Summary
SAN BERNARDINO - Alexis Rios burns a gloomy afternoon sitting on a concrete stoop on the north side of the city.
She doesn't smile much as she gazes northeast at the snow-capped mountains.See the full content of this document
Extract
Forward Bit by Bit
The future she sees is not so bright.
"I don't want to be like this when I get older," she says, nodding at a scraggly woman shuffling down the street, cigarette smoke trailing behind. "Of course, I want to graduate and get a good job and all that, but I feel like I already screw up in school, like it's too late now."At 15, Alexis has porcelain baby-fat on her cheeks and impassive, steady brown eyes.She is coolly cynical, wanting happiness and success but expecting something less.Thirteen months ago, 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw was killed in an apartment a block away.Alexis didn't know Mynisha, but she heard the gunshots.In the time since Mynisha was killed, community and city leaders have crusaded for safer streets and better living conditions for the city...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
