Maria walked into Madame Lucia's Bridal Shop and set her books down on her desk. They landed with a thud, which attracted Anita's attention. She looked up from the blue bridesmaids gown she was sewing and smiled. "Buenas tardes, Maria!" she said.

"Why are you here so early, Anita?" Maria asked.

"I skipped school."
"Anita! That is not like you!" Maria exclaimed.

"Maria, you are younger than me. In two years you will understand why we cut class someimtes." Anita said placidly.

"...You and Nardo?" Maria asked.

Anita nodded with a smile. "He wanted to take me to Times Square."
Maria was in shock. "How did he afford that?"
"Bus fare is not that expensive, Maria. And it is so beautiful! So lit up and noisy and there's music and food and Broadway!" Anita sighed.

"You are very lucky to have a boy like that." Maria said wistfully.

"You have a boy like that, too! Chino." Anita replied, running the dress through the sewing machine.

"Chino? I hardly even know the boy, and yet Nardo wishes for me to wed him."

"Because he would protect you, keep you safe from those Jet boys."

"Anita, you and Nardo don't understand! I don't need to be protected. By a boy, by a gang," she placed her hand on Anita's shoulder, "by my best friend."
Anita sighed and gazed at Maria. "I suppose you're right. But swear to me you will keep away from those Americans. They're not to be trusted."
Maria nodded. "Si, querida." then she went to her table and started her latest project: a frilly wedding dress with a pink bodice and white hoop skirt.

Half an hour later, Maria heard the shop's front door open, and Anita cry out "Nardo! What happened?"

Maria rushed to Anita's side, only to see Bernardo leaning on the counter, with a large black slab of meat over one eye. No, wait...that WAS his eye.

"That Jet boy---gave me this!" Bernardo grunted, pointing at his eye.

"Which one?" Anita asked angrily, clenching her fists.

"The blonde kid. The shy one. I was ganging up on their leader and he just--POW." Bernardo replied in his oily Spanish accent. Anita spun on Maria and her eyes sparked, but her voice was somewhat calm, even motherly, as she said "See what I meant? These boys are hoodlums. They think they own every nook and cranny in West Side New York."
"But they don't." Maria and Anita both said this in unison, only Maria's voice was quiet and shaky. Nardo groaned in pain, and Maria grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's get that black eye patched up." She lead him into the washroom and turned on the cold water in the sink. Bernardo let the water run over his eye and get any dirt or sweat out of it. Then Maria gently dried it off and put a large adhesive strip over it. Bernardo kissed her forehead. "Get back to your sewing--it's a living."
Maria nodded and, once again, went back to making her dress.

After supper, Maria returned to her little apartment. She slipped off her dress, leaving only the thin white dressing gown she always wore under her clothes. She knelt down before her statue of Santa Maria, said her prayers, and climbed into bed. Outside, she could hear giddy laughter and intoxicated wooping.

Filthy Jet boys. Maria cursed them in her mind, then lowered herself beneath the covers and drifted off to sleep.