“Juan , Juan what are you gonna do during summer?

“I don't know man, this summer is probably gonna be boring like the last one, but what are you gonna do?

George said he was gonna go to Mexico for vacation with his family. I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico but mom and dad said it's too dangerous. Plus they can't go with me either because they don't have papers to leave the country freely at any time.

 “Man I wish I could go to mexico i've always wanted to go” 

“Ya I guess that sucks for you but have a good summer bro”

“Yea you too, laters”

My mom calls me on the phone yelling at me to hurry up cause she's been waiting a long time already. So I start heading towards the pick up section of the parking lot. When I get into the car mom is mad for no reason. It's only 3:40 p.m. and I get out at 3:31 p.m. so I assume she was not waiting that long for her to be this mad.

“Juan why do you always have to take so long, and especially today you know there's gonna be lots of traffic since its the last day of school”

“Mom, I was talking to George before he left home; he said he was gonna go to Mexico. I wish we could go”

Before mom says anything I tell her we should get going already. She started driving. I am really hungry today since I did not eat lunch. 

I ask mom “ Mom can we stop and buy a burger”

“ Uhhh I do not know mijo am gonna make mole today your favorite”

I don't want mole’ today I want a burger! I start fussing whenever I do that she always buys me whatever I want and when I say whatever I mean whatever. Dad always gets mad when she does what I want but I don't care. I still do it. Mom gets mad but she still goes and buys me what I want. 

Later when we get home I head straight to my room and get on the game. I play for a good two hours until dad gets home from work.

He calls me down “ Juan get down here it's time for dinner”

“Okay dad one minute”

I head down and see Mom and dad already eating and my plate is already made just how I like it. I sit down and start eating.
Dad ask me “ How was ur day mijo”

“Dad it alright but am happy because it was the last day of school”

I ask dad what we are gonna do for summer. As soon as I asked him that mom and dad took a long look at each other then nodded their heads at each other. 

“Mijo me and your mom have been talking it; and we were thinking it's a good idea if you come to work with me this summer, so that you can earn your own money and learn what real hard work is” 

“Work with you but why? I wanna do something fun, Going to work with you is gonna be boring; what will I even help you do?”

Mom tells me that going to work will do me some good so that I can understand the meaning of true hard work and so I can become a man. As I think of it I do not even know what dad does for work or where he works. All I really know is that he makes lots of money in which he always gets me what I want.

I ask him “ Dad where do you even work , what do you even do”

He looked sorta hesitant to tell me but he ended up saying “you’ll see”. I finished eating dinner.

“Migo be ready by 5:00 a.m. alright”

I can't believe he leaves for work at five in the morning. I always thought he left at seven p.m. right when I woke up for school. I say alright and head to bed.  The next morning my alarm didn't go off but I could hear dad from downstairs.

“Juan hurry up you better be down here in 5 minutes”

As fast as I could I got some old jeans and a plain shirt and head down I didn't even brush my teeth or anything. Surprisingly mom is up already and she made me lunch and a coffee like dads.

“you better hurry to the truck you already took a long time dad is not happy”

I ran to the truck-an old 2009 Chevrolet truck. We get on the freeway and drive for a while. We then got off but were in the middle of nowhere there's only big factorie buildings and we headed to a back alley. 

Dad tells me “wait here and don't get out the car i'll be a while”

He comes back after a while but he's carrying huge rolls that look really heavy he looks like he's struggling to carry them. He loads them in the truck and we head out to the free way again.

“Dad what are those big rolls”

“Those are rolls of carpet am a carpenter I do jobs for a contractor and get money”

I thought a carpenter was like a mechanic, guess I was wrong. After like an hour we finally got to some apartments.

Dad tells me “ today your just gonna watch what I do and pick up all the trash”

Dad gets out of the car and goes to the front office. He returns with some keys. We head towards an empty apartment that doesn't even have any floor in it. He gets to work as soon as we get there we broom up all the trash and dust. By eleven a.m. I am already tired and can't even feel my legs anymore. Dad looks at me and laughs. “He says we aren't even close to being done today.” We barely cleaned up all the trash.

