What Tucson Really Means

This is the best thing out of there yet, right?

David Von Drehle (h/t Tommy T): So much of this story is ugly and twisted that it's best to begin with something beautiful and good.

Christina Green is walking eagerly through a sun-splashed Arizona Saturday morning, a busy girl on her way to the next adventure. She is 9 going on 29, with mahogany bangs and one of those great third-grader smiles, with the grownup choppers looming in front and the baby teeth so teensy by comparison. She wants to be an adult "so bad," her babysitter has observed — but for now she's a just about perfect kid. She loves baseball and Beyoncé Knowles, and her daddy calls her Princess. For Christmas, she asked to volunteer at a soup kitchen.