San Antonio

I found Sike's section on gangs in San Antonio much more shocking than the L.A. section. The violence took many forms, but one of the most common was gang rape, which neither the perpetrators or the victims saw as such. One reason for this is that, as one (male) gang member put it "the girls have a choice of initiations: (A) fighting one-on-one with a guy for two minutes, (B) get shot in the leg with a Glock, (C) get jumped in by six chicks for a minute and a half, or (D) they can roll the dice and hope that they get two at the most." Whatever number the girl rolls on the pair of dice is the number of boys she has to have sex with in order to join the gang. The male gang members then expect that the girls will have sex with them whenever they want. Even when the sex is coerced, violent, or drug induced it is not seen as rape. Girls rarely report being raped for fear of retaliation.

When asked why they go out with gangsters girls respond that there isn't anyone else to date. "Everywhere you go, guys are in gangs...you go to school, gang members, you go to teen clubs, gang members. Our friend works at Pizza Hut on the South Side and all she sees are LA Boyz and Ambros...You don't have a choice about the guys you go out with." The boys believed the girls dated them for the thrill, and excitement which was the case for sisters Sandy and Barbara, two white girls from the city's affluent neighborhood who hung out with some gangster boys.

One of the most bizarre things I read in this chapter was the story of the 32 year old substitute teacher, a friend of Barbara's, who was waiting for her 15 year old boyfriend, father of her young son, to be released from jail so she could marry him.