An Incomplete Story

Nikolas Caban

There’s a narrative of my family. We are bad, violent, don’t care about anything.

But that’s not true.

He was sixteen. Robbed a store. It was his friend’s shotgun. He didn’t want that man to die. But “he saw our faces” and threatened. He had a good heart. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Made a bad choice. A lot of trouble. A lot of heartache.

Even though he did bad things, he changed his life around. Started going the right way.

I can be the one to show we all have good hearts. This is only the beginning. A chance to prove to myself that a family with our last name is not bad. Sometimes, we make mistakes that we can’t take back.

I will change this narrative. I can finish school. I can be a good influence, fix the way I’m acting. Prove that we aren’t violent. Just because one person does something bad doesn’t mean they all do something bad.

I will change this narrative.