Evelyn: A story

Evelyn is a 26-year-old Mexican American woman who works behind the counter at a grab-and-go cafe and is popular with customers. She has a youthful glow (even if she sometimes looks a bit worn), a sweet nature, and long brown hair with blond highlights.

She's been working there for a few years, the latest in a series of jobs since she dropped out of high school at age 15. That was when she became pregnant by her boyfriend, Joe, an 18-year-old friend of her brother. They had been seeing each other for about a year.

Evelyn's daughter, Carla, is a spunky girl of 10 who gets into some degree of trouble at school. They live with Evelyn's parents, and Joe does not contribute to the child's rearing.

But to back up. Evelyn was 14 when her relationship with Joe began. When they found out she was pregnant, he told her he would stick with her. By the time she was pretty far along, though, he discovered he had fallen out of love. Evelyn had been hiding her swelling belly from her parents, who were busy planning her quinceanera, and she begged Joe to come clean to them. She recalls him saying: "Don't call me no more, Evelyn. I don't love you."

Eventually, she could not wait any longer and told them herself. Her mother, she recalls, went to speak to the boy. But Evelyn's father could not bring himself to do it. He said he did not want to hear Joe throw in his face the fact that Evelyn had wanted it too.

So Evelyn left school, gave birth to her baby, and entered the hourly workforce. She worked hard, but was fired from a few places, one of them a clothing factory, due to tardiness. A few minutes here and there, nothing outrageous. But at some workplaces, there is little tolerance for that kind of thing.

These days, in between handling the lunch rush and giving the cafe a wipe-down before closing up, Evelyn thinks about going to cosmetology school. She turns down offers to become an assistant manager at the cafe - even though it would pay more - because she still sees this job as temporary, something to tide her over.

But cosmetology, now, that would lead to a better living and enable her to move into her own place. To make it work, she would need to find a program that would allow her to carry a full-time job and take Carla, whom she calls her "baby," to an after-school activity once a week. And before she could even apply to school, she would need to get her GED.

There's bitterness, of course. But it's mixed in with other feelings. "He was young, too," Evelyn says of her child's father. Still, she can't help but criticize her brother for being disloyal and hanging out with Joe still, even after everything.

Sometimes her brother gets mad at Joe too. But the two young men usually fall back into their easy friendship. They just get along well, Evelyn says.