. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A R O L E . C A L L

Frankie came in today after his first tattoo removal treatment. He is having his La Vida Loca dots, three dots in a triangle configuration, removed from below his left eye; the small 69 from below his lower lip; and his mother’s name, Rosa Maria — this being the most important of the three — removed from his neck. He thought his mother would be happy when he got her name inked on his neck. I think he said she fainted instead. She is very happy Frankie is having this done now, and to get it done for free for doing community service is especially cool. Otherwise it would have cost him $5,000. Frankie is a tattoo artist himself. He does permanent eyeliner on people, he wants to study cosmetology. He has a real chance of succeeding.

– from a 2002 journal entry