Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter 5 Summary:

• After school, the narrator and Lorena look for clues on the internet about Olga's life before her death.
• The narrator lies to her mother, Amá, about working on a school project to get permission to go to Lorena's house.
• Amá is strict and doesn't allow the narrator to go out unless there's a specific reason; she is distrustful of others which the narrator finds "stupid".
• Amá believes women should prioritize family and home , only orphans and whores roam freely.
• Amá rarely leaves her neighborhood except to go to church on weekends.
• The narrator and Lorena eat hot chips drenched in lime juice; junk food is forbidden at home, despite Apá working at a candy factory.
• Amá believes Americans eat garbage, leading to obesity and ugliness, this is ironic since APá works in a candy factory.
• The narrator secretly eats cheeseburgers, causing her to gain weight and Amá to make snide comments.
• Lorena reveals she found "hooker underwear" and a hotel key among Olga's belongings.
• The hotel key belongs to a hotel Angie does not work at.
• The girls attempt to search for Olga on Facebook but find multiple profiles, none of which resemble her.
• They find Angie's profile, but it's private except for a childhood photo with Olga.
• Lorena mentions Olga had a friend named Denise but doesn't know her last name.
• The narrator observes Lorena's mother's Santa Muerte altar, which is decorated with Santa Muerte doll dressed in red satin, candles, cigarettes, fruit, a white rose, and a photo of Lorena's deceased dad riding a horse.
• Lorena's mom keeps pictures of her dead husband everywhere; she is now with another guy named Jose Luis.
• Lorena's mom asked for a picture of Olga so she could pray for her but the narrator thought it was "bizzare" so she pretended she forgot.
• Lorena's dad died trying to cross the border to attend his mother's funeral in Mexico.
• He was abandoned by a guide (coyote) and died of thirst in the desert along with six others.
• As Lorena starts rolling a joint, the narrator studies her dad's pictures in the living room.
• When asked about his pictures, Lorena says she doesn't care what her stepfather, José Luis, thinks.
• The narrator smokes weed and starts worrying about the stupidest things, she also comments how she has been told she is a person who will "float and be calm and relaxed".
• The narrator and Lorena look at quinceañera dresses online, finding them atrocious.
• The narrator has a hallucination of Lorena as a cheetah running through a forest when staring at Lorena's cheetah skin leggings.
• José Luis comes home early, which annoys Lorena who is trying to get high.
• The narrator finds José Luis creepy because he is younger than Lorena's mom and makes inappropriate comments.
• Lorena reveals that José Luis once sexually assaulted her, but her mother dismissed it as a dream.
• José Luis is Chilango, which means he is from Mexico City.
• The narrator thinks José Luis has an annoying accent.
• The narrator starts to wonder why José Luis spends so much time at the house when Lorena's mom is never there.
• Narrator cross her legs and pulls her skirt down after catching Jose Luis crouched looking at something on his phone in front of her.
• Every Saturday, Amá attends a prayer group in the church basement.
• Amá tells the group about missing Mexico, her mother, and her dead father
• On Saturdays when Amá attends prayer group, Apá lets her order Chinese food.
• Lorena is supposed to meet Carlos and his cousin, Leo, who is a Chicago cop and might have information on Olga; however, Leo is unavailable, and instead, they are accompanied by Ramiro.
• Ramiro only speaks spanish and she feels he is trying too hard.
• The group goes to North Avenue Beach.
• Lorena leaves the narrator and Ramiro alone and Ramiro asks about her favorite music.
• The narrator insults Ramiro's favorite band, El Tri by saying she would rather listen to "dogs barking for ten hours" than El Tri which makes Ramiro turn away from her.
• The narrator apologizes for saying his music tasted were garbage.
• Ramiro tells her that her sister passed away which caught the narrator off guard.
• Ramiro and the narrator kiss at the end of the chapter before Lorena and Carlos returns.

