Efren Divided chapter 10 by Ernesto Cisneros read aloud
Summary
TLDRIn this poignant narrative, Efren grapples with the harsh realities of life and the complexities of family, friendship, and responsibility. The story unfolds as Efren, a young man with a heavy heart, is nudged by his father, APA, to confront the day despite the dark circles under his armpit—a symbol of the burdens he carries. APA's tireless efforts to raise money to bring back Amma, their mother, inspire Efren to take action and seek solutions to his own problems. The plot thickens when Efren learns that Jennifer, a fellow student and friend, has been deported, which triggers a profound sense of injustice and motivates him to run for ASB president to raise awareness about the plight of immigrants. This decision, however, strains his friendship with David, who feels betrayed. Amidst the turmoil, a glimmer of hope emerges when APA secures the funds needed to bring Amma home, offering a moment of respite and joy to the family. The story is a powerful exploration of resilience, the immigrant experience, and the transformative power of community and solidarity.
Takeaways
- 👨👦 Efren is a caring figure, showing concern for his younger siblings Max and Mia, as well as his friend Jennifer.
- 🛁 Efren is found asleep in the bathtub, indicating the stress and exhaustion he is experiencing.
- 💼 APA is working overtime to raise money to bring back Amma, showing the family's dedication and the sacrifices they are making.
- 📚 Efren is determined to solve his problems and decides to confide in his friend David, highlighting the importance of their friendship.
- 🏫 Efren arrives early at school with the intention of speaking to David, but learns that Jennifer has dropped out of the race and school.
- 😢 Jennifer's deportation deeply affects Efren and Han, revealing the personal impact of immigration enforcement on their community.
- 🌱 Jennifer's message about being seeds, not buried, inspires Efren to take action and run for ASB president in her place.
- 🏛 Efren's decision to run for ASB president leads to a falling out with David, showing the complexity of personal choices and their impact on relationships.
- 👕 At the laundromat, Efren's encounter with David further strains their friendship, leading to a heated exchange and David's departure.
- 📈 Efren's research into detention centers for kids exposes the harsh realities that children face, which deeply upsets him.
- 👪 APA's good news about joining a 'kundina' (a rotating savings and credit association) brings hope and relief to the family's financial situation.
- 🌈 Despite the challenges, Efren, APA, Max, and Mia enjoy a moment of happiness at the playground, symbolizing the importance of family and resilience.
Q & A
Why did Efren feel the need to take a shower?
-Efren felt the need to take a shower because he had a dark circle on his armpit, which he felt was unprofessional for going to work at A la Pesto.
Why did Efren fall asleep in the bathtub?
-Efren fell asleep in the bathtub because he was reading and became tired, which led to him accidentally dozing off.
What was the surprise that Efren and APA discovered about each other?
-The surprise was that APA still had the strength to lift Efren out of the bathtub, and Efren was surprised that APA could still do so despite his age.
Why did Efren decide to run for ASB president?
-Efren decided to run for ASB president to bring attention to the issue of deportation and to continue the fight that Jennifer, who was deported, started.
What was the impact of Jennifer's deportation on Efren?
-Jennifer's deportation deeply affected Efren, making him realize the harsh realities of deportation and motivating him to take action by running for ASB president.
What was the reaction of David when he found out Efren was running for ASB president?
-David felt betrayed and hurt, accusing Efren of stabbing him in the back, and claimed that he didn't need Efren's friendship to win the election.
Why did Efren feel conflicted about running for ASB president?
-Efren felt conflicted because he valued his friendship with David and didn't want to hurt him, but he also felt a strong need to take a stand on the issue of deportation.
What was the significance of the Mexican saying that Jennifer's mom used to say?
-The saying, which translates to 'They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds,' signifies resilience and the ability to grow and thrive despite adversity.
How did APA manage to raise the money needed to bring Amma back?
-APA joined a kundina, which is a type of rotating savings and credit association, where members contribute money and take turns borrowing from the collective fund.
