we all knew Monica was Russian spy; she was rich
but lived like a poor person; always desperate money
for corporate lawyers to perform complicated legal
services she would only hint at & that she could
provide to others but Monica wasn't a lawyer; she's a
spy she says b/c her parents are spies; her birth mother
speaks only Russian although she understands English
I was once told & then asked not to mention it to anyone;
everything was a secret w/ her; I always thought her
adopted mother was a lawyer; a power blonde fashionista
w/ a pleasant personality who'd sometimes stop by in a
limousine to take Monica to first run Broadway show;
it was the first time I ever saw a white limo although the
wood paneled town car had a nicer interior finish

the stretch stopping in front of the tenement
Monica trotting out dressed in head-to-toe Versace:
Monica's adoptive parents are Russian spies;
I didn't know spies could adopt; Monica born Natasha
was from Russia & learned to suppress her
Russian accent attending exclusive American schools
across the country; one or two years here & there;
never more than three anywhere so she was raised
in America after spending her first few years in a
Moscow school for the children of spies; I think she
was selected to be the perfect straight-A American
youth; in her thirties pretending to be seventeen
Monica never did homework but it always got
done & she didn't go to any of our schools; we all
went to different schools during the day & hung
out together at night & on the weekend; Monica was
really smart & beautiful & thought by some to be in
witness protection b/c of her lawyer father's dealings
w/ the Russian mob but how can he be in witness
protection when he's still doing business w/ them;
oh those are just my father's friends; your father's
a gangster I said to her one night & she explained
all the secrecy to me;it  the first time I heard the phrase
skullduggery & when we asked Monica's ex
whatever happened to Monica ; she mentioned
they were moving but suddenly &the whole family
& all their things disappeared; oh, yeh, he says
I helped them move out overnight; they made me
promise not to say where; u know Monica
& her family her spies he blabbed at last;
oh yeh yeh we all knew that drinking beer &
smoking on the stoop; w/o Monica things became dull;
Sean the kid in the IRA went back to Belfast &
couples got married & the crowd broke up;
no one wanted to get investigated & eventually
we all stopped talking about her as if she had
never existed; her whole family were spies that
acted famous & rich & lived under assumed
names; I heard her father speaking once in Russian
but when he saw me looking he started speaking
forced English about the Yankees; I remember
thinking they always tell u to think about baseball
& figured he was on a Russian phone-*** line; but
I guess he figured I was just one of the neighborhood
kids & he knew me & he started speaking Russian
again but more pleasantly, smiling & laughing now;
his disguise must've slipped b/c he was ******
at the time; standing outside the building beside
the black limousine on a call w/ a 'client' & yelling
at Monica that her skirt was too short; she went back
inside to change but she never came out; we found
out later that after the prom she & few choice friends
had gone to the new club w/o us in that same skirt;
we even couldn't get in that night; Monica was two
separate people; I mean she was two different girls;
I know that sounds crazy but if I mention Monica to
any of my friends to this day they look at me like I've
lost my mind; I've seen the look before; before they
laugh worriedly & say boy, u've got some imagination;
I must have heard boy u've got some imagination at
least three times like that's what they were told to say
& they'd rehearsed it; friends who never knew Monica
nod solemnly before saying u've got some imagination