Chapter 6 Summary:

• It is the narrator's cousin Victor's seventh birthday.
• The narrator wants to skip the party to search Olga's room for clues but Amá refuses and thinks the narrator will overdose or get pregnant without her supervision.
• The narrator describes a reoccurring issue where she is never alone in the apartment and often has to open the windows late at night to be able to spend time by herself.
• The narrator begs to stay home but Amá refuses.
• Tío's house smells of old fruit and wet dog despite the dog dying three years previous.
• The narrator dreads kissing all the relatives at the party.
• As a child, tío Cayetano would stick his finger in her mouth but she bit him the last time and he blamed it on the dog.
• Tía Paloma, Tío Bigotes's wife, is obese, which makes the narrator wonder how she and Tío have sex; Amá says she has a thyroid problem.
• Tía Milagros is a bitter woman who makes passive-aggressive comments, especially towards the narrator.
• Cousin Vanessa is only sixteen but already has a baby, which is the narrator's biggest fear.
• Cousin Freddy and his wife, Alicia, are college-educated and stylish, which the narrator finds fascinating.
• The narrator feels like a frumpy dork when she talks to Freddie and Alicia due to them being stylish and sophisticated.
• The narrator wants to move to New York for college but is worried about her grades.
• Although she likes reading, Amá always complains when the narrator reads at the parties because she thinks it is disrespectful.
• APá and the uncles gather to bust out expensive tequila.
• Although the narrator like the Chinese food, Ama would disapprove.
• Tío Bigotes smells of tequila, cigarettes, and something disgusting.
• Tío Bigotes says that family is most important and criticizes the narrator for wanting to read.
• Tío Bigotes says that family is most important and criticizes the narrator for wanting to read because he wants her to be a "señorita" like dead Olga.
• After Tío Bigotes's drunken outburst, Tío Cayetano starts puking.
• That night, the narrator dreams the old room at Mamá Jacinta's house catches fire where Papá Feliciano (Amá's dad) stands holding a dead goat in his hands.
• The narrator screams at grandfather about Mamá Jacinta but he doesn't respond,
• She runs to the river and jumps in when mermaids pull her in, they have long hair floating all around their faces.
• Olga is one of the mermaids and the narrator begs her to come back but ends up waking up crying.

Chapter 7 Summary:

• Lorena makes a new friend who she meets in the lunch line and whom compliments her new pair of green heels.
• Lorena's new close friend is called Juan Garcia, however goes by his nickname Juanaga.
• Lorena and Juanaga hold hands and make the narrator feel jealous ,Juanaga should watch himself'.
• Mr. Blankenship, is the substitute teacher who breaths heavy through his mouth and wears a small green sweater.
• Juanaga throws a mascaraed ball at a fancy loft.
• They end up waking the substitute teacher up and telling him that they are going on a school field trip.
• Lorena made a letterhead for the field trip that says that they will visit Michigan so she can convince their parents that they are actually seeing a real college.
• The narrator argues with Amá about going to the party and brings her to tears where she eventually runs out.
• Amá said she should stay because she is "grito, ma niña and that he does not want her to go on the streets."
• Juanaga and Lorena pick the narrator up and drive them to the party.
• The narrator is worried because Juanaga doesn't have a licence of his own so is using his fathers car which is uninsured.
• The narrator is reassured to the giant warehouse party location because it looks ancient and tons of cars are parked outside.
• As they walk in a big woman stands out to greet them called Maribel.
• The music is too loud and so the narrator has to zone out because she cant hear anything.
• The narrator takes a shot but immediately regrets it , the second time she tasted beer was when she was twelve and she has always hated it.
• There is a man who pulls her to the dancing floor who is wearing a phantom of the opera mask.
• While the narrator is dancing a woman wearing a silver mask comes up to her and asks if she is one of Olgas younger sisters ,the woman is named Jazmyn!.
• She explains that Olga has passed away in the summer and the narrator runs to the bathroom.
• She is very upset but pulls herself together by putting the mask back on.
• Jazmyn and narrator gets Lorena to give her a drink.
• Jazmyn drives with the narrator and Lorena while she's drunk.
• Gets to the exit point but she slams her head a little which startles her.