El Niño

By Esmeralda García Ávila

One afternoon like any other, I saw myself in front of a puzzling young man with a distant look, disillusioned, angry with the world, in fact, with life itself. With red, irritated eyes like blazing fire which reacts when wood is thrown to it; his battered and stained clothes, displayed a careless and filthy boy. His complexion and thin, childlike appearance were characteristics that made him go unnoticed. His body had a peculiar stench. He smelled musty and rotten. The scars on his head, face and arms were covered with poorly designed tattoos and earrings with which he tried to hide the physical wounds that would only reflect the depth of the damage to his soul. His language was popular. Combined with bad words and constant remarks of "That asshole", "That bitch", "That motherfucker", "Life is worthless", "I curse life", "I curse the happiness of others, I curse whoever looks at me, I curse God Himself as examples of the agony of his existence. This was the first time that I saw a person more miserable and lonelier than me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781493196517

Esmeralda García Ávila

In this second edition of her first literary work, Esmeralda García Ávila takes us into a world that threatens the lives of our young adults; gangs. Based on her professional experience as a social worker, Esmeralda presents us a real life story where she shares her vivid experiences with young people involved in gangs with drug and alcohol addictions. With the charisma that characterizes her, Esmeralda guides the reader utilizing a touch of fiction and a language that is simple and easy to understand. She offers us a piece of work that is both, relevant and necessary for our era.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Esmeralda García Ávila.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014906147

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4931-9652-4

Softcover   978-1-4931-9653-1

eBook   978-1-4931-9651-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 02/16/2015

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Author’s Note

Introduction

Chapter 1: The metamorphosis of my life

Chapter 2: The power of a smile

Chapter 3: Changing your life does not mean ceasing to be who you are

Chapter 4: The coincidences

Chapter 5: By nature, man seeks what pleases him

Chapter 6: The love metaphor

Chapter 7: A fantasy world

Chapter 8: A new opportunity

Chapter 9: Every action has consequences

Chapter 10: The value of family

Chapter 11: Preamble of death

To the woman who taught me the physical limitations are not obstacles in order to achieve success… My mother.

Benita Ávila

Gerardo:

There are no words with which to express my gratitude and admiration. I will repeat, I admire you as a professional and as human being; you leave me speechless. Thank you for being my friend, thank you for sharing your knowledge and time on my project… thank you for being by my side when I needed you the most, I love you so much.

Treat others as you would like people to treat you.

Luke 6: 31.

Foreword

The moment I laid my hands on El Niño I never imagined what I would find. The emerging doubt from my limited ability supported the doubt over this work. The more I was involved in the story; I realized the simplicity, honesty, and clarity with which it was written. Different from classic works and monumental creations of literature, El Niño is simple with experimental validity. For several days, I hesitated to continue reading what did not seem to challenge my insatiable search for life’s complexity. As a professional in the field of psychology and humanistic therapy, I questioned a few suggested items of the work over and over again, without giving myself the opportunity of digging into the world of the author. One morning, as I was reading one of the lines in the book, my attention was caught in feeling what Esmeralda García proposes in her work. With a sense of guilt for judging her, I remembered the basics of learning the literature: do not judge a book for its cover. Recognizing that being part of intrinsic truth which contradicts what was earlier assumed by you, as the reader, is difficult. In that instance, I picked up the book and turned to the introduction page. My eyes traveled from page to page. But this time, I decided to erase my preconceived opinions of the work.

I can say, dear reader, that my second time reading the book was learning. A voyage imagining and being aware of the problems surrounding the Latino community. Drugs like alcohol, cocaine and many more continue to be never-ending problems that are as real as the beating hearts of our children and young adults.

Esmeralda Garcia’s simple presentation of her work emphasizes the need for writers to provide us with fresh ideas, easy to comprehend; with real impact for our community. In her book called El Niño, Esmeralda García talks about a child through whose life we can see the difficulties a little boy has to go through when entering adolescence, and inevitably as he becomes an adult.

With the charisma that identifies her, dear reader, you will dive into a world of drugs. The role of drugs, the distribution of them, and the key problem in the community: the gangs.

Dear father, you will notice that your children are at constant risk and your duty is to safeguard them; not only by protecting, but by providing them with fundamental knowledge so they can truly understand. And of course, you dear youngster will notice a reality that you may have not lived or in which you may already be involved.

As an introductory guide of a story based on true events, El Niño represents an opportunity for the Latino community to know a world ignored by many in our families. A world that will detonate like bomb when the time comes. Reading of this work, true and simple, allows the reader to live, feel, and learn of one’s personal growth, and above all to help new generations learn about a terrible evil that plagues our society today: gangs and drugs. Esmeralda García is an author, coach, and therapist, offering us a simple and easy way to understand this pressing issue in our society.

