Amiel de la Cruz Guerrero Timeline and Summary

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• Before the story begins, Amiel hurts his throat and can't speak (very much) anymore.
• He hangs out on the side of the road where the day laborers wait for work and spends time miming and juggling to entertain everyone.
• One day, Hoyt and Pearl show up and hire Amiel to work on his avocado ranch.
• Amiel starts working for Hoyt on an as-needed basis. Pearl tries to take him coffee and talk to him, but his voice is injured so he doesn't talk much.
• Amiel lives out in the woods. Pearl discovers his shack one day and he's worried that she'll rat him out. Pearl writes him a note explaining that she will keep his secret safe.
• Amiel starts getting letters from Pearl, but her Spanish isn't that great. Luckily he knows English, too, and they start communicating.
• On her way home from school one day, Pearl sees Amiel jugging different objects. When one of the workers suggests using machetes, Amiel cuts his hand juggling them.
• Agnès and Pearl take Amiel to the doc to get his hand stitched up, and Agnès pays for it despite Amiel's insistence that he can afford it. Later, he gives Pearl the money to give to her aunt to repay her.
• Pearl starts visiting Amiel in the woods more often. At first he tries to get her to leave, but eventually he lets her stick around.
• The two of them go swimming, fishing, and spend lots of time swapping stories with one another.
• Fire season is starting in Fallbrook, and there's a pretty serious fire heading their way. Even though an evacuation has been ordered, Pearl wants to go back to the woods to check on Amiel, so she ditches her family and heads there to make sure he's okay.
• When she sees Amiel, he's fine. Phew. The only problem? He doesn't want to go anywhere since he's afraid immigration will find him out.
• Pearl decides to stay with Amiel in the woods even though the fire is getting worse.
• The two of them plunge into the water to avoid the flames, and are rescued by firefighters the next morning.
• Amiel makes a break for it, and Pearl is devastated.
• He leaves a note for Pearl in the woods, though, saying he's going back to Mexico and to remember him.