Mexican WhiteBoy

This is the reader’s first introduction to Senior, Uno’s father. It’s clear, due to the consistency of his visits and the fact he is aware of Uno’s recent behavior, that Senior is making an effort to be involved in Uno’s life. It comes to light that Uno has been behaving violently, and not just toward Danny. The incident at the mall had landed him in jail. Uno’s mom leaving him in jail overnight could have been her way of punishing him or an attempt to scare him, but when she asks the officer what would happen if she refused to bring him home, it becomes clear she no longer wants to deal with Uno. He is disrupting her home life with her husband, Ernesto, who is now her priority. Having just moved Manny, Ernesto’s son, back into the group home, Uno is all that stands in the way of a fresh start for his mom and Ernesto.

Uno’s mother has spoken disparagingly of both Senior and his father, Uno’s grandfather, to Uno, letting him know he is from a line of violent criminals. Uno’s recurring dream where someone chases him through a graveyard and then tackles him is symbolic of his inability to escape his family’s legacy of violence and poverty. At one point, Uno’s mom’s disdain for Senior may have been merited, as he left her alone to raise Uno and ran off to Oxnard. Now, though, Senior is making an effort, yet Loretta still speaks down to Senior, emasculating him in front of Uno. As a son, Uno’s identity is tied to his father, and Uno’s mom speaking to Senior in the way she does, calling him, among other things, a “good-for-nothing black bastard [of] a father,” pains Uno (37).

When Uno throws the rock that unintentionally breaks a window and sounds an alarm, one might expect concern or feelings of contrition. Instead, Uno laughs, showing no remorse. He anticipates this drawing attention, albeit negative attention, so Uno runs and hides under some dilapidated bleachers. He is seemingly excited by the prospect of being chased, by police “slip[ping] down the ice plant […] clutching their guns” (39). In that moment, he is the star of his own show; finally, people are in pursuit of him. In reality, no one cares about a broken window in el barrio any more than they care about Uno. Uno is a neglected boy in a “forgotten slice of America’s finest city” (97).

Danny’s internal narrative reveals he’d been cut from Leucadia Prep’s baseball tryouts because, despite his obvious talent, he couldn’t control his pitching. Danny blames his dismissal on the fact that he’s Mexican and that his father isn’t in the stands, wearing a three-piece suit and lobbying the coach after practice, like Kyle Sorenson’s dad did. Kyle, whose professional-looking father was consistently present, is a white high school senior—Leucadia’s star player—who is about to be drafted by the MLB. Danny has studied Kyle closely; he wants to be like Kyle. His thinking is that if he is good enough—good like Kyle—it would get his father’s attention and his father would return.

That evening, when Danny’s mom introduces him to Randy, Danny is put off. He is dismissive of Randy’s generosity and genuine care for his mom. Danny sees Randy’s presence as an affront to his father. He is critical of his mother dating only white men, seeing it as further rejection of his father, and perhaps, himself. Even though Danny has witnessed his father’s violence, he still blames his mother for his father’s absence. He rejects Randy, his invitation to spend summer in San Francisco and his mother’s relationship, all in favor of spending summer in el barrio and trying to reunite with his father.

His grandmother’s special treatment of Danny troubles him because it highlights how different he is from the rest of the family. She is proud of Danny and how he has risen out of el barrio through his education. Danny mistakes her pride in his accomplishments as her being “almost ashamed of being Mexican” (46). This makes him wish he didn’t get good grades or have any of the privileges he has. The things his “[g]randmother gushes over are what shame him the most” (47). His whole family shows Danny nothing but genuine support, love and admiration, but he is unable to see himself in a positive light. He fantasizes about being defiant and “cuss[ing] out one of his private-school teachers in the hall during lunch” (47). He is angry and blames his pain on, among other things, his privilege.

Sofia confronts Uno for intentionally hurting Danny, for beating him up so badly he had to go to the hospital. Uno tries to justify his actions, but she calls him out, confirming what the reader knows, saying he was just “pissed about [Danny] hitting them home runs” (57). Sofia is eerily convincing when she tells Uno if he ever messes with Danny, she’s “gonna slice [his] stuff all up” (57). Sofia, a teenage girl, is the only one of Uno’s peerswho is able to speak the truth directly to his face; she commands a level of respect from Uno that won’t be questioned.