The Greatest Lie Part 14

"Last I heard, they were dealing crank and crack for the 18th Street Gang, working down near Venice. Except Miguel's been in jail: something about child abuse."

I cringed. "Is he still with Marta?"

"I think so. I heard she had a kid."

"Don't tell me Marta married that bastard."

No, but they're still together sometimes. She works nearby, and she comes into my Starbucks sometimes, and complains about him, and talks about the kid. The kid's real cute."

I was filled with pity and worry for Marta. Sure, she had abandoned me, but she hadn't had a lot of luck, or choices, in her life, and in a sense, I had abandoned her too. Now she had even fewer choices: she was stranded in working class LA with little education and a child. I felt a need to reconnect with that broken strand of my emotional life. Marta had done so much to guide me towards realizing my own femininity.

"Do you have her number?" I inquired hopefully.

"I think she gave me a card." Seth thumbed through his bulging wallet as we walked toward Uni. "Here, keep it," he said. She was working as a hygienist for a nearby dentist. The card was marked with Marta's phone number in a neat blue cursive hand. "But make sure Miguel is still in the slam before you visit her: that hombre is completely wack. I don't think he would be real friendly to you."

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," I said acidly.

"I'm not really high on his hit parade myself," Seth reminded me.

The Uni mob parted like the Red Sea before Seth and me. The hard core at the Principal's Office regarded Seth with wary respect. He whispered in my ear, "I'm upper class now, and I already kicked most of their asses."

The Assistant Principal grumpily complied with the name change order, and Alexander Rios was, as a technical matter, erased from the rolls of University High School's graduating class and replaced with Alexandra Rivers. There were a few stifled guffaws but no catcalls as we zigzagged through the crowd of students toking, snorting and popping on the front yard. But I felt more comfortable when I wrapped Seth's arm around my soft, slim arm, and I was thrilled when he kissed my forehead when I smiled up at his proud, protective countenance.