"You know, those kids over there,
by the corner, next tot he apartmetn stairs,"
I sign to Corny while we're walking.
"They used to pick on me,
and push me around. Tease me,
laugh when I'd finally fall to the ground."
Cornys eyes go dark, as he glances over at the people.
I hurry to sign even quicker.
"But now I'm the one laughing,
becasue the one with no hair,
they just got out of Juvi,
and the girl, she's pregnant.
She's only 14."
I know allt he people are staring,
a girl signing to a man.
A girl with black clothes, and quper blond hair,
mascera around her eyes
making funny talk with a deaf man.
But I ignore them.
"And the smaller one,
he dropped out,
and his girlfriend dumped him.
The tallest one has a suspended lisence."
When corny asked me why,
I turned my face to the ground.
THen looked back up at him.
"THey don't know how to control the drugs."
I signed softly.
My movements vaugue,
it's like whispering in sign language.

"But it's all okay,
Becasue I laugh at them now.
I can control the drugs,
and I'm not pregnant,
I'm not in Juvi,
I still go to school,
and I don't need to worry about al isence yet."