to our restroom and seek for all the possible pills that were there... and I ate it all, just as I watched on the TV... Few minutes later I start feeling a deep pain on the stomach... nobody mentioned pain on the movie... I remember my mother running with me to the clinic asking me if I ate something, or what happened... I denied all. On the clinic they treated me and after few hours I was out again... After that first trial I tried twice more on the next few weeks, with the same result... I was decided to leave... but I was unable to take the pain and the visits to the clinic... So I started thinking something new, may be jumping from the roof... so one day I was on top of the roof thinking how to jump, when a neighbor (Today I know God send her to scream to me) screamed me "Arturo, I will tell your dad that you are playing on the roof"... And I reacted... I wanted to leave the house.

The school was planning a field trip to the mountains, so I decided to be prepared to live on the mountains by myself... (lol) So I collected all the things I thought I will require on my new life... I putted all on my back pack and when the field trip came, I ran in the woods... after the first few hours I noticed that something was missing from my "perfect" plan... No food... What a fool... I had knife, clothes, lantern, books, toilet paper, pencil, notepad and my guitar... but no food... and at this point, I was lost... in the woods... now I laugh out loud... but I will always remember that day. The mountain police found me and I remember the upset face of the School director waiting for me... all he told me was: "You are expelled, no more Mr. De la Mora, No more."

Thanks to my good grades, my mother was able to put me back in to a public school where I finished the last two months of my fifth grade... My little sister was growing, my older sisters where having a separated life at their middle school and my older brother came time to time to visit my mom...

On those later months my mother's health was bad, and she had to go often to the hospital... when I finished fifth grade I was going with her almost every day to the hospital... but that... is another chapter... This will continue!

If you want to check the previous chapters, click here