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by Don Armijo (Author), Fred Stawitz (Author)
Don Armijo was born in a poor, Chicano barrio in Pomona, California, where college and a good job were as distant a concept as traveling to the moon. With no thought to the future, he was jumped into Calle Doce, one of the toughest gangs in East Los Angeles County, while still a teenager.
Immediately faced with having to perform a movida to prove himself or face the wrath of the entire gang, he showed his homeboys that he was a natural when it came to venturing into rival gang territory with deadly intent. Don quickly mastered the art of disguising any sense of fear or weakness, a death sentence for gang members, and earned himself a reputation for his willingness to pull the trigger for Calle Doce.
With no future but the gang, Don found himself caught between the abuses of the police and hatred of rival barrios. It was a life or death struggle where illegal drugs were the substance of commerce. Friends could be shot down in front of him and any moment could be his last but Don thrived on the love and respect from his homeboys and accepted the realization that he cruised the mean streets of the barrio with a target ever present on his back.
Immersed in the internal politics of the illegal enterprises that surrounded him, he instinctively recognized who had the power and who wanted it. He learned when to step up and when to step back. Still throughout all the turmoil, he remained a true vato loco loyal to the barrio and ready to defend it at a moment's notice.
The day the veteranos tapped him as the next shotcaller for Calle Doce came as a shock since he had always thought of himself as a soldier, not a general. As fate would have it, his life of death and destruction caught up with him on that day and he was busted by the police.
Behind bars and serving hard time for murder, he found that the warning of his father that his homeboys would abandon him rang true. Now he was alone in his prison cell. The love and respect of his homeboys that had sustained his loyalty had evaporated the moment the handcuffs snapped closed around his wrists.
It took time for Don to realize that the future had always held options if he had only been open to see them and motivated enough to pursue them. Luckily, prison gave him the time to come to that realization before a bullet from a rival gang caught him unaware as he journeyed through the mysterious world of the most pervasive and misunderstood lifestyle in America ... gangbangers
