25th and Julian

I can't help when I think of Grand Theft Auto but to think of Brandon Oliverez. He was my next door neighbor on 25th and Julian. He had a little brother named Myles who I would've sworn was a devil child. I'm joking, but he was evil, at times. He had this boxer named Dolly, cutest thing, we'd take her to the dog park and play with her in his backyard. I would go pick him up from his football practice with his mother. His mother was actually an interesting woman. She had this smell of cigarettes, a raspy voice and always wore khaki overalls that had white paint splattered all over them. I can't quite think of her name at the top of my head. She was a single mother and was also a father of 2 boys. She worked construction which explains the khaki overalls and splattered paint style she had going. The father of the 2 boys was living out of state, probably had another family of his own, and gave squat to his kids. She managed to do a good job at raising 2 boys on her own, so anyone would say. Yet, behind closed doors, her anger lead her to abuse her kids. Brandon was the one who got most of the 'attention'. Sometimes he'd provoke her if Myles did something wrong so he could prevent her from punishing him. I even witnessed her being abusive. One day after Brandon's football practices, she would stop the car in the middle of a stop sign get out the car and hit him in the back seat. One day I met Brandon outside of my house so we could hang out, but he came out to tell me he couldn't play, or hang with me that day. I asked him why and his answer was that his mom was mad at him. He looked a little shook up. I asked him if she did anything to him, he said no, I fell. He lifted his shirt and on his side and back were scratch like red marks and scabs. I told him to tell me the truth and he says to me, "No I'm fine, she was just mad, it's okay, I love my mom". Right then at that moment, I understood, but not the way I would explain it now. I understand now, that even though he was being physically abused by his mother, there was emotional abuse that was being passed around. She was emotionally distressed due to a lack of a man in her life that left her with 2 boys to take care of. So she took it off on her kids because she felt like they were the reason for her pain. Meanwhile the kids took the abuse because they felt guilty for her hurting. It's the circle of life. So which I personally think would be the explanation of this madness I experienced. I loved Brandon, as a very dear and close friend to me. I still think about him and his brother and his mother, and wonder how he's doing now. I miss him, and the good times we had, and all the Grand Theft Auto I did not play, because there was nothing more that I loved than to watch him play.