In June, Juan Guillen explained why he was in the process of joining a gang. His brother, Jesus Guillen, was adamantly against the choice.

In July, the brothers told another story of gang life and something Juan had not experienced before: law enforcement.

“I started just hanging out with the wrong people at the time and I wasn’t going to school as much and messing up,” Juan said. “There are not a lot of things out there that we can do. Most stuff you have to pay to go do and most people don’t have the money to do it. If there were something else we could do, I would rather do that.”

Juan, 15, and a Hug High School student, said he enjoyed boxing until the facility he trained at was closed leaving him with no after-school activities. He said he is still working on joining the gang but has not been jumped in, or initiated, yet.

“Out here I don’t think anything is going to change anytime soon,” Juan said. “Out here is only getting worse and worse and it’s getting so bad you’re going to have to carry a gun all the time. Most people carry a gun already. I see it only as getting worse. I feel like out here you have to do whatever you can to survive out here.”

Jesus does not agree with his brother’s outlook.

“I have better stuff to do than be in a gang and on the street,” Jesus, 17, said about his choice not to join a gang.

The teenagers’ mother, Briseida Rodriguez, has a theory about why Juan wants to join a gang and why Jesus does not.

“Juan used to be picked on,” Rodriguez said. “I think that is one of the reasons he felt the need to be protected. Jesus is friendlier with everyone.”

Rodriguez admits she’s a little stunned by Juan’s decision to join a gang because she said they are a very close family and she can talk about anything with her children. She said that when she was young, her family wasn’t close and that is how she became involved with the Maravilla gang at the age of 12. Rodriguez has also been open with her children about the struggles of being a single teenage mom, since she gave birth to Jesus when she was only 15.

Rodriguez said she is honest with her children; Juan and Jesus have a younger sister, and their mother has told them all that although she used to be affiliated with Maravilla that she doesn’t agree with the gang lifestyle.

“I feel like it’s cowardly,” Rodriguez said. “I tell (Juan) you’re a man for yourself.”

Juan said that it doesn’t make him feel good to see his mom unhappy with the choices he has made, but he said it is too late to change.

“I do feel like I’m making the wrong decision,” Juan said.

Jesus said he feels that he should be looking out for his younger brother but feels like Juan won’t take his advice.

“I can’t tell him anything because he won’t listen to me,” Jesus said.

Yet, it was the brothers’ close bond that put both of them in harm’s way the last weekend in June when the Reno Police Department showed up to a party after receiving a noise complaint, according to what officers told Juan and Jesus.

“One of the cops, I think, wanted to arrest me because he was just talking to me the whole time,” Jesus recalled of the incident.

Juan and Jesus said that the cops had arrested people who were outside the party, but that they were inside the apartment where the party was taking place when police asked them to step outside.

After an officer allegedly got physical with him and pushed him to the ground, Jesus said he doesn’t remember what happened and believes he was knocked unconscious after hitting his head on a light pole.

“I guess they thought I was going to hit them or something and they starting beating me up,” Juan alleged, adding that the officers tazered him.

Both brothers said that they were taken by police to the hospital, but Rodriguez was angry when she never received a call from the police to let her know where her sons were and she had to go looking for them.

“I have always taught my kids to respect the law,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said that both of her sons are on file with the Regional Gang Unit as gang associates and although she has fought for their names to be removed, both Juan and Jesus still have gang files on them.

“I was kind of mad because the cops were trying to put me in two different gangs,” Jesus said, scoffing at the idea.

“I didn’t really get mad because it was my decision to join a gang,” Juan said.

Juan and Jesus said that the incident with the officers in June opened their eyes and that they want to do better with their lives.

“I was thinking about going into the army,” Jesus said of his future, adding that he should graduate from Washoe High School this school year.

“I’m going to try to change,” Juan said. “Hopefully I can change.”

Officer Magee from the Regional Gang Unit said his department could not shed further light on the incident involving Juan and Jesus since the boys were not arrested and did not file an excessive force complaint.