Fight to Take Flight

Chapter 1

I ran. I ran because it was the only choice I had. I ran from my life. I ran from the only family I have. I ran from my friends. I ran to nothing and from everything.

You are probably wondering who I am, so I’ll give you the basics. My full name is Primrose Parker Chavez but either call me Prim, Rose or Parker or some other nickname. NEVER call me by my full name, it’s not like I hate I just think it’s a mouthful and looks better written down then it does when it’s actually said. Next I know what you are thinking Parker? Where did that come from? Well it was my mom’s last name before she married my dad so they thought it would be a good middle name for me. That’s it for now keep reading and learn more about my not so wonderful life.

Your eightieth birthday is suppose to be fun and exciting right? Wrong. It was a happy day only because this was finally the day I moved away. School ended only four days ago and today I am packing up my truck and leaving this town. I live just on the outskirts of Chicago in a place that most would cower at the thought of having to come here. I was constantly hearing gunshots and sirens every night but honestly I didn’t care I was way past used to it. My three best friends and I had grown up together here and now I was leaving. If it wasn’t for Mark, Alejo an Peter I would have been long gone, they made leaving here bearable.

Mark was my rock. He was a huge black guy with dreads like little wayne. He was covered in tattoos main because even since he was old enough he has been working at a tattoo parlor. He got all of us into the idea that tattoos were so cool, which explains why we all had so many. When you first looked at him you would think he was a badass but not really. He might be a little rough around the edges but with where we lived it was a necessary thing. Underneath it all he was a big teddy bear. He never met his dad and his mom never cared what happened to him only where her next high was coming from.

Alejo was the energetic. Just like Mark he looked like a badass with his piercings and tattoos, but really he was a nerd. A buff nerd at that though. He was one sexy latino boy but I could never see him in that way. He was also the first one to get into racing cars. Soon after the rest of us joined in quickly taking reins of the racing ring. He hopes to one day race legally. Alejo is the funniest person I have ever met he made a joke out of practically everything. With a little brother to take care of, a dead father and a mom in the hospital with cancer it was no wonder he tried to make a joke whenever he could. If I was him I would do the same.

Then there was Peter. He was quiet and thoughtful. He had an answer for everything even if it sometimes never made any sense. He was the one who got us into fighting. Even though we are all amazing at MMA he is by far the best. He wants to go pro and there is no doubt in my mind that he can. With his tall stature, tattoos and bright colored hair (he changed the color at least once a month) he was a force to be reckoned with. He struck fear in the hearts of his opponents. Any money he won he gave to his adoptive parents who were the nicest people I ever met. I bet you’re thinking how he fits in with our group of misfits that’s easy really. His father killed his mother and after that raped and killed six more women until he was caught.

Me and Peter met first in first grade and clicked automatically. We later met Mark and Alejo in fourth grade and we have been a group ever since. We are all jocks playing any sport we can fit into our schedules and still get straight A’s because honestly we want to get the hell out of here. I am just leaving a year before them.

They helped me pack my truck not once asking me not to leave. They already knew I didn’t want to but they also knew I had to. My truck was packed with everything I owned bursting at the seams. In it was my motorcycle that I raised from the junkyard. All the clothes I owned which took up the whole back and passenger seats. I had all my camera, laptop, Ipod and cellphone. All my tools to fix up my car and bike were in there. I had all my pictures and sketches that I had kept over the years. And I had the painting of a forest my mother had painted for me before she passed away. Also my ever present guitar and keyboard.