While there is a chance of the world getting through its troubles, I hold that a reasonable man has to behave as though he were sure of it. If at the end your cheerfulness is not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful.
-H. G. Wells

It must get to be quite a trial for you to gather all of these stories, Liza. I mean, some of them must be horribly tedious. And I know that some are depressing. And.. I'm sure Deon and Covert each had something.. interesting?.. to say. Hopefully mine won't fit into any of those three categories, I'll shoot for a nice middle of the road one. Not that I have a lot of choice considering that you probably want the true story of my life, such as it is. I'm not good at making up stories anyway, so it'll be a straight shot.

To start with, I was raised by my aunt and uncle for the most part. My parents died when I was pretty young and so I got sent there. I didn't mind them at all, they were very good people and treated me well. I say were because they died when I was 15. I seem to have a habit of having couples around me dying, I hope that one got nipped in the bud. I didn't hang around too long, didn't really feel like being sent off somewhere else. I didn't have any other close relatives and well, I prefer to avoid the foster shit. So I hit the streets, using the money I had from what little inheritance there was to get by. Flea ridden motels, you know the type. It wasn't fun, but it beat being shoved somewhere I didn't belong. And then there's the added bonus that I didn't end up staying there long. I'm sure everyone can guess the drill, Miguel came along and I got pulled into his tricky little web. He's good, I tell you that. Too good, I think. But whatever works. It was nice to have someplace to sleep where I didn't have to worry about some weird disease or the door getting broken down by some drunken freak or something. Don't even get me started on the druggies, pimps, and prostitutes. That was such a fun time in my life. Right.

Well, I picked up on the helping out thing pretty quickly. I hated the idea of other kids having to go through what I did. And hey, there were.. and are still.. some really great guys in the group. And I do like to be flirty, hence the nickname. Bluntness isn't my thing, either. Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes it's fun if just to take someone off guard. It's been a kick most of the time being with these people, but it does have its down side. Not being a minority, I can't imagine how it must be for some of my friends, but I do know about being a target. I decided it's not fun being beaten on. But I can't complain too much, even though it did keep me locked in my room for awhile out of fear. Others have gotten it badly, much worse than I did. I got past all the mental stuff that went with getting beaten on now, and I'm more determined than ever to make sure that things start to get better. I'm not as helpful as I'd like, but hopefully that will change. But then, even a little help is important. Everyone that can contribute anything at all, even what seems to be the smallest thing, keeps the chain going and progress being made. And that's what's important, right?

What makes a multitude of individuals a society rather than a crowd is a commonly held ideal.
-Melvin Lyon

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.
-Max Lerner