I’m going to be talking about a story called upstate, it is a nonfiction story written by Kalisha Buckhanon. There are a  few Characters in the story, but the most important two characters are Antonio, and Natasha. Antonio is a guy that went to jail for around five years, and Natasha is Antonio’s girlfriend. Antonio went to jail, because he was blamed that he killed his father. Antonio’s father was a really bad father that used to always disrespect his wife (Antonio’s mother). One time Antonio was coming home late and he had a gun in his pocket and when he first came in, his dad was kicking his mom and just yelling at her. So his younger brother after seeing all of that he went to the kitchen bought a knife and stabbed his dad with it a few times.

The Dad died. During the investigation Antonio didn’t want his younger brother Trevon to go to jail and neither did his mom, so he said that he did it. He went to jail for around five years. He kept sending letters back and forth with his girlfriend Natasha. Natasha and Antonio kept talking and they loved each other through those letters for two years. After facing a lot of problems and things happening to the whole family, his girlfriend Natasha wanted to break up with him so she could live her life and end the struggling. Things happened and Antonio knew that Natasha cheated on him with a guy at work.  After Antonio talked to her about it she said that she didn’t cheat on him, but the guy took her out to the movies and they only kissed.

Natasha is a really mature girl that wants to have a good future.  She told Antonio that she wants a man that can show her a good future so she can live a good life. Natasha went to France with her school for a program, she kind of liked living there because it was far from her problems. She came back to the US and started college in Chicago, after finishing some of her classes and working hard she wanted to go to France to attend the one of the best colleges. She passed successfully and kept working hard and looking forward to get to her dream.

Natasha and Antonio kept talking as friends, but not like they used to talk before. She used to always send him a letter saying hi, and ask about his mom and tell him about her family and her college plans. Antonio found a job in jail and he got his GED and wanted to save money. His best friend in jail was an Arab guy called Mohammed. He thought Mohammed was kind of weird but still a nice guy.

After two and a half years Antonio’s mom died, he felt so bad and sorry. He always wanted to take care of his family but he ended up going to jail. They let him come to his mom’s funeral, but he couldn’t talk to anyone. At that time Natasha had a new boyfriend and when she saw Antonio she felt like she wanted to hug him so bad and kiss him but she couldn’t. After he went back to jail Natasha sent him a letter saying that she is sorry for what happened.

Five years past and it was time for Antonio to come out of jail, when he got out, he found out that he learned a lot in jail and he had become a really nice guy and with positive thinking. He wanted to take care of his two little brothers. After 6 months of working hard,  he saw a girl at the metro station and they liked each other, they had a kid and kept working hard so he could raise that son of his and help him live a really nice life. After becoming a father and moving to his girl’s apartment he sent Natasha a letter saying that he wanted to see her.  He invited her for dinner but she didn’t want to because she got married and her husband wouldn’t like that.

After Natasha said no, he wanted her to know that he didn’t kill his father.  In jail he could not tell her this because he knew the people at the jail checked the mail.  Now that he was out, he sent her a letter; What happened is his younger brother killed his dad and he didn’t want his younger brother to go to jail so he said he did it and went to jail for him. Natasha started crying and wanted to see him, she drove to his house and saw his wife and his kid but didn’t see him. But he went to her house without telling her and she was home alone so she let him in and they talked and kissed at the end. This story teaches you that no matter how much your girlfriend or friends likes you, they still fake at the end of the day. But family never fakes on you, and they be there for you in hard and easy times.

Truth was at first, but after two years Natasha kind of got bored and wanted to move on, so she cheated on Antonio. However, Loyalty was great in this book since they were together until they became friends and Antonio got out of jail and they still love each other. Therefore, Antonio forgave Natasha for cheating on him, so that means he likes her and wants her no matter what. I don’t think people now or couples still have the same truth they had before. Like right now if you brake up with a girl you stop talking to her and all of that, but before they use to stay friends and the biggest example is Antonio and Natasha.