What was Efren's emotional state after the fallout with David?
-Efren was upset and felt guilty about the fallout with David, as he didn't intend to harm their friendship, but he felt compelled to run for ASB president for a cause he believed in.
What was the family's reaction to APA's good news about raising the money?
-The family was overjoyed and relieved. They spent time together at the playground, playing tag and enjoying each other's company, which brought a sense of happiness and normalcy amidst the challenges they faced.
Outlines
😴 Morning Routine and Unexpected News
The first paragraph introduces Efren, who wakes up in the bathtub and is helped by his caretaker, APA. Efren is reminded of his family's struggles and APA's efforts to raise money to bring back Amma. Efren decides to confide in his friend David about his problems. At school, Efren learns that Jennifer, another candidate for school president, has dropped out of the race and school due to a deportation raid. This news deeply affects Efren, who seeks answers from Jennifer's friend, Han.
😢 Impact of Jennifer's Deportation
In the second paragraph, Efren learns from Han about Jennifer's deportation and her mother's forced return to Mexico. Han expresses her desire to use her potential position in the Associated Student Body (ASB) to raise awareness about the issue and help families affected by it. Efren is emotionally affected by the news and searches online for information about detention centers for kids, which deeply upsets him. He contemplates his own situation and the unfairness of it all, leading him to a decision about taking action.
🌱 Decision to Run for ASB President
The third paragraph reveals Efren's decision to run for ASB president, inspired by Jennifer's situation and a desire to make a difference. He shares this with his friend David, who feels betrayed as he was running for the same position. Their friendship is strained as David feels Efren has stabbed him in the back. Efren tries to explain his motivations but is met with anger and disappointment. Meanwhile, Efren's family situation improves as APA secures enough money to bring Amma back, leading to a moment of joy and relief for the family.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Family
💡Responsibility
💡Immigration
💡Deportation
💡ASB President
💡Friendship
💡Perseverance
💡Cultural Identity
💡Education
💡Emotional Turmoil
💡Community Support
Highlights
Efren decides to run for ASB president to raise awareness about Jennifer's deportation and help families facing similar issues.
APA works overtime and joins a kundina (rotating savings group) to raise money to bring Amma back.
Jennifer's deportation is triggered by a raid at Northgate Market, where her mother is arrested.
Han, Jennifer's friend, shares details about the raid and how Jennifer was forced to return to Mexico with her mother.
Efren is inspired by Jennifer's resilience and her mother's saying, 'They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds.'
Efren searches online about detention centers for kids and is shocked by the images of children behind fences.
Efren feels guilty for not doing anything to help Jennifer and decides he needs to take action.
Efren's friendship with David is strained when Efren announces he is also running for ASB president.
David feels betrayed by Efren's decision and accuses him of stabbing him in the back.
Efren explains his motivations, saying he needs to prove people wrong and do something meaningful for his parents.
The tension between Efren and David escalates, leading to the end of their friendship.
APA brings good news, having secured enough money to bring Amma back without needing more overtime.
The family celebrates with a trip to the playground, enjoying a moment of happiness amidst the challenges they are facing.
Efren reflects on the importance of taking action and making a difference, inspired by Jennifer's situation.
The story explores themes of family, friendship, social justice, and the power of community support.
Efren's journey highlights the challenges faced by immigrant families and the impact of deportation on individuals and communities.
The story emphasizes the importance of standing up for what is right and using one's voice to make a difference.
Efren's decision to run for ASB president represents a turning point in his personal growth and his commitment to social change.
Transcripts
chapter 10.
