“This will be a life changing experience! I promise!” she said, rather ecstatic.
“Sure. Sounds great, I’ll be there.” I had just agreed to a church related event that would have me locked in for 3 nights, I might as well sound happy about it. At least as happy as one would be in a high school math class, there are not many things that can change the inherent boredom of such place. Mr. Flores did his best to keep us focused, but hardly ever accomplished it. I never had much trouble with math, so I could afford to deviate my attention elsewhere. This usually meant chatting with whoever was close, which brought me to the fated “…I’ll be there.” that sealed my agreement. I cannot deny that I was extremely curious as to what this event was. I had heard of the Arcoiris youth group, I knew some people in there, but I did not know what it was about, other than the fact that it was related to the Catholic Church. None of it mattered at the moment, all I wanted was to go back home and relax after hours of being in school. The portion of my day that never failed to bring joy to me was the end of the school day, and this was only elevated as we approached the last day of school. I hurried to my car, a vanilla-colored 1997 Ford Explorer. The sun showed his mark on the paint. The missing handle on the pilot door and small scratches and bumps sprinkled throughout all amounted to a truly unremarkable vehicle. Of course, it was dirty, as it often was. The sky was always quick to respond to any attempt of having a clean car with its classic, awfully well-timed rain. The timing was even more impressive given that I lived in Arizona, where it hardly ever rains. But none of it mattered because I could drive to any place that I wanted, I could watch the hordes of students walking home, I could watch them as blur that painted my window as I drove off. My car gave me no bragging rights, but I loved it; besides, there were not that many nice cars in my town.
I finally got home. I parked in the driveway and headed for the door. The sun was intense, and the heat made me suffocate as I tried to open the door. The door would sometimes get stuck and would take some degree of pushing and pulling in the correct manner. The mild suffocation never helps in the process. Heat always seemed to bottle up in that specific spot. I continued to struggle, it was so frustrating. I pushed. I pulled. I pushed and twisted the key. Until my mom opened the door.
“Heeey.” She said while hugging me. “How was school?”
“Same as always,” I said, as I would always say when asked that question.
I sat with my mom on the kitchen table to have lunch. She had prepared some chicken, covered in creamy mushroom gravy. White rice on rice on the side, and a cold glass of lemonade. My mom always had good prepared for when I got home. I would look forward to it every day. And every day sit down and would give her some details about my in school and she would share the latest gossip from the family. Sometimes would go on long tangents and the conversation would stretch forever. But not this time, we ate rather quietly, only commenting to make fun of a particular show that aired at that time every day. We both hated the show but there was nothing else on TV, and it served as good background noise. I thanked my mom for the food as I stood up to take my plate.
“I was invited to a church thing” I said. “What kind of church thing?” my mom would never be satisfied with vague statements. “I have to stay there for 3 nights, its some kind of youth event or somethin, its on the twentieth of June I think." “And you want to go?” she asked. “Yes. I think so.” June 22, 2012, Mom helped me pack everything I needed for the event; standard hygiene stuff, clothes, and a sleeping bag. No shaving razors, blow dryers, nail clippers, powder, or phones were allowed. We got in the car and she drove me to my destination, a middle school that was being used to host the event. “Im gonna miss you these three days.” she said with a smothering tone. “You have Isaac to keep you company.” I replied, remembering that my little brother the hardly the best company to have, as he would rather go to the park than stay at home. As we arrived at the school I noticed that it looked rather empty. I got out and headed for the main door. It was locked. I stood there for a while, confused, I was sure that it was the time that was stated in the pamphlet. But nobody seemed to be there. I did not stay too long before deciding that I would go back home. I got in the car and told my mom to drive back home, but she is not as impulsive as me. “Why don’t you wait a little longer? Maybe theyre just runnin a bit late” “Theres no poi…” before I could finish that sentence I saw an old friend making his way to the door. We will just call him Woody. He was carrying a few bags as he struggled to open the door. After a few seconds, he gave up, turned around and walked to the other side of the school. Shortly after that, a few more people arrived and walked directly to the other side of the school. Apparently there was a giant arrow pointing that way, and I had completely missed it. There was nothing but a sigh as I stepped out of the car to get my bags from the backseat. I did not know what to expect, but the first day went by in a pretty standard manner. We were introduced to the staff, which included several friends from school. This event, called an Encuentro, Spanish for encounter, was the initiation for the Arcoiris group, and it was open to the public once a year, with a small fee of course. Once you were part of the group you could help organize and coordinate the next Encuentro. Next we did some group activities meant to get us, the 80 or so teenagers, acquainted to each other. In what seemed like mere moments, the day was over. Boys and girls slept in separate rooms. Everyone had an assigned spot on the floor in which to place their sleeping bags. My favorite memories from that Encuentro happened in that room full of troublesome boys making a mess and playing somewhat mean-spirited pranks on each other. The next days were organized with several activities and lessons. I was young and didn’t completely grasp what I was being taught, but I had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends in the Encuentro. I enjoyed it enough to make me want to stay in the Arcoiris group afterwards. “Do you remember how we became friends Steph?” “Yeah, in the Encuentro dumbass,” she replied to me, in her signature snarky tone. “No idiot, that’s when we met, but at what moment did we become friends?” “I don’t know, sometime during the one of the preparation meetings maybe?” I held the steering wheel as I tried to pinpoint the exact moment. It had been no more than six months since the Encuentro, yet I could not remember when exactly was the first time I talked to her. We were on our way to one of the Arcoiris meetings we had every week. Steph was sitting on the passenger seat, gazing out the window. There wasn’t much to look at out there, but she stared at the rows of houses and the parks we passed. She stared at the rows of people that were walking back home, exhausted by a long day working in the field. We arrived at the church, and got out of the car. I was immediately greeted by the loud shouts of Raul. “Wassup bro!” he said while approaching me. “Whats up man” I replied as we bro-hugged (pretty much just a regular hug, only much shorter, and manlier, and with less affectionate undertones) We all walked inside one of the separate rooms in the church, this is where the group would meet to prepare for the next Encuentro. Chio, the coordinator and only adult there, was waiting for us. We sat down with the other 20 members of the group that decided to stay after the Encuentro was over. Chio broke the silence, “Okaay guys! Lets begin this by talking about…” I don’t remember what we talked about that day. Chio would just talk for what felt like hours. She was an elementary school teacher, and had no problem with talking in public. Her energy made for really productive and engaging meetings, but I had better things to do that day. “Hey, lets get out of here.” whispered Raul. “Im down” said Jose. They both looked at me. I was the only one of the three that had a car. “Fuck it, lets go” We drove to Raul’s house. He lived in the downtown section of the city. Downtown wasn’t particularly dirty or “ghetto”, the houses and streets looked exactly the same as in the rest of the city, but it had a certain negative connotation. More often than not, anybody looking to buy drugs would end up in that part of town. I parked my car on his driveway, always in the exact same spot. Raul walked inside the house as we took a seat on the white plastic chairs on his porch. The legs wobbled as we sat down, but they never broke. “Is this the first time we smoke weed together?” asked Jose, unable to contain his giant smile. I rested my elbow on the dusty table next to me, “Yes it is” I replied, mimicking his smile.