BOOKS
My Bloody Life:
The making of a Latin King
By: Juan Anguiano
Reymundo Sánchez is young man from Puerto Rico that has just moved to Chicago’s Little Village barrio. His family later moves to the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
He lives with his mother, his stepfather, and three sisters. He doesn’t get along with his stepfather and they always fight. Before moving to Chicago, he lived in Puerto Rico, where his cousin raped him. Rey was threatened never to tell anyone about what happened, and brings that scar with him to Chicago. His stepfather loses his job and the family is forced to move back to Puerto Rico. The relationship he had with his stepfather only gets worse. The mother decides to send Rey back to Chicago to live with her stepson Héctor. Here is where the making of a Latin King begins.
By the time all this happened Rey has gone through a lot for someone his age. He was exposed to Hector’s friends, the drug addicts. He lost his virginity to a 35-year-old woman, and witnessed a murder — all by the age of 14. He lived with Héctor, a drug dealer, who could care less about him or what he did. So what does a man with no discipline or no parental guidance do? He hits the streets. At first he joined another gang, but eventually ended up a Latin King. He was part of drug deals, beatings, vandalism, and was sexually promiscuous.
As he did more harm, his rank in the gang grew more. At one point, he was rejected by his own “brothers,” and ended up prostituting himself for drugs and money. This is something he says he regrets to this day. He became a drug addict and eventually is sent to jail.
This book takes the reader through an emotional roller coaster. For someone who was not previously exposed to this kind of life, it was shocking and amazing what Rey went through. As I was reading this book, I could not put it down.
At times, the lack of his mother’s affection is upsetting to him. Throughout the book Rey questions his mother’s affections and wonders what could have been of his life if things were different. This was the first book I ever read for no reason, I really enjoyed living Rey’s experience and recommend this book to anyone who is curious about this lifestyle. Rey takes the reader through every battle and vividly describes what happens. As I was reading the book, I could picture myself with him. The book also stimulated a lot of good conversations with my friends about people that they know that live or lived a similar life. But the saga does not end here, Once a King Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King, tells the story of the aftermath of Rey’s bloody life.