SAN FRANCISCO -- The black tattoo that once wrapped Cris Pulido's throat now looks like a smear of grease.
One year ago it was the Mayan symbol for the number 13, which in gang-speak signifies the 13th letter of the alphabet, M. M is code for Mexican Mafia, which is another code for Sureno, which is what Pulido used to be.
"I remember the excitement I saw in other people's eyes when they looked at it," Pulido said. "It was like they were thinking, 'Man, that's so cool,' " when in reality, they were probably thinking the opposite."
