Mexican WhiteBoy

Danny’s mom calls to check on him. She and Julia are enjoying their time in San Francisco and taking advantage of a world she never thought she would be able to. She tells Danny that Randy sends his Uncle Tommy a couple hundred dollars a month and that he plans to send Danny some, too. His mom applauds Randy’s generosity, but Danny doesn’t comment. His mom tells him how unlike San Diego, where Mexicans are treated like second-class citizens, in San Francisco, “everybody lives together” (92). She continues filling Danny in on her trip to Alcatraz, her yoga class, and Julia’s dance classes. She is truly excited, but Danny wonders “how could his mom do this to his dad?” (94). He is so angry, he vows not to have anything to do with her ever again.

Senior visits and, over lunch, illustrates to Uno the importance of seeing his circumstances through the eyes of an outsider. He lists what an “outsider” would see: basically, a broken-down city filled with poverty, “a forgotten slice of America’s finest city” (97). Uno is not sure what this has to do with him moving to Oxnard, but he acknowledges to himself the poverty by which he is surrounded.