Mexican WhiteBoy

Uno and Danny meet Carmelo Esposito at a local high school. During warm-ups,Carmelo has no trouble making contact with Danny’s pitches. The plan is to build Carmelo’s confidence, so Uno is not concerned, but “Danny feels incredibly wild. [He] has no idea where any of his pitches are going […] the exact same feeling he had during [Leucadia Prep] tryouts” (127). Uno lightly insults the player and the hustle begins. Money is wagered and stuffed in a hat. The pressure is on. Danny needs three strikeouts and he’s not getting any more control over his pitching. He knows he can throw straight, and that he’s been throwing straight all summer, so he determines his “problem is in his head. It’s psychological. But how would he know how to fix psychological?” (129). He’s tensing up and his pitches are getting worse. Uno questions and encourages, but Danny can’t get control. Eventually Carmelo makes contact and the ball disappears into the deep outfield. They hand over the money. Danny is sorry for losing Uno’s money, and Uno says he “ain’t never gonna make to Oxnard. Shit ain’t meant to be” (131). They run for the bus in silence.

Uncle Tommy has just landed a big job in Las Vegas with almost double the money and the family celebrates over a dinner of enchiladas. Later, Danny pretends to be asleep on the sofa while his Uncle Tommy and Cecilia, his wife and Sofia’s stepmother, discuss how they’ll make it work for the two months he’s away. Danny can’t stop thinking about his wild pitches and how they were just like those he’d thrown at tryouts. Worse, he has let Uno down. Overwhelmed by guilt, Danny can’t sleep, so he slips out to a nearby liquor store to get something to drink and read baseball magazines. In his mind, he composes a letter to his dad filled with lies and wishful thinking about making San Diego’s most prestigious travel team and about his relationship with Liberty. He assures his dad he’ll “totally get along with her” (135), because she is from Mexico, too. Danny tells his dad of his plans to come see him in Ensenada and how, in the future, he’ll probably get a second home there, so they can be together.

Uno comes home late from a party and Ernesto is lying in wait. He comes into Uno’s bedroom, berating him, saying, “next time you don’t put the trash out I throw your black ass out with it, you hear?” (137) He goes on yelling how he’s the man of the house and Uno “ain’t nothing’” (137). Fearing the argument will escalate, Uno remains silent. He doesn’t worry about Ernesto hitting him; instead, he worries about his own reaction to Ernesto.

Afterward, Uno’s mom runs in and, apologetically, tells Uno to just do what Ernesto says, then excuses her husband’s behavior. Uno leaves through his bedroom window, feeling untouchable by Ernesto; in his mind, he has moved to Oxnard. Uno walks to his favorite liquor store and is surprised and happy to find Danny there. He hasn’t heard from Danny since the failed Morse High hustle. Uno tells Danny about the party he’d attended earlier in the evening and that he’s still “pretty faded from the Hennessey”(140). Uno sees Danny reach his arms behind his back and dig his fingernails into his skin. Confused by this behavior, Uno hits him on the shoulder to stop. Uno notices Danny is reading a baseball magazine with Kyle Sorenson’s face on the cover. Danny tells Uno about Kyle. Danny tries to give Uno twenty dollars to repay him for the money lost in the hustle, but Uno blames the loss on bad karma and tells Danny not to worry about it, that he’s finally gotten a job as a busboy at El Torito.

The boys leave the liquor store and head for a place Uno knows by the tracks where he goes to clear his head. Uno introduces Danny to his “karma” game, whereby a player makes a wish about something he wants and then throws rocks at a target. If he hits three out of five, the wish is supposed to come true. Uno wishes he’ll move to Oxnard. He hits the sign three times, pounds his chest and tells Danny to try. Danny reveals his wish is to see his dad in Mexico and then fires five shots. He hits the target dead center each time, leading Uno to declare, “That’s some freak-factor shit” (144).

Uno asks Danny why his dad went to Mexico and Danny says he does not know. Uno grabs Danny’s arm and examines the scars from all the digging. Uno can’t understand why someone with so many advantages would do that to themselves. Uno tells Danny he doesn’t even know Senior, at least not the way he is now, but that when he moves to Oxnard, he’s going to stay out of trouble, get his grades up and maybe even play catcher on the high school team. The two discuss the failed hustle and Uno asks Danny if he had felt intimidated by Carmelo, the Morse High player, or if something else was “botherin’ [him] in [his] head?” (145) Danny says he doesn’t know. Uno grapples with his own self-doubt, “thinking maybe he’s the reason for what happened at Morse High. He knows Danny’d make out better with a real catcher” (145).

With the train coming, Uno instructs Danny to grab a post and hold tight. Uno says the power he feels vibrating through him from the passing train is the “kind of power God gots” (147), as though it’s spiritual. He then shares his thoughts on God’s whereabouts and laughs at himself for “‘getting all deep down here at three in the mornin’” (147).