Chapters 21-30

Esperanza decided to get a job to pay her tuition for Catholic high school. Her Aunt Lala told her to work at Peter Pan Photo Finisher. She lied about her age to the boss of the workplace. She instantly started working. There was an older Asian guy that offered to be her friend. He told her that he should get a birthday kiss, but when she went in to kiss him on the cheek, he grabbed her head and kissed her on the lips. The next night, her father cried to Esperanza because he announced that her grandpa had died. She had never seen her father cry before. Therefore she held her father in her arms and comforted him. Her Aunt Lupe died shortly after her grandpa died. Her aunt already had an illness for a few years, but it never occurred to Esperanza that she could die at any moment. She and her friends decided to play charades that day and she pretended to be her Aunt Lupe. Then, her Aunt Lupe died that same day. Then, the next day, Esperanza went to a fortune teller. Her name was Elenita. Elenita told Esperanza that she sees "a home in the heart," but Esperanza does not know what that means. In chapter 29, there was a boy named Sire who stared at Esperanza every time she passed his house. He has a girlfriend named Lois. Esperanza was jealous of her feminine ways. This was when she becomes desperate to know what it feels like to be held and kissed. Then, Esperanza looked out of her window and sees 4 skinny trees. She claimed that only she understood them and that they understood her. They reminded her of she and her best friends and to keep them close.