Matthew Padilla was 9 years old the first time he had a gun leveled at his head. Now 15, he estimates that he has been threatened with a gun or shot at more than half a dozen times since then. He operates on the fringes of Pueblo’s East Side gangs, not wanting to get too deeply involved but also not backing down from a fight. He hopes to survive until college, earn his bachelors degree, move away from Pueblo, and he wants others to understand the childhood he has lived.