by Mario, Santa Cruz
The only time I remember forgiving others was this time when my uncle gave me my first car. It was a Honda Civic ’03, all beat up but shhh, it was for free. I asked my mom to swap cars for a week. She had a new Honda Civic ’07, and it was hella clean. She agreed to.
So I think it was a Wednesday when my mom asked me if she could get her car back. I was, like, sure, give me mine back. She was giving me the keys when she said, “But I was gonna tell you that I put in oil and I think I put in more than you need to.”
“So what happened?” I said
“Smoke is coming out of the car, like a lot,” she said.
I was all mad. I was gonna tell her to pay me for the mechanic, but then I said, “Nah, I can fix it on my own.”
I went to the Auto Zone to buy the spark plugs, oil and cleaner.I fixed everything in less than 20 minutes. My mom was watching me working.
When I was done, I told her, “Can you please turn the car on?”
She did it and smoke was still coming out of the car.
“Mario, you didn’t fix anything!” she said, kind a mad.
“Just wait a minute.”
A minute later, the smoke stopped and that’s when I saw the biggest smile on my mom’s face. I only spent like $50 when I would have spent $200 at an actual mechanic shop.
That day, I didn’t let my anger drive me to an argument with my mom. Instead, I let forgiveness take place. And at the same time, I showed my mom that I am actually good at something.