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224 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1988
The whole country was in love with phonies, she felt. The bimboes on sitcoms, the rock dopers on MTV, the rich liars in D.C. It made her sick just going into the supermarket and having to look at all those fakes on the covers of People magazine. One day she'd like to start a magazine of her own where she could interview people like herself, people who knew it was all a big joke.
"I've been in there a couple of times. I never saw you. Is it a part-time job?"
"Fifty hours a week."
"Wow." He lived in a different world, she realized. He made money, carried his own weight. She charged everything, ran up the phone bill. And from what he said, he watched out for his mom, when all she did was fight with her parents about nothing. She lived such a superficial life.
But what can I do? I'm already spoiled.
"You and your parents are illegal aliens, aren't you?"
She trembled, ever so slightly. "Yes," she whispered.
"There were a lot in my old neighborhood. [...] What's the big crime? They've loosened the laws. Stay here a few years and they'll make you a citizen."
"That's not how it works. We got here after the amnesty deadline. In Washington there's talk about changing the requirements, but until then we could be sent home anytime."