THe sicilian is one of the trickiest openings out there - it requires a lot of study, a lot of tactical vision, fantastic defensive ability, and the willingness to look at al ot of theory.
(Lots of people think of the sicilian as a counterattacking weapon, and that's true - but onlyif you survive the first attack - and there's probably not opening that puts as much emphasis on black's ability to find only defensive moves as the sicilian.)
If you want to play any of the open sicilian variations as black, you need to first play through a bunch of master games to get a feel for what variation you want to play. (Don't play the shesnikov just because somebody said "This is tactical, you're tactical ... play it!")
Then get a good book on that variation and learn the specifics.
That's really the only way to do it. HOw much theory you need to have memorized depends on the specific variation (eg the dragon or the najdorf? Tons. The Sveshnikov? A lot less ... but still a lot.)
But the basic principles of explaining that opening are beyond the scope of a bulletin board post.