My parents must never know Tony killed Bernardo. They would never forgive me. I have been confined to the house for almost a month now, only being escorted to and from work by Inca and Tio. My parents fear I have been in communication with the Jets. They want to keep me sheltered still among my own people. It is too late for that. How am I ever going to see Tony's parents? My parents want to hide my pregnancy for as long as possible. Soon I will I have to stop going to work. It will be impossible for my parents to try marrying me to someone else again. I am a shamed woman now in more ways than one. I have crossed the line.

One evening, while my parents have gone to bed early, I tiptoe into our tiny kitchen. I have only one person I can call: Baby John. Hopefully he will answer.

"Hello?"

"Is this Baby John?" I ask in a whisper.

"Yes. Is this Maria?"

"Si."

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"My parents know and they won't let me leave the house."

"Geez! What can I do to help?"

"I still want to see Tony's parents. They don't live too far away. Can you take me there?"

"Um…yeah, I think I can borrow the car and just say I'm going to Doc's."

"Okay. Thank you so much. Can I meet you at the playground?"

"Yes. I'll be there as soon as I can."

What am I thinking? Before I had met Tony, I would never have thought of sneaking out. I'm playing a dangerous game, but I can't stand by and watch the world cast me out. Quietly I sneak out my window and down the fire escape. Nothing can stop me now. I will face the consequences later.

It's getting darker when I see Baby John's car pull up in front of the playground. Hoping no one will see me, I rush into the back seat.

"I hope there's no Sharks out tonight," I say as he starts the car.

"I'm trying my best to be inconspicuous," he replies, "but your guys are good. I'll give 'em that."

"I appreciate you doing this for me."

"Without Riff's help, I've had to make my own decisions and…this one feels right."

When we reach Tony's former home, Baby John makes sure no one is around before helping me out of the car. I take a deep breath as he knocks on their door. A moment passes before someone opens it—Tony's papa. He looks so much like him.

"Baby John, what is it? What are you doing here?"

"You remember Maria?" he gestures to me, "She wants to speak with you both."

He looks uncertainly at me before allowing us both to come in.

"Carol," he shouts to someone in the kitchen, "Maria is here."

A woman emerges looking me up and down closely—Tony's mama. After wiping her hands, she goes to sit down on the sofa, a sadness to her face I can't cure. My only hope is I won't cause more of it. Baby John sits down beside me across from them. I need his support and he knows it.

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this," I reassure them, "but I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" Carol asks, offering me a drink of water.

"I'm pregnant and Tony is the father."

They couldn't have looked more shocked.

"All this time," his mama murmurs, "And he never told us about you."

His papa lights a cigarette, trying to take it all in. "I need a drink."

He wanders off into the kitchen and returns with a beer. For a moment there's an awkward silence. Tony never told them?

"He never even told you about the dance?" I ask.

"Oh he told us about that," nods Carol, "He didn't say anything about it after to us. When I saw you at his funeral, I thought you were just a girl he had liked. I had no idea it was that serious."

"Maybe he didn't want to accidentally say anything in front of Riff," adds Baby John.

"Maybe," says Carol shaking her head, "but I remember he said he'd be working late one night and never came home. I called the police and they said they were already looking for him. We had no idea what was going on until we heard from them Riff had been killed. He was like a son to me. Then not long after they called again and said the same had happened to Tony too."

She takes out her handkerchief, wiping the tears from her eyes. I reach out to take her hand.

"I loved your son very much. We had to keep it a secret because of the gangs. There was nothing else we could do."

She nods in understanding. "I know. I just can't believe he's gone."

I'm not going to tell her that Tony and I had planned to elope and leave town. It would crush her too much.

"I'm going to name the baby after him if it's a boy," I smile.

Carol sends me a weak smile in return. Tony's papa stares at me amazed at hearing all the events that had unfolded around them—the brief part of their son's life they had never known.

"Thank you," he says to me.

"She's a good girl, isn't she, Jim?"

He nods, a hint of a smile on his face. I glance at the clock. It's past ten. I need to go home before anyone notices I'm gone.

"Baby John, we need to go. Thank you both for your kindness and hospitality."

"You take care, Maria," are Carol's last words to me.

I am sad to leave them. Hopefully my brief visit has helped comfort their grief. While Baby John is carefully driving me home, out of nowhere another car's headlights blind us. Someone is following us!

"Duck down, Maria! I'll try to lose them."

Baby John swerves into every unexpected turn that he can trying to place some distance between us and the other car. All of a sudden with a jolt, he stops the car.

"Maria, get out of here, quickly! Run!"

I don't hesitate. My main worry is that someone saw me with him. I run down an apartment alleyway without looking back. Finally I climb the long stairs to my family's apartment. Across from their's is Anita's. It's safer if I pretend I went to her place. I hate to drag her into all this, but I know she'll understand why. Desperate, I knock hard on her door. Slowly she answers it, cranky someone has awoken her so late.

"Maria, what's going on?"

"Can I stay here for tonight? I'll explain later."

She sighs in wonder at my foolishness. "Si."

I breathe a sigh of relief. At least she can help cover for me in the morning. I am too exhausted to care. All I hope is Baby John is safe.