Efren felt a gentle nudge on his
shoulder mijo Mijo
said I'm sorry but I need to take a
quick shower he pointed at the dark
circle on his armpit can't go to work a
la pesto so Efren stretched out his arms
remembering he was still in the bathtub
oh hey APA sorry I fell asleep reading
up I laughed to himself I figured he
bent down and wrapped his arms around
Efren here let me give you a hand APA
scooped Efron out with a little effort
up a strength surprise different I can't
believe you can still do that actually
I'm pretty surprised to set up again
laughing someday you will be too big for
me to do that but today is not that day
so come on you need to go get to bed
it's too early for you to be up okay APA
Efren talked his library book under his
arm carefully bear hugged his blanket
and pillow and headed to the living room
area
Max was a spread across the mattress
snoring just slightly while Mia clung to
her naked plush doll
rays of blue Moonlight poke through the
broken blinds Efren looked over at the
empty mattress and shook his head the
sheets were still folded just like the
night before Efren didn't understand
where APA found the energy even after
all the overtime trying to raise money
to bring back Amma he still found time
to worry about them
this was all he needed to see if a pot
can be this strong why can't I Efron
wanted to solve his problems too it was
then that he decided to tell David
everything he still did not know what he
was going to say or where to start for
that matter but he knew the words would
come when the moment was right they had
to their friendship was at stake
Efron wanted to get to his own school
with enough time to find David so he
dropped off Max and me a little earlier
than normal the three of them arrived so
early that they were the first on in the
school breakfast line Max had his head
start set on some Pandora chocolate milk
meon silver dollar pancakes the ones
with maple syrup bits inside that the
school sometimes served sadly both had
to settle settle for generic brand
Cheerios and slightly bruised bananas
with the twins fed and the playground
supervisor now watching over them after
and hurried to get to his school the
main the entire main school entrance was
empty this early most kids hung out in
the cafeteria area eating breakfast
something he'd never done before not
with a Ma's breakfast Milagros taking
place every morning check that with the
Milagros am I used to make
happened walked over to the tables
wondering if his school was serving the
same cereal breakfast as Max and Mia's
he took a quick look at his at what the
kids around him had on their plates nope
his school was serving the tiny pancakes
Mia had wanted he was about to get in
line when a tap on his shoulder startled
him it was Abraham the school's very own
cheese made machine whether the gossip
was true or not he was always in the
middle of it dude David won what are you
talking about no one's voted yet a
friend laughed no one has to Jennifer
dropped out of the race which means that
David wins this time he raised up his
hand for a high five
efren's mouth went wide open and froze
his mind couldn't accept the news even
as he slapped hands with Abraham wait
there's no way Jennifer would just quit
like that Abraham shook his head she
didn't just drop out of the election she
dropped out of school what why who cares
said Abraham shrugging David's going to
be our president he said the first thing
he would do is make sure the school
starts serving Takis for breakfast Nitro
flavored man I can't wait and Friends
stomach tightened and the idea of eating
Takis for breakfast had nothing to do
with it he needed to get to the bottom
of this now he bolted up the stairway
leading to the library skipping multiple
steps at a time when did he enter
through the double doors hoping to find
the one person who could give him the
answers he needed Jennifer's friend Han
Farm
Han was suited near the back of the
library by the reference section the
book in front of her was closed and she
had both hands over her face hey Helen
are you all right she lowered her hands
and looked directly at Efren something
was wrong her eyes were glassy and
tinted pink obviously she'd been crying
what's wrong asked Efren she didn't
answer she just looked down at her
closed book looks at Efron I know that
we were on opposite sides of this
election but Jennifer is my friend too I
know she really wanted to win why would
she just quit like this and why are
people saying she dropped out of school
Han's upper lip curled something he had
as Aries something he said had rubbed
Han the wrong way for your information
she didn't just quit ice did a raid her
face squished together as she did her
best not to cry at friend's stomach sank
oh my goodness was she he could barely
