Mateo 1

Adrian Mateo

Professor Altman

Essay 4 Rough Draft

Dec 12, 2022

Growing Around Wolves

Growing up in a sketchy neighborhood was never an easy task. From a young age, I was

constantly on edge, always aware of the danger that liked around the corner. It was common

knowledge that my neighborhood was riddled with crime and that a casual stroll around could

easily become a horror story, and what else can be expected from a neighborhood in a city that is

often called “One of the most dangerous cities in Mexico” (Reina). Every day, I had to navigate

a minefield of violence and crime, trying my best to avoid becoming a victim. I learned to be

street-smart and always stay alert, but despite my best efforts, I still found myself in dangerous

situations more often than I would have liked. I always knew what was going on in my

neighborhood when I was a kid, but that never seemed to stop my friends and me from doing

reckless things that we would do. Ding dong ditching, climbing neighbors' roofs, you name it.

Ever since I can remember, my parents have always warned me about the dangers of the world

trying to keep me inside at night and advising me not to lurk around the neighborhood on my

own, and they have always made sure to keep a close eye on me. As I grew up, my parents

slowly began to let me go out on my own, and by the time I reached the first grade of high

school, I would walk back home from school by myself. That was until I met my two best friends

from high school, Diego and Axel. We met in our first grade of middle school and have gotten

along really well ever since we met. Diego, the oldest one in the group, was definitely not the
 Mateo 2

type of kid that got picked on in middle school; he was athletic and decently shy, so no one really

messed with him. Although he wasn't the tallest in class, he was definitely not one to get picked

on either. I, on the other hand, was one of the shortest kids in class, thin, with bad posture, let's

just say I wasn’t the most intimidating. Axel, like me, was the geek of the friend group he was

shy and didn't really talk to anyone else aside from our little friend group. We all lived around

the same neighborhood, so over time we began walking home together every day after school,

we formed close bonds with each other and after the bell rang for the end of class we would all

meet at the front door and walk home.

I still remember the overwhelming sense of freedom and endless possibilities that began

to flood our minds as soon as the bell rang and we headed to the school’s exit. What was a

twenty-minute or so walk back often became more of a forty-minute walk, full of jokes and

incredible memories. We definitely were not the only ones that walked home without parental

supervision. Still, In my neighborhood, it wasn't very common for kids our age to walk back

home at that time unless they lived a couple of blocks away, and even so, they were often

accompanied by their older siblings. I never thought much of it, for me and my friends, it was

more of a blessing than a curse.

As I've already mentioned, our neighborhood was far from the safest. I recall hearing

numerous tales of people in my parent's circle of friends being mugged on the bus; occasionally,

it even happened twice in the same week. That was all though, the murder rates could speak for

themselves in terms of explaining how dangerous it was “In 2009, the city tallied 317 murders”

(Corcoran) In my neighborhood, this was such a problem that I recall hearing about people

carrying two phones at all times, just in case they needed to call a cab after being robbed on the

bus. Every morning when my grandpa would read the newspaper from the corner store, out of
 Mateo 3

curiosity I would take a glance at the headlines and be horrified by the graphic images, which

would frequently read, "Robbery goes awry as thief kills passenger" (Richards) I can still clearly

recall the chills I felt as a child reading these headlines at the dinner table.

At that time I should've been terrified to go outside as soon as the night began to take

over. I worried about this often as I walked back home with my friends. Quite frequently, we

would ramble on and on about how we would react if someone decided to pull a gun on us. “Me?

Diego boldly said, "I wouldn't even let them get close to me” "I would take a pencil and stab

them right in the eye if they even made the slightest attempt to get close to me, and then I would

run away." Somehow we weren't shocked by Diego’s response as we kept elaborating. “I would

just run away and call the police,” Axel said reluctantly. “Call the police?” “What are they gonna

do?” Diego and I said as we turned to Axel with disapproval on our faces. We both knew that our

local police would be of no help in a situation like that so we quickly discarded Axel’s idea.

We went back and forth with these erratic responses based on partially fictitious

situations that we made up as we went along. Even though it wasn't a sure thing, we knew the

danger was close at hand and could happen at any time, no matter what, and we were kind of

expecting it to happen sooner or later. We masked our fear with confidence.

One winter day, we made our way through the dimly lit streets that connected my house

and our school. As we reached Axel’s house which was the nearest to the school, I began to feel

uneasy as our group became smaller and thus more vulnerable. We dropped Axel at his house as

we usually did and headed towards the soccer field that was just before arriving where Diego

lived. The field was as dark as night with scarce lighting emanating from poorly maintained light

posts on opposite corners of the field. By this point, our alertness was usually at its peak we

would carefully visually scout the area and quicken our step as we crossed the soccer field
 Mateo 4

As we walked down the field, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The air

was heavy with a sense of danger, and I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. we

quickened our pace a little more, trying to shake off the unease that was creeping over us. But it

was too late. Before I knew it, two young-looking figures appeared out of the shadows, one held

what I quickly recognized as a firearm. I still remember the shiny glow of the gun as the figure

aimed at my lower stomach. "Look down and give me all your stuff" the person demanded, their

voice low and menacing. I was frozen with fear, my mind racing as I tried to think of a way out

of this situation. But I knew that I was no match for the person holding the gun, trembling I

slipped my arms out of my backpack and reached for my phone as I quickly take a glance over at

Diego. He was equally petrified, voice trembling to ask to keep his backpack. As I was reaching

inside my backpack the person impatiently snatched it off my hands rifling through it to see how

many valuables he could take. apparently, I hadn’t. Satisfied with the amount as the person says

“Is that all you have?” while they turned to leave, I was too shocked to even respond. They both

began to sprint into the darkness of the field but not before issuing a warning. "Don't try to

follow me" they said, their eyes narrowed.

After they left, we were left standing there, shaking and terrified. It was a stark reminder

of just how dangerous our neighborhood was, and it made me even more determined to get out

and make a better life for myself. Fortunately, I was able to do just that. My parents worked hard

and we were eventually able to move out of my old neighborhood. With that, we were able to

escape the dangers of my childhood neighborhood and began to build a brighter future for me.

Looking back, I am grateful for the lessons I learned growing up in a dangerous neighborhood. It

taught me to be strong and resilient and to never take my safety for granted. It also taught me the
 Mateo 5

importance of education and hard work, and how they can be a way out of difficult

circumstances.

Works Cited

Reina, Elena “The Daily Struggle For Life in Ecatepec, Mexico’s Most Dangerous City” El Pais.

26 October 2016, https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2016/10/28/inenglish/1477651368

_890521.html.

Richards, Tony “Robbery goes awry as thief kills his passenger” Mexico News Daily, June 13,

2016, https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/robbery-goes-awry-as-thief-kills-his-partner/.

Corcoran, Patrick “What's Behind the Violence in Ecatepec, Mexico City's Sprawling Suburb?”

Insight Crime April 17, 2017, https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/what-is-behind-the-v

iolence-in-ecatepec-mexico-city-suburb/