Not realizing Danny is in earshot, Sofia asks her father about his brother, Danny’s father. Tommy tells her that both Javier and their younger brother, Ray, had gotten into a lot of trouble when we were young: “Some pretty violent stuff. Fights and assaults. Definitely wasn’t the first time” (124). When Sofia asks her dad if he thinks Danny’s dad would do whatever he did again, Tommy says he doesn’t think so and that the last time he went to see him he seemed changed. She asks if Danny will be like his dad when he gets married. Tommy says, “Danny’s got a different way about him. He takes after Wendy” (125).Sofia recalls how scared Aunt Wendy looked when she came to stay with them “that weekend. The way her face was. And how she acted” (125). Tommy says, “It was a bad time, Sofe. Real bad. Much as I love my big brother, I can’t say he didn’t deserve this” (125). Danny hears everything but is not discovered.

Uno and Danny meet Carmelo Esposito at a local high school. During warm-ups,Carmelo has no trouble making contact with Danny’s pitches. The plan is to build Carmelo’s confidence, so Uno is not concerned, but “Danny feels incredibly wild.