Summary

This start of the section of the novel is from Ona’s perspective. She explains how Ant went to prison and describes gang life for young Dominicans in New York City. She describes how membership of a gang can be tempting for young men who want protection from other gangs and respect from their peers. She then analyzes gangs from an anthropological perspective, recounting how Dominican gangs began as a way to organize and rebel against slave ownership. Ona reveals Ant was arrested and sentenced to 20 years after he and a group of his friends and fellow gang members attacked a boy from a neighboring school. The boy had talked negatively about the gang Ant had recently joined and they decide to beat him to teach him a lesson. However, this attack gets more brutal than Ant expected. He stops partway through the...