2 worlds collide in horrific crash
As the country's only royal political reformer, Prince Tu'ipelehake had been meeting with the common people, asking what they wanted from their government, for their country's future.
Now he was in America to seek the opinions of expatriate Tongans. In the darkness of a California night, the prince, his wife and their driver rode down the 101 highway. The next day, he planned to meet with San Francisco Bay-area Tongans.
Nearby, a white Mustang and a black Escalade were flying down the busy highway racing, according to witnesses, faster and faster, until they were going 90, maybe 100 mph.
Edith Delgado, the Mustang's driver, was 18, with a newly minted driver's license. Traffic was heavy; the SUV slowed, the Mustang didn't.
It was almost 9 p.m. on Route 101, and worlds were about to collide.
Edith Delgado lived in a small, blue-and-white trailer home trimmed with rose bushes near the 101 outside Redwood City. It was the highway she took to meet her friends, go to parties and maybe the one that would one day lead her away from her ordinary life.
Delgado was a hard worker when she wanted to be. At Best Buy (and later, at Bank of America) she earned enough to pay her cell phone bill and to feed her hunger for the Jordan tennis shoes that filled her closet to bursting.
The youngest of four, the baby who was both doted on and teased, she grew up watching her parents work hard to provide for her and her siblings. Her father, Jose Luis Delgado, is a fiberglass finisher, and her mother, Graciela Delgado, cares for a sick friend in her home.
She racked up hours at Best Buy but slowly neglected her high school classes. Often, friends say, she arrived late, never went to class at all or didn't do her homework. She was too busy at her job or just didn't want to go.
But Delgado wanted a change. She wanted a better life, far away from Redwood City.
"I need to stop," she told her friend Carolina Galdamez. "I need to start coming to school."
She enrolled at Redwood High School, a place for students who fall behind elsewhere. Principal Denise Plante immediately liked this spirited girl with brown, wavy hair and full lips, a silly, fun-loving student who made friends easily and didn't give her teachers trouble.
Soon, Delgado made the honor roll. Plante rewarded her with pizza parties and other treats.
"She really wanted to do well," Plante said.
Priscilla Contreras had noticed the change in her friend. The two had grown up together, first in the trailer park, then in elementary school and later in high school. When Contreras had a baby, it was Delgado who would often come over and sit with her.
Comments
- Reactions on Boozer speculation 10:15 a.m.
- Obama and pope hold first meeting 10:11 a.m.
- Stocks falter 10:10 a.m.
- Springville may allow chickens 10:08 a.m.
- Man admits slaying in cold-case 10:07 a.m.
- Armstrong drops to 3rd at Tour 10:04 a.m.
- White is underestimated in garden 10:03 a.m.
- Super glue: It's holding us together 9:49 a.m.
- Feillu wins 7th Tour stage 9:48 a.m.
- Success of movie not about Fox 9:47 a.m.
- Rumor has Boozer with Bulls
- Stadium of Fire flag burning was fake
- Jazz in back of line for free agents
- Okur signs two-year extension
- A primer for the 6th Potter film
- Jazz won't meet Lopez on Europe trip
- Restaurant destroyed by fire
- Mall owner seeks to retain zoning
- Jazz rally for OT win at Orlando
- AK will not play for Russia this summer
- Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
140 - Letters: Palin mistreated
137 - Teachers struggle with district cuts
135 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
123 - Rumor has Boozer with Bulls
104 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Moon landing: Let's hear from you
78 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
73 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70 - Letters: Single-payer system best
69
By now you've probably read about the investigation that showed just how...
The recent Poly camp in Bountiful opened the eyes of recruiters to at...
The headline for this article reads, "20 Utah law profs back Sotomayor". But...
To "Red | 9:22 a.m." you have the same gripe that many people have. Please...
Repeal all tax incentives to these people if they don't build it within a...
I wish I could have been there. It sounds like it was a great show.
I remember sitting in my grandma's basement in Provo watching on the ol'd...
So here are the Freedom guys again, saying "Let us do what WE want, but be...
and Okur back is no interior defense. Both are good on offense. Boozer made...
I hope a lesson was learned from this deception.
Great letter for the wrong reason. Science is never settled and that is its...
why on earth would chicago give up john salmons... he is the only scoring...



You can be the first to comment on this story.