Debutante

That song is stuck in my head.

“I lean like a cholo, side to side.. e-elbows up.. side to side..”

And I’ve been singing it out unconsciously all through out the day. Drove my classmates nuts. It’s so catchy. Though I think, subliminally, it has made me think I’ve got enough cred to sing such song in public. I mean, you know. Me, being a cholo — er, a chola. Haha..

Yeah yeah. People know I’m hardcore.. I’ve got my hoes, I shoot people up., I do drive-bys, I rap. I’m gangsta like that.

Hahaha..

But then right when I got home, right when I parked my Rain on the driveway, one of my aunties pulled over the street. She was practicing for her driver’s license exam tomorrow. Well, having passed my own driving test on my first try (despite the 15 mistakes) people have been asking me for tips (actually, only two have done so.. but hey, at least they turn to me. That’s enough of an ego-booster right there).

Anyway, so she was in her truck with her husband, and I stood on the sidewalk while I spelled out my expertise in driving — or at least anout faking it for the heck of passing — until these three guys, decked in over-sized shirts, baggy shorts, nike cortezes with knee-high white socks walked by.

“Oh shit! Real-life cholos!” I shrieked in my head.

And suddenly I had an urge to sing “I lean like a cholo, side to side.. e-elbows up.. side to side..” and imagined myself leaning onto them and the four of us leaning like true gangsters on the sidewalk. And then people will join us, and we’ll all sing “I lean like a cholo, side to side.. e-elbows up.. side to side..”

It was a funny thought. But I didn’t pursue it lest I get shanked.

And we know that getting shanked by cholos is not really on my priority list right now. Haha.

So I looked at the passers by, quickly averted my eyes, and pretended they were just ordinary people.

I was gonna greet them, and pull a “Hi, how are you guys doin?” like a good citizen as myself.

… but I think that’s pushing it a little too much.