Sire is a beautiful boy in Esperanza's neighborhood Mango Street who had a girlfriend named Lois, with whom he spends all his time. Esperanza is not frightened of Sire and his older gang friends. When he looks at Esperanza, she gets excited, instead of scared, as her mama warns her to be. She sees Lois as a beautiful, painted woman who doesn't know how to tie her own shoes, like Esperanza does. Her mother warns her not to spend time with such a girl, for she doesn't want to turn out like that.
However, Esperanza wants to be held tightly by a boy and wonders what it feels like with Sire.
"Everything is holding its breath inside me. Everything is waiting to explode like Christmas. I want to be all new and shiny. I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt. Not this way, every evening talking to the trees, leaning out my window, imagining what I can't see." Chapter 28, pg. 73
