"Riding The Gauntlet"

By kiki

When I used to live in "El Hoyo Simons." The Mom and Pop stores were all up the hill from El Hoyo. We guys who lived in El Hoyo always had brick fights with the guys from up the hill. - When our next-door neighbor, Panfelita, would send me to the store I would ride my bike as fast as I could by Carlos and Elio Diaz's house because they would throw bricks at me as I rode by their house, They would then wait for me to ride back and throw some more bricks at me, after dodging bricks going and coming, I would get back to Panfelita's, get off my bike sweating bullets and go "wow! I survived the gauntlet!!" And what did I get from Panfelita for almost getting killed? A penny? a nickel? No, she would just tell me: "Gracias, Mijo, aye que te lo paga Dios" Well, I don't think God was going to buy me a chuchuluco!

"Bow and Arrow"

By kiki

Two girls attending Montebello Junior High School in the early '50s were best friends; they were always together, one was named Rosie, can't remember the other one's name. Rosie was tall and stood straight as an arrow; the other was slightly hunched, not like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but slightly hunch nonetheless; I think you can guess where I'm going with this; yes, we called them "Bow & Arrow." "Here comes Bow and Arrow," someone would say as we saw them coming.