HOLDING ON

The noise was deafening but the neighbors had grown accustomed to the young Garcia's self-entertainment Francisco also called Frank by his father, and Frances by his grandmother Nana was preoccupied by the image of himself playing with either Chicago or Santana as a bass guitarist. At 18 he was full of idealistic dreams. He fancied himself as a real looker compared to most of the other boys in his class. Hillcrest High School didn't have many of Hispanic descent but it was where he had been placed the previous school year. Prior schools, Saint Francis de Sales in Chicago and Saint Gerard of Markham were more strict than this High School. Here they didn't monitor students. After this summer he would have to return unless his parents moved again. They and Nana... his mother's mother were the Guiding Light in his life. Bianca Marie his younger sister was just that, a younger sister who followed his every lead. He was practicing Bumphead, a tune from one of the many Santana albums in his possession.

He reasoned that if he practiced well in 1970 that he would be talented enough to best dream on bass string to replace their current guitarist outside of being cute the bass guitar was his major for take his classmates Gwen Johnson off Stratford Philip Jackson off Stratford Drive and Charles Ellis and Donald off Plymouth Drive all knew him to be a Daydreamer but they all hunting gather out of respect for their class of 71 the expected to graduate from Hillcrest. Charles was often visited by his friend from Sussex Court he played eight string lead guitar to complement Frank's 4-string bass today he was playing at top note he had to if he was going to be heard by the major bands in Chicago they lived in the south suburbs of the city and the bands never came out that far neither could read music but could duplicate or alter any piece they've ever heard Charles was very much like Francisco since receiving his electric guitar for his birthday he practice regularly with Frank and aspiration of becoming a member of the big-time groups his only difference was that he preferred the Motown sound

