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    Veterano
    Veterano
    Veterano
    Ebook100 pages1 hour

    Veterano

    By William Henry

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    About this ebook

    Newly paroled Hector “Hueso” Morales is trying go straight and get his family back together after fifteen years of hard time in California prisons for murders he committed as an East L.A. gang member.
    There’s nothing he can do to resurrect his son, murdered in a gang war at age 16, following in the footsteps of his father. His estranged wife Reyna is unforgiving , but softens when she sees Hector’s dedication to finding and rescuing their daughter Luz from the streets of Los Angeles.
    Hector is forced resort to his old ways, hanging with his old gang and reentering the violent varrio gang culture to find Luz. He risks a return to prison if his parole officer catches him, but Hector risks all in hopes of reuniting his family.
    Hector is betrayed by old friends and enemies, but has unexpected allies in hard-edged cons he befriended in prison. Along the way he saves a six-year-old boy from the cruelties of gang life, and uses the wiles he learned in prison and in his gang days to dig up clues that lead to Luz.
    Hector immerses himself in the deadly streets of East L.A. and does things he swore he’d never do again. He risks his life to save Luz and his family, and atone for his past life of violence in the gangs of L.A.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilliam Henry
    Release dateAug 3, 2011
    ISBN9781465730268
    Veterano
    Author

    William Henry

    William Henry is an historian, archaeologist and author of several titles including Coffin Ship, Hidden Galway, Famine; Galway's Darkest Years, Forgotten Heroes and Galway and the Great War. He lives in Galway.

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      Book preview

      Veterano - William Henry

      Veterano

      By

      William Henry

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2011 William Henry

      Cover Design by: Laura Shinn

      Formatted by: Laura Shinn

      License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away without express written permission of the author. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Veterano is a work of fiction. City and town locations are used in a fictitious manner for purposes of this work. All characters are works of fiction and any names or characteristics similar to any person past, present or future are coincidental.

      View more of William’s work at his website:

      www.henryandhenrybooks.com

      Dedication

      Dedicated to my father and author, Mike Henry.

      Acknowledgments

      A special thank you to my father, Mike Henry, for allowing me to write and work with him. His assistance and guidance on Veterano was invaluable. Thanks to my father’s editing and aid in the adaptation of Veterano from my original screenplay written in 2005. Thank you to my wonderful mother, Gayle, and Joseph, Stephen, and Marlene Henry.

      Blurb

      Newly paroled Hector Hueso Morales is trying go straight and get his family back together after fifteen years of hard time in California prisons for murders he committed as an East L.A. gang member.

      There’s nothing he can do to resurrect his son, murdered in a gang war at age 16, following in the footsteps of his father. His estranged wife Reyna is unforgiving , but softens when she sees Hector’s dedication to finding and rescuing their daughter Luz from the streets of Los Angeles.

      Hector is forced resort to his old ways, hanging with his old gang and reentering the violent varrio gang culture to find Luz. He risks a return to prison if his parole officer catches him, but Hector risks all in hopes of reuniting his family.

      Hector is betrayed by old friends and enemies, but has unexpected allies in hard-edged cons he befriended in prison. Along the way he saves a six-year-old boy from the cruelties of gang life, and uses the wiles he learned in prison and in his gang days to dig up clues that lead to Luz.

      Hector immerses himself in the deadly streets of East L.A. and does things he swore he’d never do again. He risks his life to save Luz and his family, and atone for his past life of violence in the gangs of L.A.

      Chapter One

      Hector Morales waited in the shadows on his rickety front porch, both hands planted hard in the pockets of his gray hoodie. It was five-thirty a.m. and chilly.

      He caught the glare of distant headlights. Because the gray hood covered all his short black hair and most of his face, Hector turned his entire body to check out the vehicle.

      He studied the large gray truck that broke through the dewy mist and headed his way. Boyle Heights, east of downtown Los Angeles, was a dangerous place. Hector needed to make sure.

      The truck stopped in front of Hector’s rusty gate and the passenger door popped open. Hector looked left and right down the street before stepping off the porch. He slid in and closed the door.

      Hector used both hands to pull back the gray hood.

      What’s up, Paul? Hector said to the driver. He jammed his hands back into his pockets.

      Hector.

      Paul was a thick white man in his early fifties with a bushy salt-and-pepper horseshoe moustache and short gray hair he combed front to back. He pressed the gas pedal and the big gray truck jerked forward through East Los, how the locals referred to Boyle Heights and all of East Los Angeles, the heart of Los Angeles’s Latino community—the epicenter of Hispanic gang activity.

      There were no unclaimed streets in Boyle Heights and South Central. One Hispanic street gang or another controlled and occupied each and every city block.

      Hector stared into the empty streets, dark except for the occasional street light. Paul drove west on Wabash Avenue and turned left onto Soto Street. He slowed down, almost stopping. Hector saw why.

      There was a body on the sidewalk.

      The old Hispanic man sprawled across the concrete, his arm dangling over the curb. Hector could make out fresh track marks and bruises on the old man’s skinny brown arm.

      Pitiful, Hector said to Paul. "Old tecato has to sleep off his last taste of heroin on such dirty concrete."

      It’s a free country, man.

      Not for everybody, Hector said and searched the concrete wall beyond the old man for new gang graffiti.

      Hector looked at the line of black spray paint over and through the tag SS VSTOWN 13. The tagging on the wall indicated a feud between two rival gangs for the area. Written in blue paint above the crossed-out placa was KAMster LOCs. KAM 13 was giving notice they were taking over the street.

      Hector had been away from the streets for a long time and spent part of every morning ride reading the walls of spray painted gang graffiti. It was his morning newspaper. Each block was a different page.

      Reading the walls was an old habit of Hector’s. Gang graffiti was everywhere and on every corner. He did not think it was as bad as it was in the nineties, but it was still present. The City of Los Angeles had been doing a better job of cleaning it up these days.

      Paul and Hector never said much during the morning drive. They were together all day, and had plenty of time to talk. Hector had told Paul he had trouble sleeping. Hector appreciated Paul allowing him to wake up gradually before Paul started any conversation.

      Paul’s truck continued down Soto Street. Hector looked for more fresh tags from the local Hispanic street gangs. Soto Street ran north and south through the Boyle Heights neighborhood. It was densely packed with a number of varrios.

      KAM 13 controlled much of Hector’s old varrio. They were a newer gang that had taken over many of the smaller varrios of his area, such as Fickett Street, The Sentinel Boys, and Soto Street. He heard KAM 13 had been giving the LAPD a hard time. The City obtained an injunction against the gang, authorizing LAPD to restrict KAM 13 members from gathering

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