Summary

In "Everything the Mouth Eats," Eric, the first person narrator, goes to a capoeira event in the D.C. area with his brother Carlos, his brother's girlfriend Sulay, and their daughter Rosa. Eric drives and the car ride is tense. The brothers have not seen each other in some time, and their relationship has always been strained. Eric only reconnects with Carlos after his mother tells him Carlos is "essentially homeless" (78). On the car ride, Eric judges Carlos' messy car and Carlos' inability to quit smoking. He then asks about capoeira, though he knows what it is. Carlos gives a lengthy explanation of the Afro-Brazilian martial arts tradition. Shifting into flashback, the narrative moves into Eric and Carlos' childhood in New York City, where the reader learns the men do not share the same father. Eric's mother remarries Carlos' father, a...