Neither participated in the high school the usual High School sports and we're oblivious to the challenge of their school's major opponent Thornton Township High School the Wildcats their minds were at a different level Hillcrest High Bulldogs with the furthest things from their minds and Bianca was just a follower of her brothers lead she said on top of the bass speaker as he plucked his fingertips and well-worn pick to affray during Santana's latest hit and I got a Devita has he played she watched the activity of the Neighbors in the Court Way 1 house Southeast from them in the cul-de-sac we're new people there were five children but none had been in school this past school year they'd obviously moved in since close of the school year June of 1970 she had heard that the oldest girl was from Thornton High School in Harvey and that her brother Ted would be coming to her class at Hillcrest they were about the same age and if and he didn't look too bad not too bad at all she wants them as they appeared and disappeared at the side of the house watering flowers and placing lawn sprinklers in the front yard they didn't look up at her or say anything this was puzzling especially since Frank was playing so loudly and usually Drew attention from everyone to other smaller darker children darted in and out of the backyard during the brief appearance on the court sign when a car pulled into the driveway across the court Bianca stepped into the house and Frank twanging stopped they packed up and went back into the house now I must have been happy I Berry happy sold at that moment she usually snack or laid on her bed waiting for service of food or medication from Vivian she was a diabetic the new neighbors mom had come in from work and it was about time to start cleaning up for the daily return of their own mother it was 6 p.m. late enough for dinner to start the noise to stop in the house across the way Carmen the new neighbor has started a pan of cube steak and mashed potatoes her mother often complained of being tired from doing everything, and tried to help where she could the sister Brothers generally follow the command for back in and down the hatches an absence of their mother or stepfather Joe on entering mrs. binder commented about the steak sizzling on the stove top it was becoming a regular occurrence for her return from work she was employed at the mental health facility as a mental health technician on the day shift Tinley Park hospital was well-known throughout the south suburbs as a place for person suffering from stress of the usual of the unusual and from the everyday routine she dealt with the mentally ill as much as it displeased her some eventually went home some didn't she had favorites but prefer to leave them all what she met them in the ward any day there was a stressful any day there was a stressful day enough to make you want to check into a room her children all five were typical they usually did what was requested it was the way they were raised the two younger Jacksons we're missing because of their age the middle son was neither here nor there second child the eldest son was similar to Dennis the Menace but he becomes something she could anticipate action and reaction from the doctors at claim them to be a nervous hyperactive and Carmen the oldest of the group was determined to placate her mother The Stepfather a military man stationed at a training camp near King Lake Indiana returned only on weekends or every other weekend they were saving expenses fuel it became a family Excursion to visit him at that site or travel with them to Fort Sheridan commissary so that they could use their identification cards granted by The Gatekeepers for For accessing the army base appearance in the military prison to the requirement for any and all children of the household to have brown picture ID they were rarely used except for when the mother shopped at the Base commissary and purely hate it the long drive from the south suburb to Fort Sheridan north of Chicago the cards came up missing all 5 in 1971 the to Jackson's and 3 jemison's were at Bay and possible risk of security for the military base this was all are relevant to the Garcias Frank and Bianca's greatest concerns with whether their father would teach them his native native tongue Spanish they had asked about it but he was not proud of his Mexican heritage Jesse senior was a construction worker a concrete worker who was proud of his job and anxious to do to face every day with his co-workers most days called him to the far north suburbs of Roselle in Oakbrook newly developing areas in the Metro Chicago region his company replaced Warren roadways and installed new roads and curb which led to any place one might Endeavor to go he usually returned home after A Hard Day's work but faced another long day which began at 5 or 6 in the morning hours one job many years later with abandon him in the far southwest suburbs he would stay overnight with a co-worker and his own family would not pick him up Bloomington was a great distance from Markham and Chicago and his wife Vivian was not prone to distance driving it was a rare treat for him to receive a visit on the job site from any family member with all all this driving his son and daughter will usually good enough to stay out of his way except for a few upheavals from Francisco who would fight push and shove his father in disagreement about The younger Garcia's daily activities he was of the opinion that he could do anything his parents were generally gone his mother Vivian was not good a good disciplinarian but she was a loving mother she followed Catholic values because of Jesse's Religion she was a parent who was more often at home and Nana was brought into the house later to offer alternative supervision she usually stayed in bed Carmen's family structure and situation was not so different than that of Francisco's his grandmother her grandmother was not on living standards but did live just on the opposite side of town where she had just moved from her grandmother be was a Methodist background and with her husband Henry played a large role in the communities religious Network she was a missionary to her sick neighbors to families under stress she kept their children from becoming Wards of the state assisted Community clergy with orienting their churches and throughout the 1960s they supported a reverend Holmes Reverend I to the Jackson Reverend John guys and other and on the other side of Markham the Christ Community Church with is floundering beginning while looking for a leader for the churches themselves she acted as secretary attending Baptist convention in Chicago and neighboring states just as she had done in Alabama she was a longtime employee of dogs nursing home on the southside of Chicago Vincennes Avenue but still watch over her grandchildren and length and ear to her own children's problems with the absence of her children and grandchildren an extra room was set up for senior citizens from her community who had no place to go and prefer not to live in an old folks home, and frequent to this environment would not at her own mother's house she married Francisco in 1971 the spring and moved his mother's home in Chicago the house in Kenwood will see many explosive activities including holiday fireworks and fires gags and pranks on neighbors and local merchandisers when do trade for marijuana as an income for the younger members as opposed to working an honest job that address with host split ups and hospital visits for life and death Francisco hosted basement parties where he was the feature act guitar player and his wife and wife abuse as entertainment and his first born was due to be delivered he ran into his own tragedy Roosevelt freeway accident that would have left him missing one leg amputated just just at the lower end of his thing except for intervention by his wife they move to their own address afterwards he was provided temporary disability and Welfare income as head of his family of three the mother of his brother's wife assisted with getting a c h a townhouse near that of his older brother Trumbull Park Loudon homes were one of the cleanest and safest communities available through the housing agency it was safe until he calls Layton Street gang activity to follow him chase him into the area after a few of his escapades before the birth of their second born child the area was falling apart from gang run through a cells he was feeding off of Hispanic population to the south of Trumbull Park and and an area he called K-Town for the Westin Chicago he drew a woman age 15 from a local high school and pushed his wife and children out before the baby could reach 8 months of age his father left the family home in Kenwood and stayed in Bloomington with the family of a co-worker he calls his mother to be hospitalized in a coma and his grandmother was eventually this place to other family members homes He claims his marriage to the replacement Marita Maria Flores was the future he and Marita had a child months later and left the townhouse for an address at 72nd and Jeffery Boulevard closer to his action his mother died in a coma his father reattached to a woman in Bloomington near his job site and he left Marita after prison stay for another woman in Gary Indiana Life Goes On