Character Analysis
If Trevor is the school bully, then Maribel is the school snob. From the way the girl goes on about having gone to a private school and coming from a family that owns a grocery store, you'd think that she was actual royalty:
But to hear her tell it, you'd think she was still in some high and mighty private school—always finding some kind of way to drop it into a conversation, always wrinkling her nose at me like she couldn't even believe we had to share the same air. (2.9)
Maribel's kvetching reveals that she thinks she's better than everyone else, and it's often for the silliest reasons. Frannie and Samantha can't even take her seriously when she starts going on about how Jesus Boy came into her mama's grocery store and paid for his food in pennies:
"He came into the store yesterday," Maribel said. "By himself. Maybe he likes it that way. And he bought a ham and cheese hero with extra mayo, some cupcakes and a soda, that's all. And then when he paid for it, he used mostly pennies! That made my mama so mad!" (2.22)
Doesn't Maribel realize that not everyone is as lucky as she is? Pennies are money, too, and she should recognize (growing up in a store and all) that sometimes, people only have pennies to spend. But of course, she lives in her own world, so Maribel doesn't see the financial struggles of other people as a real problem. It's all Maribel, all the time with this girl.