Part 7 . . . Photo CTTO

My body! My bullet-ridden body!

Never dreamt that I’d leave this life so young

Life passed by as I floated above the ground

I saw my brown eyes twitching for answers

Then felt the eerie stillness of a dawn

That promised a new start but the past came

To honor the debts owed, I am to blame

Tonio. My handsome Tonio. What a stud!

A user who turned this god-fearing lass

Into a puppet who made him happy

And swept me off my pill literally

He showed up when I was struggling in class

And was there when life wasn’t worth the pass

Fun! Fun! And more fun. We’d be sniffing glue,

Or ecstasy, drink hard liquor or shoot pool

To love and be loved at thirteen was bliss

How could anyone not love doing this?

We would be all over the place to deal

Made money and love, it was surreal

One day, he’s with another girl, a girl!

What da hell! The fucker will be pay for this

I claimed my turf, turned his peers against him

I learned how to use a gun and set traps

Was looked upon as a leader perhaps

A rival drew hails of bullets at me, at me!

I survived alone at that crowded mall

Dead friends fixed their eyes to my direction

A cook helped me escape. He is Mario

I owed him my life, this single fellow

Maria and Mario. Yin and Yang, Ha!

Our eyes met, held my arms as he hid me

We became lovers while I had to heal

Dear father, this wasn’t part of the deal

He wanted a new life for us. Away!

So we planned our flight to a far province

Escape into the darkness and greet

The sunrise with new hope, far from the heat

I can’t do this anymore. I am tired

Now all I want is to be with Mario

Before we left that morning, we met Tonio

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