L A Woman

Atticus squinted at it and said, “I can’t see nothing on it out here in the sun.”

Hondo inclined his head toward a nearby store and we all went inside. A buxom young woman smiled at us as we came in, then she saw Marcus and his camera. She was still smiling, but the smile now said that, although she liked us, she had bad news to tell. She said, “Sorry, but you can’t film in here without prior permission.”

Atticus said, “You’re an actress, right?”

Now, you can say that to every attractive person in Los Angeles and you’ll get a “Yes” about seventy per cent of the time, so Atticus wasn’t exactly reaching.

“Yes, I am,” she said. She was flattered, and smiled at him.

Atticus pointed at us, and especially at Marcus and the camera. “These are the stars of Lock and Load, you know it?”

Her eyes brightened, “Oh gosh yes. It’s the hottest reality show there is.”

Atticus put his arm around her waist and said, “What could it hurt to have you cooperate and allow them to film here, maybe get you some face time? They’ve got permission to film anywhere in the state, personally signed by the Governor,” Marcus lifted his head from the eyepiece and raised his eyebrows at that one, but got back to filming. “So how about a little flexibility, let them help you out in your career while you give them a couple of minutes in the store?”

Done deal.

We allowed the woman, whose name was Autumn, to be center frame as we showed Atticus and his cousins the image.- They looked at it, then at each other, then snuck several surreptitious glances at Autumn’s awesome 38 D’s before Atticus said, “That’s a tag.”

“We know it’s a tag,” I said.

All three of them shrugged at the same time. Atticus said, “Why’d you ask us, then?”

“Don’t they have messages in them?”

“Holmes, we’re not gang members. You got the wrong Chicanos, ese. We’re Americans, with a pinch of chile for flavor.” The others snickered and elbowed each other, then high-fived Atticus.

I nodded, “My bad, I apologize. I just thought that, since you had a lot of tags in the area where you guys work, you might have an idea and could translate it.”

Atticus said, “Translate? Just looks like lines and wavy stuff in red paint to us, ese.”

I said, “We think it might be Eastern European writing, and I don’t figure you’ve been visiting in Russia lately. It was a long shot, but I thought I would ask.”

Oscar leaned forward and said, “We have another cousin. He has a friend whose cousin is friends with a member of a female gang of European immigrants. He might be able to get her to read it.”

I said, “A female gang? What’s their name?”

“They’re new, call themselves the Menses.”

“Are you serious?”

“I swear. Only ones can join ‘em have to have their periods the same time of the month as the members.”

Marcus muttered, “Remind me never to approach them during that particular week.”

Atticus held his hand out to me, “Give me your phone. We’ll go ask him.”

I hesitated and Hondo snatched my phone and handed it to Atticus. “Thanks, Atticus,” he said.

Atticus and his two cousins gave Autumn long, lingering hugs, and as they reached the door Atticus said over his shoulder, “You’re gonna be a star, Autumn, for real. Hey Ronny, you don’t mind if we run up a few hundred calls to Mexico do you? Hah!” And they were gone.

Before I could mourn the loss of my phone, Autumn came over and hugged all of us, and that took my mind off the phone. She gave us a sheepish grin and said, “I guess I’d better get back to work.”

As she walked away Marcus said, “I’m still filming.” She put an extra swish in her hips for us.

Hondo led us out of the store and I turned to Marcus, “I want a copy of that last part.”

**