say the word deported Hans shook her
head as she sobbed
yet somehow she found the strength to
continue speaking there was a sweep at
the Northgate Market on First and harbor
my friend Diego Flores saw the whole
thing said that men in black vests and
assault rifles burst inside and cornered
the adults including her mom he said
that her mom screamed for Jennifer to
run home but Jennifer wouldn't leave her
side she even dropped to her knees and
tried pleading with the men oh my
goodness is Jennifer okay where is she I
thought she was she was born in the U.S
she had to go back to Mexico with her
mom or social services was going to take
her Han buried her face on the folds of
her elbow I didn't even get to say
goodbye to her
efren's stomach twisted and churned in
every direction poor Jennifer he said he
couldn't believe what was happening he
knew things like this happened every day
but not to people he knew people he
cared for
Efron cleared his throat is there
anything we can do for her I've been
thinking about that Han wiped her nose
with a tissue she wanted to use the ASB
position to bring more attention to this
problem she wanted to start a campaign
to raise awareness maybe start a support
group to help families but now she can't
do anything
part of me thinks that I should run at
her place keep fighting in her place you
can do that sure anyone who attended the
meeting can run but you can you picture
me trying to speak in front of the
entire school no way
hunt sniffled and wiped away her tears
she had this Spanish line that she used
to say a lot
Efren said beating her to the words yeah
that's it how do you know that efren's
face grew blank she told me he gave a
hard
swallowed
it's a Mexican saying they tried to bury
us but they didn't know we were seeds
Jennifer told me her mom used to say it
to her all the time the words were as
clear as day so clear they stayed in
efren's mind for the rest of the morning
when the first period class started
Efren took his seat but mostly just
stared at the whiteboard in front of him
he tuned out the kids around him
including everything Mr Garrett said he
trusted APA knew he'd never give up on
getting a mob back but what if he
couldn't what if this problem was too
big even for him to fix
friend's spine
when class ended he calmly made his way
to the next classroom and waited outside
each period went more or less the same
way except for math when Efron opened a
new browser tab in his Chromebook and
did a search detaining center for kids
what he found shook him he scrolled down
page after page of photos showing little
children behind chain link fences
sleeping on tiled floors aluminum
benches and in some cases in each
other's arms
he thought back to what Jennifer had
said and did a search for chicken farms
a few of the images were alike many of
those showed chickens running freely in
open yards Efren slammed the Chromebook
shut he could feel his chest heaving and
knew it was simply a matter of seconds
before he'd began crying he reached for
a bathroom pass and held it up for Miss
cubby to see she nodded and gave him a
thumbs up different hurried to the boys
restroom and locked himself in the last
stall he sat on the toilet and pressed
his fist hard against his forehead it
wasn't fair if the rolls were flipped
and he'd been to the one deported
Jennifer would be taking a stand and
fighting for him he couldn't sit around
and do nothing Jennifer deserved to be
there she also deserved to be ASB
president not David as much as he tried
to forget about the idea the more it
seemed to take root in his brain
the rest of the school day Ephron
managed to avoid David even ate lunch
Alone by the stairwell and when the
final bell rang he hurried and made a
quick stop at Miss sala's room before
going to pick up Max and Mia
after school Efron gathered up all the
dirty laundry worried about getting
using up the last of his money he
searched every kitchen drawer Gathering
up all the Loose Change he could find
then he loaded up a rusty Radio Flyer
wagon with a trash bag full of clothes a
carton of generic laundry soap and of
course Max and Mia
once at the laundromat Efren separated
the family's clothes into two carts one
for colors one for white while Max and
Mia watched an episode of Dora the
Explorer in the kids area
that's when David wrote up to the
doorway he parked his bike against the
glass door hey F man I've been looking
everywhere for you hey no worries about
what happened yesterday it's over I did
it I won he held up his fist for a Dap
Efren half-heartedly returned the fist
bump dude you're you're not still mad
are you David asked no I just got a lot
on my plate David surveyed the two
positive clothes I could see that
without missing a beat he reached over
and picked up a tiny pair of Superman
