The Five Wounds

This section of the novel begins Part 2, “Ordinary Time.” Its longer length in comparison to “Semana Santa” and “Lent” speaks to the theme of Redemption and Faith. In Part 1, Amadeo fully believes performative religiosity to be the path to redemption. In Part 2, his personal growth begins as he starts overcoming this belief. This growth commences as Amadeo learns to dedicate himself to his family during “ordinary times” rather than just during his performance during Holy Week.

This novel, which is markedly character driven, adopts a third-person omniscient point of view that allows readers access to the thoughts and observations of multiple characters. The narration moves fluidly among Amadeo, Angel, and Yolanda; through this interwoven storytelling, a clearer picture of the Padilla family emerges. One of the primary focal points of this portion of the text is interpersonal relationships. Accordingly, the reader learns more about each character not only through their inner monologues but also through how the characters interact with one another and interpret those interactions.

“Ordinary Times” introduces the character of Brianna, Angel’s teacher at Smart Starts! Brianna is earnest, detail oriented, and organized, but she is also woefully unprepared to teach teenage girls the skills they will need not only to parent their children but also to further their education and successfully navigate the grown-up world of work and responsibility. An outsider to the area, she has no observable cultural knowledge of the very unique, multiethnic, and multiracial community in and around Española. This lack of preparedness is most evident in her interactions with Lizette, a student whose brash personality and penchant for in-class interruptions is alluring to Angel, in spite of the seriousness that Angel herself brings to her studies. Brianna approaches each interaction with Lizette as a power struggle. Because Brianna does not realize that trauma is at the root of the young woman’s disruptive behavior (and even her general life choices and her teen pregnancy), she fails to provide Lizette with the kind of acceptance, understanding, and structure that Lizette needs. Although easily distracted and not overly focused on learning, Lizette is intelligent and does show some signs of reflection. When Lizette makes the very reasonable point that it is unfair of Brianna to have cut the girls’ lunch short because she thought that Lizette was acting out, Brianna does not consider Lizette’s point; instead, Brianna addresses the conflict in a manner meant to preserve her absolute authority. It’s not until later that Angel will realize that inequality and prejudice shape Brianna’s behavior in ways that Brianna herself does not understand; however, the seeds for that realization are planted in this series of interactions.

Angel’s deep commitment to responsibility and careful parenting emerge within these chapters, and she begins to embody the theme of Personal Growth and Identity. Although Angel is drawn to Lizette, Angel’s diligent note taking and the seriousness with which she approaches their in-class activities contrast markedly with Lizette’s disruptive flippancy. Angel has not fully come to understand Brianna’s flaws, and at this point, Angel still somewhat idolizes her teacher. This relationship hints at Angel’s own lack of a stable mother figure. Angel looks to Brianna for what was missing in Marissa. This relationship should be read as a parallel to how Amadeo turns to Tío Tíve for the support and recognition that he missed growing up without his father.

The contrast between Brianna and Marissa becomes clearer in light of further detail about Angel’s relationship with her mother, which Angel fills in during the sections of the story that she narrates. Marissa is more focused on her boyfriend and on her own feelings than on her daughter. Marissa allows, even encourages, Angel to spend more time outside of their home so that Marissa can have time alone with Mike. Even when Angel is in the hospital giving birth, Marissa’s focus is elsewhere, and she does not arrive until after is Connor is born. Marissa is then hesitant to enter Angel’s room until after she and the baby are clean. Of course, these behaviors are rooted in Marissa’s own history as a young, unprepared mother, though the author does not fully explore that until later in the story. This manner of revealing the roots of issues is a broader pattern. Namely, these early sections of the text instead continue to present the surface of a set of issues, with the roots of those issues revealed in a slow-burn way that withholds answers until the final chapters. This approach is one key way in which the author encourages readers to look beneath the surface and meet difficult behavior with empathy rather than stigma. Ultimately, much of the conflict will be revealed as the result of generational trauma. But by presenting its manifestations before a thorough representation of its causes, the author gives a realistic account of what it is like to encounter and manage pain that is passed down through generations.

Yolanda is an important part of these chapters, although the portions of the text narrated by her are somewhat separate from the sections told by Angel and Amadeo. This separation reflects the space that exists between Yolanda and her various family members. Although her family does not realize it, they do not quite see Yolanda for her true self. Amadeo learns how to be a better father to Angel but, he has not yet reflected on what kind of a son he is to Yolanda. Yolanda appears to her family to be a figure of support and unconditional love, but not necessarily a holistic, multi-faceted person. This perception is part of why Yolanda struggles to tell them about her cancer diagnosis, even when the situation becomes dire. Here, for example, the reader sees Yolanda become lost in the very familiar capitol building where she has worked for nearly 30 years.

Amadeo shows fitful growth in this section. He purchases a new, high-quality car seat for Angel’s baby, Connor, and he happily accompanies Angel to the open house at Smart Starts! The beginnings of change are emerging. However, it is not yet clear if Amadeo will fully embrace the responsibilities of being a father and a grandfather—even to Angel remains suspicious, the remnants of resentment toward her father still smoldering. Part of what complicates his growth trajectory is his constant score keeping with Marissa. Amadeo is forever comparing Angel’s attitude toward he and Marissa, and he has begun to compete with Marissa (albeit secretly) over who is the better parent. His clandestine plan to go on a date with Angel’s teacher, Brianna, foreshadows obstacles in his transformation, even though progress is evident.

In contrast to Amadeo, whose trajectory suggests growth, Marissa seems to show less and less interest in Angel the more progress Angel herself makes. This attitude is evident in the scene where Marissa claims to have smoked during her pregnancy with Angel; both Amadeo and Angel are struck by how jokingly Marissa describes a major breach of safety protocol for expecting mothers. The envy that Marissa feels about the support her daughter is receiving, compared to the lack of support Marissa received, will only become evident later. At this point in the story, the authors guides readers toward empathizing with Angel’s inability to forgive her mother. On the surface, Marissa appears to have shaken off the last responsibilities of parenthood when Angel moved in with Amadeo.

As Amadeo and Brianna converse in the hallway, Brianna confides to him, inappropriately, that she does not have much faith in most of her students but does think that Angel will succeed. Amadeo, newly introduced to the term “at-risk,” is stunned to learn how his daughter is characterized. Much of Amadeo’s redemptive arc is the result of Amadeo simply spending more time focused on his daughter than on himself. However, the realization in this moment that Angel is an adolescent deemed less likely to have successful outcomes shakes Amadeo and, to an extent, contributes to his increased commitment to his daughter. This conversation also begins to reveal Brianna for the casually racist, culturally insensitive individual that she truly is: what lurks below the surface of this character is not immediately evident in how she presents herself.