“Said I had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how I think.” 

The narrator, Miguel, begins his story with a recounting of being sentenced for an undisclosed crime. The judge awards him a one-year sentence in a group home, with the condition that Miguel write in a journal each day for the purpose of helping his counselors to understand him better. 

“And then after a short pause he said: ‘Anyway, sir, Mrs. Nichols told me I needed to get someone to rehearse with since tryouts are comin’ up soon.’” 

Miguel recalls Diego’s ability to fabricate very believable lies on short notice. In the above case, Diego is congratulating the school principal, who intends to discipline Diego and Miguel for fighting in the school hallway. Diego gives his best wishes to the principal on his wedding anniversary and tells him that Miguel was helping him to rehearse for a role in the play, West Side Story.

“Lemme ask you something: If you send a normal kid to a group home with a bunch of dummies for nine months what’s more likely to happen?” 

Upon arrival at the Lighthouse group home, Miguel feels that he is far more intelligent than the rest of the residents. He feels that he will not be helped, but rather intellectually hindered, by his sentence.