briefs are these yours he asked holding
up the underwear for everyone in the
room to see no those are Maxis and FYI
they're still kind of wet gross David
flicked the undies back onto the pile
and wipe his hand on the side of his
Lakers jury
oh I almost forgot David pulled out his
iPhone check this out
sent me this message it's for you from
Jennifer it's in Spanish
Efren took the photo and scrolled down
the screen it was a photo of a drawing
done on lined paper a small plant
blooming out from a pile of dirt the
words
followed underneath
that friend shot his eyes dude what's
wrong does it say something bad no
reference at opening his eyes and
handing back the phone it's just
something she once told me only it was
more than that Efron ran his fingers
through his hair and let out a big sigh
dude there's something I really gotta
tell you
all righty David took a seat on a washer
what's up
I know this position isn't going to
change the world but I've got to do
something
different fidgeted with one of Maxi's
tube socks my parents gave up everything
for me I needed to do something for them
Jennifer taught me that David scrunched
his forehead
what are you talking about Efron took a
big gulpa there I stopped by miss sala's
office told her I'm running for ASB
president too she okayed it you mean
vice president don't you Efron looked
away you're kidding right Efron gaze
down at the scratch tile floor trying
desperately not to make eye contact with
David but the hurt wasn't just on
David's face it was in his voice too why
would you do that
it's not for me David you know you're my
best friend and I'd never do anything to
hurt you but I need to do this please
try to understand what's there to
understand you're stabbing me in the
back no it's not like that yes it is
it's exactly like that I mean look at
you you have absolutely everything
you're great at school good at sports
your mom and dad they worship you I've
seen the way they look at you my dad
won't even visit me he just sends me
money David's voice shook being
president is my chance to prove everyone
wrong but that's okay I mean you have to
have everything don't you what about a
ma do I have her efren's thoughts
shouted back it's not something you'd
understand
oh so now I'm too dumb to understand you
know what David leaned in and got in
that friend's face I don't need you on
my side to win the election in fact I
don't need you as a friend either Efron
didn't know how to answer and stood
their eyes blinking with that David
stormed out of the laundromat popped
back onto his bike and pedaled away too
late Efron ran after his friend
David Waite Efren hollered from the
sidewalk but David never looked back
Amma was never very big on watching TV
not even the Della novellas that all the
other mothers on the Block raved about
so Efren felt bad about plopping the
twins in front of the set and letting
Elmo babysit but he doesn't have the
strength to deal with Max's high energy
or media's needed to cuddle besides if
and told himself PBS shows are
educational
he sat at the kitchen table with his
head plopped down
letting the cool surface soothe his
aching head what a mess Amma was gone
APA was killing himself to raise the
money to get her back Jennifer was gone
and now efren's friendship with David
was over
out of the blue Efron heard the hint of
a whistle he looked up at first he
thought it came from the TV but the
screen just showed Mr Noodle pretended
to play an ear of corn as if it were a
trumpet and then he heard a whistle
again only much clearer now
Max is in Mia's heads perked up in
perfect Unison and they turned to each
other ah they both hollered there was no
mistaking up a special entrance Melody
before Efren could react the Twins were
already out the door and running down
the stairs why was a paw whistling he
only did that whenever he had good news
Efren rushed outside him down the
stairway only to find Max and Mia
latched onto each of apa's legs like the
little koalas on a eucalyptus branch
APA looked up at Efren smiling somehow a
paw was full of energy again Efren
couldn't wait to hear the news what
happened Hapa laughed as he stranded to
climb the stairway I joined a kundina at
work he held up a tiny slip of paper
with a number on it a what it's a group
Fun where everyone puts money in and
then takes turn borrowing the money each
week but no import that I got the money
and wrapped him up with a huge hug now
without the need of overtime a pot took
everyone to the playground and the four
of them spent the next hour playing the
game of tag
as Efren took a break to get water he
looked back and watched upon chase me up
the spiral Slide the moment was almost
perfect
suno ma would be coming home where she
belonged and then the fan
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