A shot in Dark

It was a hot sultry night on the streets of the south Bronx. Everyone was outside cause it was too hot stay indoors. Music was blaring from the boom boxes. There I was sitting, talking to my friends, listening to the music when all a sudden a black Nissan Maxima sped down the street. All I heard was pow,pow and felt a hot, searing pain go through my shoulder. It was only a flesh wound, but I needed ten stitches.

When I got out of the hospital, all I could think of was revenge. How was I going to find out who did this? I wasn't in any gang, and the shooting must have been a mistaken identity. I wasn't going to get shot for nobody again. I called the local hood to find out the dope.

Jimmy reported in a raspy voice, word's out that some black guy, your height and weight, dropped a crip last Thursday night.

"Well somebody better get their marks straight.''I retorted.

You better lay low until they find the right guy. Jimmy answered back.

I was fighting mad. It was hot as hell in my house. Why did I have to lay low. I didn't do anyone.

Because I do value my life, I stating upstairs for the rest of the weekend. The cops found the black maxima and the guy with gun in it. Turned out someone took down the license plate number and turned it in anonymously.

I still hang out on the streets but I duck down every time I hear sceeching wheels turning the corner. It's a habit, what can I say?

hot cars

People work for different things.I have goals and future plans.I intend to finish high school,join the armed forces to pay for my college and then get a great job.I'm going to get a house with a garage to house my beautiful car,because that's my real passion.

I really need to think about this car. I really want a fast car, but then I think about profiling. A cop would pull me over and give me a ticket right away. I'd be paying big bucks for insurance.I want to get this car because it looks good and it's fast to run away from the police and I could get money for racing a person.

However,this not a good idea. People who race cars on the local streets crash and die.They also go to jail for speeding and if they cause the people in the other car to die they go to jail for involuntary manslaughter. Fast cars are meant to be on race tracks. Once a person gets a criminal record, they have it for life. It's not worth two minutes of fame in winning a race,for years in jail and the guilt of killing or maiming a person.

Cars aren't necessary in the city,but cars impress women and other guys. Cars are a status symbol and cars tell other people that you've made it. Young people like hot cars. Advertisers always have a hot girl selling a car. Advertisers appeal to young people's love of music, comfort and speed.

Young people take their first paycheck and run to the dealer.The dealer gives them a big talk about how reasonable it is to own this car. Then,a young person goes to the finance officer of the dealers.The price goes way up and a young person is working overtime just to make the payments, not to speak about the insurance. Hot cars are nice dreams,but they're not realistic.Young people should think moderate-priced, reasonable cars that aren't police magnets.

Antigua

All the signs pointed towards Antigua. The island had warm, steady winds, a complex coastline of safe harbors, and a protective, nearly unbroken wall of coral reef. It would make a perfect place to hide a fleet. And so in 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain's most important Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later the same unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform Antigua and Barbuda in one of the Caribbean's premier tourist destinations.
The signs are still there, they just point to different things. The Trade Winds that once blew British men-of-war safely into English Harbour now fuel one of the world's foremost maritime events, Sailing Week. The expansive, winding coastline that made Antigua difficult for outsiders to navigate is where today's trekkers encounter a tremendous wealth of secluded, powdery soft beaches. The coral reefs, once the bane of marauding enemy ships, now attract snorkelers and scuba divers from all over the world. And the fascinating little island of Barbuda -- once a scavenger's paradise because so many ships wrecked on its reefs -- is now home to one of the region's most significant bird sanctuaries.

Location: Antigua (pronounced An-tee'ga) and Barbuda are located in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, roughly 17 degrees north of the equator. To the south are the islands of Montserrat and Guadaloupe, and to the north and west are Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts, and St. Martin.

Size:Antigua, the largest of the English-speaking Leeward Islands, is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles. Its highest point is Boggy Peak (1319 ft.), located in the southwestern corner of the island. Barbuda, a flat coral island with an area of only 68 square miles, lies approximately 30 miles due north. The nation also includes the tiny (0.6 square mile) uninhabited island of Redonda, now a nature preserve. The current population for the nation is approximately 68,000 and its capital is St. John's on Antigua.

Climate:

Temperatures generally range from the mid-seventies in the winter to the mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 45 inches, making it the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean Islands, and the northeast trade winds are nearly constant, flagging only in September. Low humidity year-round.

At the Park

I was playing in park with my family. We was playing in the water and running around in the park.We ate chicken and rice,we had soda to drink,after we ate, we play around some more before we went home. When we got home,we take off our wet clothes and we went into the bathroom,and after we finish bathing,we put on our clothes.Then we went to bed.

Hi! My name is Sylvester Peters. I an 15 years old. I was born in January 16, 1992. I came from Antigua in July 19, 2001. I was burned when I was 7 years old. I ran to the beach. My skin was peeling off of my body. I was crying a lot. I saw heat coming from my body. I put on clothes. When I was in the ambulance they had to cut the clothes off of me. They took me to the airport and put me on the airplane.

I went to Canada because in my country they can't tend to burns, so they bought my ticket so I could go to Canada. When I got up there they took me to the Emergency room and tended to me. I was in the room and they took skin from different parts of my body. When they were finished with me. They took me out and put me in a different room so I can recover from the burns. I stayed in the room for three and a half days before I could leaved the Hospital.

My mother and I got something to eat before I went to the airport. I went back home to my country. We stayed down for four weeks. Then my mother called my Aunt in New York and told her that she was going to send me up there to her.

That morning I got up and took a bath. Then I put on my clothes and my mother and I took the bus to the airport. When we up got there we went up to the person who checked the bags. She asked for the ticket from my mother.I landed in kennedy in July of 2001 and have been here ever since, school was a culture shock and very different from Antigua but I got use to it. I even learned to like.I needed extra help, so I went into special Ed after about the second year.

Now I'm a senior at cis339. I hope to pass middle school, go to high school and then to college. I want to do a stint in the armed forces, maybe the marines. I think that would be a good on my resume. After the service, I'll manage something,What I'm good at.