Chapters 11-20

We meet Louie's other cousin, Marin in chapter 11. Marin has a boyfriend in Puerto Rico. Although her boyfriend is unemployed, she is saving up money by selling Avon products and babysitting, so that she could go back to Puerto Rico to get married to him. Louie's parents wants to send her back to Puerto Rico because she was too much trouble. Esperanza likes Marin because she's the only person who she can get information about boys, sex, and how to look pretty. Marin is allowed to go out at night, but only as far as her front yard. Esperanza and her friends get scared when they venture into another neighborhood consisted of a different color. There was a family on Mango Street called the Vargas. Rose Vargas was a single mother with a lot of kids whom were constantly out of control. The kids do not have respect for their surroundings. In chapter 14, Esperanza's friend, Alicia, sees mice in her home. She is deathly afraid of mice, but her father claims that there are not any mice in their home. Alicia goes to college to avoid the factory life. One day, Esperanza and her friends were naming the clouds, snow, and people. It turned into a childish argument. They called each other names. Then, they played dress up and walked around the streets strutting in high heels. Boys were hollering at them and the girls grew tired of it. Lucy's mother (one of the girls' mother) threw away the high heels and the girls didn't complain. Esperanza had a sudden urge of jealousy of the kids who were able to eat lunch at school. She always went home to eat. Her mother decided to let her eat at school one day. Esperanza cried in front of the nun monitoring the canteen because she lied and told the nun that she lived in the ugly apartments that the nun pointed at just so they would let her stay for the day. One night, she and her mother went to a baptism party. She had to wear her old shoes because her mother forgot to buy her party shoes. She was ashamed to get up and dance when her cousin asked her to dance because of the shoes, but then her uncle forces her to dance and the thought of her old shoes slipped her mind. The next day, Esperanza and her friends talked about hips and what they were used for. So, they jump roped, practiced shaking their hips, and made up songs about hips. Esperanza's sister, Nenny didn't catch on though.