‘20 Steps Back’
“Sometimes I take 10 steps forward and I’m doing so well, and then something will happen and I’m taking 20 steps back,” Aguilar said, crediting Roca for trying to keep him on track. “They don’t want to see me end up going to jail for the rest of my life.”
Now that Aguilar has done his stint on a Roca work crew, Rosa is helping him look for a job. Last week, they combed online listings for retail jobs -- preferably outside Revere and with night hours, she said, when he’s most prone to trouble in the neighborhood.
“When I was younger I always thought about being here for the rest of my life,” Aguilar said. “I wouldn’t mind leaving and starting somewhere fresh.”