For the first eight years of Alonzo’s life, the family squatted in an abandoned diner, were homeless and destitute, even with her mother working double shifts at as a waitress.[2] She often went hungry, and had problems with skin pigment due to a lack of nutrition.[2] Alonzo said her mother often used humor to offset the abject poverty.[11] Alonzo learned English from watching TV as her family spoke only Spanish at home; her mother never learned to speak English.[2] Television was a way for the family to stay inside, avoiding the violence from drug trafficking in their neighborhood. Alonzo would translate American shows into Spanish and act them out for her mother.[2] Alonzo and her mother were inseparable. Alonzo and her mother shared a bed until Alonzo turned 18.[2]