Bayside
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As my boat slowly sailed into what is now known as Bayside, I couldnt help but think why I was coming back. I had done what many 18 year olds did at the time, join the army. That was the only way to escape this god awful place.
The year was 2062 and white supremacy in the United States returned just as the war in Iraq ended. Every racial group other than the “Caucasians” were forced into what is known as California. To ensure that no one would try and make their way back to the mainland, the government turned California into one huge island.
Myself being Mexican-American did not grow up with everything handed to me on a silver platter. My father, along with almost every other able-bodied man in Bayside, worked at the shipyard. Growing up, I was lucky if I was able to see him once a week. He had about a 14 hour work day. As soon as he got home every night, he clonked out on the couch. My mother was a stay at home mom using our house so some kind of ghetto day care center. I never really understood what she was trying to accomplish. Maybe she just genuinely liked kids though Ive always highly doubted it. I woke up every morning and went to “school.” You could hardly call it a school though. A group of mothers felt it was their job to keep as many old traditions as possible. Public schooling being one of them. It was more of a game than anything. They wanted to see which one of them could control a bunch of rowdy kids the longest. They proceeded to go home and tell their husbands about it like it was some astonishing accomplishment. I found no point in going, but my mom made me. She didnt know what really was going on. I think she just wanted me out of the house so as she could have time to think. The same old routine day in and day out continued until I was 18 when I finally took the only way out. I joined the military.
I walked down the boat ramp onto the dock. I was now twenty. I had received a letter from my father saying to come home immediately. My mother had broken her leg and fallen ill to infection. Their were not any hospitals or doctors on the island so you had to settle for the next best thing. On every street their was at least one. A crazy neighbor who could swear he knew everything their was to about healthcare including surgery. My father took my mom to see one of his colleagues wife. She swore she knew all about medical care, but she didnt. My dad knew it but their wasnt anything else to do. Even my mom knew it. She probably wouldnt survive