How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Before I could tell him it was just a plain bloody nose, Chico took one look at the blood sopping the towel, and his face glazed over with shock.
"Hey, it's okay," I said, reassuringly. I left Albert by his locker. "It's only a bloody nose."
"Only a bloody nose!" Chico cried, clutching at his hair. He was stiff with panic. If somebody at that moment had pushed him over, he'd have landed flat on the back of his head. (7.77-79)
When it's almost time for Chico to start his boxing match, he's scared as all get-out, especially since he's just seen Albert's bloody nose. But according to Manny, the bloody nose actually looks worse than it is, which means that he thinks Chico is getting nervous over something that's actually not a big deal. Whether or not the bloody nose is a major concern, the fear paralyzes Chico—it's as if he can't move. When it comes to Chico, fear definitely has a way of holding him back, at least for a moment.
Quote #8
When Boise sledgehammered him on the side of the ear, his shoulders stiffened and his jaw squinched like a little electricity had run through it.
My heart was jerking around inside my chest, I was so nervous. My eyelashes were tiny wings beating in a fevery air, yet my face felt frozen, as if blasted by an arctic wind. (7.108-109)
Manny is super anxious during Lencho and Boise's boxing match. And it does sound like quite the beating. Do you think Lencho sounds scared during this fight? The fact that he doesn't give up at least tells us that he's not so afraid that it stops him from trucking forward. But our man Manny can't get a grip on his own nerves. What do you think he's so scared of?
Quote #9
When I finally looked up, Mom backed away, her eyes circles of panic and her long liquid hair drooping across her face. She pushed back some strands of hair and stood there, her nose flaring and her cheeks watery with tears. […] "Please, I can't wake him. He'll blame it on you for not watching over her. He'll say it's your fault. Come on, honey, go back to bed, I'll fix Magda up." (8.57)
When Magda comes home from the hospital and gets a fever, Mom freaks out like whoa; she even hits Manny a bunch when he suggests they need to go back to the hospital. But there's a reason for all this worry and violence: Dad. He doesn't know what happened to Magda and it doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd take lightly. But in the end, Dad actually wakes up and is pretty helpful. Thank goodness.