The mother is dewy with liquid blush. The dry-eyed daughter has seen it all before. I know children in Los Angeles who carry knives and guns because the walk to and from school is more dangerous than their teachers or parents realize. One teenager stays home to watch her younger sister, who is being pursued by a teenage stalker. The girls have not told their parents because they say they do not know how their parents would react.
Adults live in fear of the young.
A friend of mine, a heavyweight amateur wrestler, wonders if it's safe for us to have dinner at a Venice Beach restaurant. Some of the richest people in town have figured out how to sell the idea of American adolescence to the world. The children with the most interesting dilemma are the children of 90210. Teenagers who never had reliable parents or knew intimacy are having babies. In L.A. you can be very big, indeed.