I was sleeping calmly until my dreams were interrupted by a shake. ‘Robbie wake up!” said Jonathan, my older brother.

“Whats going on?” I asked, with a tremble in my voice. Was it time for Gustavo and Jonathan to go to school?. But why was it so dark?

My mother walked in my room. “You need to pack up,” my mother said. ‘‘I’ll help you in a second,” she said in an angry voice.I felt something was wrong.

I heard my mother in the other room. "We are leaving to our new home, without you," she said matter of factly.

"And where are you going to go?" asked my father with a surprise. Why would he ask that? He knew he had it coming. My mom had told him a million times. All the times he would come home drugged up and argue with her for no reason.

“To California,” she responded.

“You can’t get a job. You’re nothing without me.”

The sensation I was feeling was getting worse. Something was wrong. I covered my ears to block the arguing.
I suddenly heard a yell from Gustavo, "Jonathan!! The door is open!"
No! I thought to myself. We ran out of the house yelling "Tito!!!" I was really upset and I knew Jonathan was even more upset. Jonathan really loved Tito.
"I'll look for him," my father said he sounded doubtful that we would find him. We all searched for him for hours. We knocked on all of our neighbors doors. Of course no one answered because it was the middle of the night.

Finally, my dad said, dejectedly, "He's gone."

We came back to the house, and we all just stood in the living room for a minute. I went to my room and laid in my bed silently.I suddenly heard arguing between my mom and dad, but my brain decided to block the words they were saying. The world was going slow for me. I knew nothing was going to be the same.

"Robbie!! Help me pack up!” my brother, Gustavo, told me, and so I did.

I looked at his eyes. He looked as if they had torn his heart out of his chest.

I suddenly realized I hadn’t seen Jonathan since we were looking for Tito. I walk to the living room.I see Jonathan trying to push away my dad from hitting my mom. I see my mom crying behind Jonathan. I could see the anger in Jonathan’s eyes as he pushes my father away. How could this be happening? Why can't they just resolve their problems like they used to? Like they used to, when my father didn’t use drugs. I suddenly had the urge to cry, but I held it back because I knew it would only make my mom even more sad.

After Jonathan pushes him, my dad gets so mad. He runs to the backyard, and he stares at the garden. The garden that we worked so hard on as a family. I see him tear all of it out of the ground. I see the fruits and vegetables fly in the sky.

"Stop!" my mother cried out. But my father didn't budge, he kept destroying everything. Then, there it was--- the rose bush he bought my mom torn apart.

"Take us to the bus stop now..." My mom commanded him.

"Fine. Leave me,” he said with a angry tone.

“Get the car keys," he said to Gustavo and so he did. We all went inside the car. Not a word was spoken. We drove to the bus stop.

Once we make it to the bus stop, I look at my mom. All I see is sadness in her eyes. ‘We’re leaving to California,” she said calmly to my dad.

‘When will you come back?” he said. My mom said nothing. I looked at everyone. They all had made their decisions of leaving.

We said goodbye and got on the bus. Once we were on the bus, even though it was the middle of the night, I couldn't sleep at all. “Mom?” I said. “Why did we leave my dad?”

She said sadly, “We left because its the best thing for all of us.”

I agreed. As much as we tried to change my dad, by trying to help him with his addictions, it just didn't work. I hugged my mom and I fell asleep in her arms. She had so much compassion for us. She had to get out of there so we could survive.