the day after

for the most part, los angeles seems to be at peace with itself. rumors swirled about cinco de mayo, rumors of death and violence and evil. who knows if it was true or just something he heard from her and said to him. regardless, praise God for the peace in south la schools. now if only we could start praying about school attendance.

"the boys" have dwindled down to chris and david. sharkie decided that metro wasn't quite his style so he's put in for a transfer somehwere else. but where's he going to go? back to johnson? homestudy? who knows. i just pray that wherever he ends up, he ends up off the streets.

david and chris didn't go to school yesterday. just 2 of the thousands of los angeles students that stayed home to avoid the potential melee. when i talked to david this morning he claimed that he just wanted to skip school, that it had nothing to do with fear or safety or not wanting to get shot. nothing at all david? no, i just didn't want to go to school, he says. funny thing though- last monday, after getting jumped by a crew over the weekend, he showed up outside my apartment at 7:45, busted lip, chipped tooth and all. you're going to tell me that he went to school like that, asking for embarassment and harassment, and he stayed home yesterday just cause he wanted to? doesn't add up.

on the ride to metro this morning cinco de mayo was an obvoius topic of conversation given the rumored violence. here's how conversation went after we discussed the rumored violence:

me: "david, you do anything with your family for cinco de mayo?"

david: "naw man, i'm not mexican..."

me: "that's right - you're half salvadorean and half guatemalan."

david: "yeah."

me: "yeah, serg's mexican, his family might've done something."

david: "he's half-mexican?" (i'd like to emphasize the incredulous tone at this point)

me: "no, he's full mexican man. one hundred percent"

david: "what? hell no! why's his name 'serg' then?" (even more disbelief)

me: "it's sergio arroyo. mexican. "

david: "damn."

me: "where'd you think he's from?"

david: "damn, i thought he was from new england. or something."

you can only begin to imagine the joy this conversation brought me.