Imagines [Book Four]

Sons of Anarchy [Juice Ortiz] pt. 1

When you moved out on your own for the first time, you weren't expecting to become attached to your elderly neighbor. Or to get to know her reclusive son and his insane friends. But yet here you are. Life's funny like that.

. .

. .

At sixteen years old, the thought of college and going out of state sounded like everything a teenager your age could want. You looked at schools, as expected, and even found a few you were interested in. It was exciting and you couldn't wait to start the application process and graduate from your high school.

But then the time came and went, and you'd never done a single thing. By the time you graduated, the thought of leaving home terrified you. The thought of leaving your parents was a no-go and you ended up staying home. You had a few paid under the table jobs, but nothing concrete. Then your mother was diagnosed with cancer, and you spent years watching her battling it, going through chemotherapy and just constantly being sick. And when she could no longer fight it, you watched with your heart in your stomach as she took her last breath.

Watching your mother pass made you the most paranoid you'd ever been, and you took your father's health seriously after that. So serious, in fact, that you enrolled into community college and took the proper classes to get into a nursing program.

The nursing gig was your first real job and you loved it. Not only did you get to take care of people at work, but if anything ever happened at home then you were more than prepared for it. But then your sister got divorced and decided to move back home, and the two bedroom house you lived in with your dad wasn't big enough anymore. So since you were the one with a steady job, you decided to move out and let your sister take care of your dad.

Finding a house in the same town you grew up in was impossible, but you ended up finding one in Bakersfield. It wasn't too far from your dad and the hospital in the town you were moving to was in need of nurses, so it was perfect for you.

On moving day, your two brothers and one brother-in-law packed all your belongings into a moving truck while you drove ahead of them in your Dodge Challenger. The two bedroom house you had found was perfect, but this was the first time you were going to be on your own and you were kind of nervous. Your brothers did all the heavy lifting and reassembling of your bed as your dad sat on your porch watching them, and you and your sisters carried the boxes of all the rest of your belongings.

The entire time you were back and forth, you noticed an elderly woman next door sitting on her porch, fanning herself while watching all the commotion taking place. You didn't want her to think it was going to be a daily occurrence, the loudness your family was currently creating, so you offered her a friendly wave and vowed to introduce yourself on one of the upcoming days. And after having a couple of pizzas delivered and an impromptu dinner on your front lawn, your family planned a bar-b-cue at your own place in two weeks before taking their leave.

In the next couple of days, you spend it putting everything in its proper place and washing clothes. You were grateful that your brothers had friends who were getting rid of some furniture, so all you really had to purchase were your washer and dryer. One friend was getting rid of a living room set, another was getting rid of their dining room table, and another had a spare refrigerator that they got rid of for a very cheap price.

It was currently Friday and you started work on Monday, so you decided to do your grocery shopping now. Plus you wanted to finally greet your neighbor since you realized she lived on her own, but you needed something to take over. And what better way to introduce yourself than with some fresh pan dulce? Nearly every Mexican elder loved their sweet bread with coffee and you were hoping it was the same for this lady.