“Alright so now we're gonna bring the big rolls that I was carrying earlier. If they're too heavy then just wait for me to get them. You just watch how I do things today alright”

We head to the truck and get the rolls. I can't even lift one; it's like a thousanddd pounds. So I just watch my dad carry them instead. Once he carries them inside he starts to lay them rolled out on the ground. He cuts the carpet in weird shapes that are hard to see getting put on the ground. I asked him how he knows that all the pieces are gonna fit well. He says he just knows. As he continues to cut the carpet I start getting hungry. I remember mom packed us lunch. I ask dad how we can heat up the food he says we don't, we have to eat it cold. 

“Why can't we just go buy something to eat instead? I don't like cold food. It's nasty. Why would you ever eat cold food dad?”

“Juan there isn't enough time to get food, we aren't even close to being done yet. Mijo we can't go get food. You're gonna just have to eat the cold food or nothing. After we finish this job we will buy something to eat alright.”

I just ended up eating the cold food, surprisingly it wasn't that bad. It just wasn't as enjoyable as I would have wanted it to be. By the time I had finished my dad had already finished setting the carpet into the rooms and I didnt even take a chance to see how he does it. I spaced out when I saw all the trash on the ground. 

My dad comes in the room am in “What are you doing just standing still start to pick up all the trash”

I wanted him to help me but he said”It's your job to clean up mine is to do the rest”

He left me there to clean up all the spare pieces of carpet by myself. By the time I was done it was already dark outside- I had finished just in time before my dad called me that we are leaving. 

The way back home was long and very bumpy. We got there somehow I kinda don't remember though I honestly took a little nap in the car. As soon as I got home I headed straight for my bed and I practically ignored my mom.

Next Morning i can't feel anything, my bones are all sore. I could just hear my dad yelling from downstairs again to hurry up. I can hear him stomping through the hallway coming towards my room. Quickie I act like I'm asleep but that didn't end well instead of moving me to wake up. He comes into the room and throws a bucket of cold water on me. I fastly moved away. I still get kinda wet. Am really awake after that. I get changed fast before he has time to tell me anything or yell at me- he's scary when he yells. I get to the car and he gives me a long speech. I barely even pay attention cause why would I even care. I fall asleep in the car for a little bit as soon as I know it I feel a hard slap across my face. I have never been hit before. I am in shock and can't believe he just did that. 

He yells at me “ WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN FALL ASLEEP FOR, YOU WASTED MY TIME IN THE, MORNING YOU DON'T GET THE RIGHT TO TAKE A NAP NOW”

I start yelling back practically in tears “YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED ME TO COME TO WORK WITH YOU, SO I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU YELL AND HIT ME WHEN I DON'T WANT TO COME ANYMORE”

Dad replies calmer “ Juan am doing this for you all this is so that you can realize that everything doesn't come easily. All your life mom and I have given you whatever you want even if you quit on anything we still gave you what you want. You think that I make lots of money and I can buy you whatever you want but the truth is that we can barely get by how it is.”

I don't even know what to say, I just stay quiet. It's a long ride to get to the job at the same apartment buildings from yesterday. Me and Dad cant even look at eachother let alone talk to each other. I just got out of the truck and did the same as yesterday. I get the broom and start to pick up all the trash and dust. I start thinking to myself -why didn't they tell me this before I could have stopped asking for as many things as I always do, I could have started helping around the house or even get a job. Time rolls around and it's already gonna be one p.m. dad is already almost done putting in all the carpet. I keep trying to find ways around dad to talk to him about why he and mom didn't tell me sooner about our money issues. I finally end up talking to him once we are leaving the worksite.

“Dad why didn't you tell me that we were struggling with money”

“Mijo me and your mother didn't know how you would have reacted. We always give you what you want so we didn't want to change how your life was lived.”

“ But dad I could have changed you guys act like I wouldn't have understood, I can even change now. I promise I will work hard and not ask for things like I always do”

Dad replies almost looking like he's crying” Mijo am so proud of you.”

The End