When one mentions Southern California to anyone with ears, the first thing that comes to mind is a steady cycle of eighty-degree weather accompanied by sunshine bright enough to light up a day, yet not enough to blind an eye. They also think of beautiful women, beaches, celebrities aimlessly walking the streets for their morning cup of Joe, and Caucasian joggers at five in the morning just to start their day off on the right foot. As far as opportunities in good ole’ So Cal, all one would have to do is go outside and find a chance to make a wage, at least one would think. In some parts of Southern California, they’d be right. But if they went to other parts, like the Antelope Valley, they’d be wildly surprised by the inaccuracy of their own presumptions. The Antelope Valley, a place on the outskirts of Los Angeles county surrounded by deserted land, tumbleweeds and all, low economic opportunity, excess liquor stores, a plethora of corporate fast food chains along with a sporadic weather cycle that presents itself as either blazing hot in the summer, or freezing cold in the winter. I know, doesn’t look like the California they sold you on TV. This same city, just an hour away from the part of the California that everyone envisions, won’t have a celebrity in sight, but instead a population of traditionalist conservative folks on one side of the tracks, rooted in their age-old principles. And on the other side, disenfranchised families battling for a means, yet fortunate enough to escape the trials of LA gang violence, gentrification, and other blatant forms of terrible inflictions on the minority youth in the streets of LA. This is the part of California nobody brags about, the dirty, gritty, Antelope Valley. And in this particular case, the east side of Lancaster: the latter side of the tracks. The natives call it the AV. Living in the AV, one quickly realizes the opportunities provided are scarce. Whether the objective is to make a decent living or simply to have a good time, the AV has historically been a place ill-equipped at providing these opportunities for its inhabitants. When we add that to the many misguided subjects that reside in this town of destitute, we see an equation that may entail a downward trend in which our people are sliding. This brings us to the story at hand. For those of you with no knowledge of the dirt, allow this tale to serve as brushstrokes to a blank canvas of what it’s like in the 661, where one can kick up dust without even knowing.