The echoes of Patty’s childhood traumas reverberate throughout Patina. From taking on the burdens of helping raise her younger sister, to unresolved anger issues that stem from her early experiences, Patty struggles to cope with her past. The narrative is organized in a series of “To Do” lists, which act as a symbol for Patty’s belief that she must be solely responsible for taking care of everything and not need help from others. This belief adds mounting pressure to Patty until she is finally forced to come to terms with her past.

Patty illustrates early in the story how she feels her childhood was taken away from her prematurely: “I was pretty messed up by the whole thing, but doing my best to be strong and brave and big, and all the other things I ain’t really feel like being all the time. I’d rather be sneaking lipstick on in the bathroom, sending Cotton selfies of how fly I look” (70). This feeling of needing to be brave and big for Maddy contributes to the way that Patty pushes down her emotions instead of confronting them or processing them. These sacrifices affect her emotionally: “I couldn’t do none of those things no more. At least, not like I wanted to, because now I had to look out for Maddy, who was just…confused” (71). Patty often tells herself to be strong, or to push through, but then her emotions come to the surface in more explosive ways. Examples of this include her desire to kick over a bench after her second-place finish, or nearly punching Krystal after their argument at track practice.

It isn’t until the end of the book that Patty finally confronts her trauma and allows herself to express the emotion that she has been bottling up for years. When she is forced to consider the alternate outcome of Maddy and Momly’s accident, she realizes that so much of her life has been defined by what she lost as a child. She no longer can “keep it together” and gives into her feelings of anger: “I wondered how my life would be different if my dad had just… woke up. Why couldn’t he have just woke up? If he was here, I could just be… regular” (192). This is an emotionally draining experience for Patty, but one that enables her to process and experience her emotions. Patty is used to running away from her feelings or ignoring them by adding on additional responsibilities at home.

This scene recalls Momly’s story of going to Chester Academy as a teenager and having to process her mother’s stroke. Momly consumes her time and energy by continuing to perform custodial duties to honor her mother but continues to ignore her pain. When Mr. Warren says to her: “Folks who try to do everything are usually avoiding one thing” (146) Momly understands that she can’t ignore the fact that her mother is no longer the same or use other means to ignore her problems. She offers this same lesson to Patty as a way for her to begin processing her own trauma.

Patty will continue to learn to cope with her past, but at the end of the book she seems better poised to confront her issues head on. The lessons she’s learned through her participation as a member of the relay team, as well as accepting support and help from others around her, indicate that her trauma will remain a part of her, but won’t define her.

Patty’s history of trauma affects many aspects of her life, and she carries a heavier load of responsibilities than the average 12 year old. Patty’s life has been altered by the events of her past, and therefore she struggles to trust others or depend on them. Through her experiences as a part of the Defenders 4 x 800 relay team, her group project, and experiences with her family, Patty learns the importance of placing her trust in others.

The symbol that best encapsulates this theme in the text is the relay baton. Coach asks Patty to imagine that the baton has magic powers, and that it acts as a transfer of energy between people on a team. Coach says that this transfer of energy and strength between people is key: “we stay balanced” (47). Coach senses that Patty needs more of this balance in her life, and so puts her on the 4 x 800 relay team.

Patty and her teammates experience their share of struggles to work in sync. She clashes primarily with Krystal, but once the girls speak with one another on a more personal level, they begin to trust one another and have each other’s backs. This has a positive effect on their ability to run their relay event, and by the next track meet at the end of the story, Patty shows she has learned the value of that transfer of energy that comes with teamwork.

In the faulty hand-off between runners Brit-Brat and Krystal, Patty’s first reaction is to completely write them off: “This was it. We blew it. I shook my head and huffed” (229). It first seems that Patty’s old anger will overtake her, but then she remembers Coach’s words and realizes “I couldn’t leave my team hanging. They needed me. Not just my legs. But my support. My energy. We needed each other” (229). The outcome of the race is not revealed at the end of the story, but the more important conclusion is that Patty shows that she understands the importance of teamwork.

Patty struggles to pass the baton in her group project at school. Patty, used to taking on more than her share of responsibilities, assumes that she will have to take on most of the work. She laments about group projects that “only one person in the group actually does any work, which brings me to (3) that person is me” (34). Initially Patty does seem to do much of the work for the Frida Kahlo project and dismisses her group members. As she becomes closer to one partner, Becca, however, Patty learns that Becca has asked the teacher to change the project guidelines so that everyone carries a more equal workload.

In her family as well, Patty’s relationship with Momly best illustrates Patty’s unwillingness to “pass the baton.” Momly eventually teaches Patty through sharing her own past that it is okay to accept support from her family, and that she need not take on all the responsibility on her own. Patty’s struggles do not entirely resolve by the end of the narrative, but she does become better capable of handling them when she learns to “pass the baton” and depend on others in her life.