The streets of Compton zoomed past my eyes as we headed home to Carson. Supermarkets, restaurants, malls, and banks replaced liquor stores, chicken shacks, beauty parlors, and check-cashing places. A song on the radio filled the uncomfortable silence. Every once in a while I glanced over at Mama, and even though she was sitting next to me, driving, she wasn’t in the car with me. I couldn’t believe Auntie had been like that since I was in kindergarten. I’m fourteen now, so that’s a long time drinking that stuff. A real long time. My nose hairs burned just thinking about the smell. I couldn’t describe it exactly, but I can describe how it feels when you sniff it. Imagine putting a hot pepper up your nose, and then imagine what it does to your whole body. Earlier this year in health class, we talked about organs and how you can donate them for transplants. The one I remember most was the liver. Mr. Bremelow, our teacher, said the liver is our filter for bad stuff in our body and certain things clog it up.
