DARKER SIDE OF MYSELF

<p class="Body">I was remembering a darker side of myself...&nbsp;</p><p class="Body">&nbsp;</p><p class="Body">We lived in Pomona, California and I went to an after school program immediately after enrolling in my 3rd different school that fourth grade school year. &nbsp;For the 3rd time in a year I had to make friends. &nbsp;Compound that with the end of the school year and there you'll see the desperate situation I found myself in... so I needed to come up with something big to attract the sense of importance and it had to be big. &nbsp;</p><p class="Body">I started my own gang. &nbsp;I called it the CHEETAHS and explained to the other kids how we would we practice running every day so we'd be fast. &nbsp;Here is what made us different... we would be helpful one day - like picking up litter and helping out teachers... then the next day we would go to the fields and cuss, talk about girls, light matches &amp; burn things. My theory was that if anyone told on us doing bad things or if they found out that something "accidentally" caught on fire, we'd be the first ones off the hook since we were seen as "the good kids."</p><p class="Body">So I recruited 3 other kids who thought it sounded fun.There were a couple of heart-pounding moments - like a fire that almost got out of hand - we weren't those "4 dopey kids trying to fill the day being helpful" that the teachers thought we were... CHEETAHS were wild. crazy,&nbsp; jungle animals that no sane human being could comprehend! &nbsp;It ended almost as quick as Cheetahs... not sure what that means, but it sounds like it should make sense. &nbsp;After my dad got a job 30 miles away I had to disband these fierce predators, since I couldn't keep my position as gang leader because I couldn't afford to take care of myself. &nbsp;Ever since the day we left, I always believed that kids needed to get their ship together!</p><p class="Body">The day we moved to Redondo Beach, California was a day that evil lost a piece of its history. &nbsp;Life could have been brutal had my dad stayed put. &nbsp;</p><p class="Body">&nbsp;</p><p class="Body">SINcerely,</p><p class="Body">ERIK&nbsp;</p>