Lake Mariposa Part Eight

After they purchased their corn dogs and soft drinks Rick and Sasha found a round table covered by an umbrella with the Pepsi logo on it.

“So why did your mom want you to go to a Christian school?” asked Rick as he took a sip of his Pepsi.

“My mother has some Christian friends that highly recommended the Christian School in our neighborhood. At that time I was getting into a lot of trouble at the public school that I was attending. My mother hoped that the Christian school would provide me with some good moral standards,” Sasha explained as she unwrapped her corn dog.

“And has it?” Rick asked as he tried to block out the sun's rays that were shining directly into his eyes.

Sasha laughed, “To some extent. At least I'm starting to think about the repercussions of some of my behavior. In that sense the Christian school has been good for me.”

“How does your mom feel about you staying with your dad over the summer?” Rick asked.

“She's cool with it for the most part. She doesn't hate my dad. She wishes that he would become more mature and give up a lot of his bad habits. My mother left my dad because she didn't think that he was capable of providing a stable life for us,” Sasha answered with a look of sadness on her face.

“It must be hard for you, with your parents split up and living in different countries,” said Rick.

“It is, but it would be worse if they were still together. They are so far apart in terms of philosophy of life that they may as well be living on different planets.”

“ You see, my mother wants me to have a relationship with my father even if she does not approve of his life style. Her parents split up when she was young and she said she lost all connection with her father. She didn't want the same thing to happen to me.”

“So you're glad that you're spending this summer with Misty and your dad?” Rick asked.

“Of course, silly boy. Otherwise, how would I have met you?” laughed Sasha.

“That's true,” said Rick while smiling lovingly at Sasha.