Following Juli’s death, Celina descends into grief, going to work then barricading herself in her darkened bedroom and leaving the children to fend for themselves. Sotomayor misses her father, though she had “taken it for granted” that his death would make their lives better (55). Celina’s sister and friends also worry about her and ask Blessed Sacrament’s priest to visit her. He refuses because she does not attend church, which enrages Sotomayor. She feels a priest should be more forgiving and honor Celina for sending her children to church with “money for the offering basket” and to Catholic School (55). Another of Celina’s friends has her Baptist pastor visit, which Sotomayor respects, given Celina is neither Baptist nor a member of his congregation.

Celina’s grief extends through Sotomayor’s summer vacation, and she longs for school to start. Reading becomes her “solace and only distraction that summer” (56). Her local branch of the New York Public Library becomes her “haven” (56). She picks random books and reads the Highlights and Reader’s Digest magazines her mother subscribes to. From Dr. Fisher, she borrows a book on Greek gods and heroes that sustains her “that summer and beyond” (57).