I had the great opportunity to read this great book, dear reader. Now you’ll have the opportunity to dive deeply into the reality, the existing world close to our families, homes, communities, states, countries, and universe. Open your mind without fear and let yourself be guided like me. Do not be afraid to return to the chapters that have affected your imagination. I encourage you to check and make notes on the work, they are worth re-reading.

Esmeralda García, your simplicity, courage, dedication, emotional intelligence and feeling are reflected in your work. I am immensely thankful, dear colleague, for the distinction of being the first to read this new version of El Niño .

Gerardo Wence-Muñoz, M.A.

Author’s Note

I had to fall on the floor, mourn until my eyes shed no more tears, spend sleepless nights, face my fear to the dark and cling into the only thing I knew as a child never leaves you alone . . . God.

Without God and His infinite love, I would not be who I am now. Woman who accepts herself the way she is, a dreamer, without fear of failure, firmly believing God allows things to happen for a specific reason in our lives. My faith in God is what allowed me to keep going when I thought my life was over and found myself lonely.

God offered me the opportunity to rebuild my life under the support of two good friends, Aira Puistolahti and Clayton Sommers. Aira Puistolahti welcomed me like a mother; filled me with love, understanding and advice which helped me facing adversities, and to not be afraid of what the future holds for me. Without her, my life would not have the same meaning. She is, and will forever be my adoptive mother.

Clayton Sommers is another gift from God. Without knowing me, he offered me his friendship, trust, time and encouragement at a crucial time in my life, when I had lost all hope. Thanks to him, I had a reaffirmation there exist people with a noble and good heart. Clayton has taught me to believe in and valuing friendship. He is one of my greatest role-models of honesty, perseverance and loyalty.

These two have changed my life and this book is especially dedicated to them. Because of them, I recovered my confidence, believing in my dreams and their realization and, of course God, because without Him this book you hold in your hands would not exist.

Introduction

Right after we are born, we seek love and acceptance. If love is missing in our lives, we feel empty, unfulfilled, angry, frustrated. We desperately seek to fill this gap that does so much damage to our soul. Therefore, the family plays a fundamental role in our lives. Because the love and understanding coming from parents and siblings gives us the confidence to not fear adversity, and to strive to achieve our dreams. But if love does not exist in us, we make mistakes that change our lives in the pursuit of happiness and we just get to the point of losing interest in life, basing our expectations in death.

We are in an era of marvelous scientific advancement allowing us to live a more practical and simple life. But if we’re so advanced, how is it possible that now most of us have lost our sense of love, caring, gratitude and our values depend on stupid things, like a new car, cell phone, clothes and accessories?

Is it that now we are meaninglessly without planning and enjoying all things that surround us? Most of us live a monotonous and boring life. Sadly that is how life escapes us because many times we react too late. When our children are adults, when we are too old or when someone’s death takes us by surprise.

Today there are hundreds of personal growth books and seminars, as well as therapists, doctors and associations around the world working for the same goal. Improving the quality of life for those who live suffering due to a physical, mental or moral problem, or who can no longer find meaning to life. Readily, as more solutions become available, so do problems and addictions.

Problems do not let us see and think clearly. We seek without knowing what we want. We are afraid to ask questions fearing what people will think of us. We ignore the advice if the answers are not what we expected but more importantly we ignore the events happening around us, wasting the opportunities that can change your lives. Opportunities do not always present themselves in the most appealing way and may pass in front of our eyes in a matter of seconds. It is so simple what I want to express, but often, the simplest thing is the most difficult to understand.

Dear reader, before proceeding, I apologize if my words offend you at some point. I have to call things by their name, without lies, and likewise I apologize if my skills and knowledge are minimal compared to yours. Or, if at some point my ideas or comments are ambiguous or meaningless. I express myself in these pages as a simple human being who suffers, feels and thinks, just like you. I am speaking as a wife, friend, aunt, sister and as someone who has the obligation to help the people I love not to lose their lives over something as stupid such as drugs, alcohol or gangs.

This is why I address you and venture to suggest that before you criticize what you are reading, allow yourself the opportunity to appreciate the good things around you that others wish to have. Never forget that if you are okay, everything around you will be in harmony with you. Opening our hearts can reveal favorable paths that change our lives; it all depends on how we wish to see things and how to live our lives. Thanks for reading my book and being part of my dream.

___________________

Convinced that only those children living in extreme poverty where there was not enough money for a piece of bread, or those who were witnesses or victims of domestic or sexual abuse, were those who would belong to a gang or destroy their lives for drugs or alcohol. Or children with parents addicted to alcohol and drugs, naming just a few of the current social problems. Destiny itself would show me how wrong I was.

One afternoon like any other, I saw myself in front of a