“My mother ruins every party,” I said but she didn’t laugh.

“My parents got divorced when I was about the same age,” she said, “and I’m still not used to it.”

“Maybe because both parents are still around,” I said. “My mom’s here, but my father’s long gone,” she said. “California or Korea, who knows.”

—

“College is worse than high school, don’t you think?” she said.

“Can I ask you something,” I said, “something that’s going to sound ruder than I mean.”

“Okay,” she said, not sure.

“Are you this negative about everything, or just community college?”

She laughed. “It’s all I talk about, right? I don’t know you well enough to talk about anything else yet, I guess. I’m not a negative person, I don’t think. I’m just down on the college classes I took.”

“What would you rather do?”

She didn’t know. “I’ve got time to figure it out, don’t I. How about you?”

“I wanted to go learn a trade,” I said, “Be an electrician, start my own business. I figured my father could help me get started, get some work and get established. I wish he’d just give me the money he’s spending for classes and let me do what I want.”

“Who’s your father?”

I told her and she nodded.

The next time I saw her, she said, “I talked about you and your dad with my mother.”

“What did she say about it?” I said.

“She says your dad’s a crook.”

“White-collar crook,” I said. She laughed at that.

“I told her he must not be much of a crook if he won’t give you some of that corruption instead of making you go to school.”

“He wants me to live a straight life,” I said.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she said.

That’s the way we actually talked, more or less. We talked that way for a couple of months and then we hardly talked at all. She was pregnant and didn’t want to talk about it. She left school and didn’t want to talk about it. I had to call her months later and ask about the baby. I had to ask her name.

“Eva,” she said and that’s about it.

“I want to help,” I told her. She didn’t want my help. I left school and worked on construction sites, a job I’d gotten with the help of my father, and tried to make some money for her. I didn’t want to talk about it.