The First Rule of Punk

Days go by and Malú and Joe remain on non-speaking terms. Malú spends her lunch period in the library to avoid her fellow band members. Fall Fiesta is in a few days, but Malú tells her mom that she isn’t going. Malú’s mom voices her concern about this decision, and about Malú’s overall well-being, having noticed that Malú hasn’t gone to Joe’s house in days. She urges Malú to go to Calaca with her, but Malú is worried about running into Joe. Eventually, Malú takes her headphones and a book out to the building’s front porch, where she encounters Oralia.

Oralia asks Malú what’s making her upset, and asks if it’s because Malú is in a romantic relationship with Joe and things aren’t going well. When Malú tells Oralia that the Co-Co’s have broken up, Oralia tells Malú to clean up the mess she’s created. Malú’s mom comes outside, and Malú decides to go to Calaca after all.

Inside Calaca, Mrs. Hidalgo has constructed an altar for offerings, or ofrendas, for the Day of the Dead celebration. Hidalgo says that “[a]nyone can bring photos or items to honor loved ones who have died, and place them on [the] altar” (244). Mrs. Hidalgo has constructed sugar skulls with “sequin eyes and pretty designs on their faces” (245). Mrs. Hidalgo leaves space for Malú’s mom to bring an item in remembrance of Malú’s grandfather.

As Malú’s mom goes to sit down, Mrs. Hidalgo takes Malú by the arm and lets her know that she knows what happened, regarding the band. She lets Malú know that Joe is in the back working. Malú thumbs through a picture book about a bird called the quetzal when Joe emerges and talks to her. Malú and Joe make up, and then discuss whether there’s still time for the Co-Co’s to perform at the anti-talent show. Joe offers that the band could play outside the school after the legitimate talent show is over, thereby disrupting nothing. In an effort to convince Malú to go through with the show, Joe goes and gets a band T-shirt from the back room: “The red T-shirt had the band’s name and four coconuts wearing mariachi hats printed in black just like Joe had drawn in his sketch pad. On the back was the motto we had chosen: NOT YOUR ABUELA’S MUSIC” (248). Malú is convinced to reform the Co-Co’s, and Joe and Malú aim to get one final practice in the following day.

The chapter concludes with an eight-page collage/zine titled “Calavera.” Calaveras are artistic representations of skulls; they can range from the sugar skulls used in Day of the Dead celebrations to Posada’s lithographs of skulls. The rest of the zine goes on to detail what comprises a Day of the Dead celebration.

Malú sends a text to her bandmates asking them to meet at their usual table during Friday lunch. The Fall Fiesta is the following day. Malú has “stuffed her worry dolls into the pocket of [her] jeans” (257).

Joe, Benny, and Ellie are waiting for Malú when she arrives. Malú says that she’s sorry for how she behaved then offers a copy of the most recent zine she’s made to each of her three bandmates:

The zine was my version of The Wizard of Oz. Ellie was the brainy Scarecrow, Benny was the courageous Lion, and Joe was the Tin Man, all heart. I almost made Selena the Wicked Witch of the West, but decided to give that part to Principal Rivera. Mrs. Hidalgo was Glinda. And I was Dorothy, of course. We traveled down the yellow brick road together, our destination being the Alterna-Fiesta (259).

Everyone makes up and the band reforms. Malú offers to help Ellie with a canned food drive but first needs to talk to Joe, who is waiting in the cafeteria line for food. She passes by Selena and the Candy Crew’s lunch table. One of Selena’s friends, Diana, is laughing at Selena for watching videos of Irish dancing on her phone. Selena turns her phone off once Diana laughs at her and calls the dancer a “weirdo” (261). Selena catches Malú staring at her, and Malú moves on, asking Joe to help her with something the following morning.

The next morning, Malú puts on her “Co-Co’s T-shirt with the neck and sleeves cut off over a red tank top, turquoise pencil skirt over fluorescent green leggings, and [her] silver Converse,” saying that she’s “rocking [her] quetzal colors for luck” (263). In the kitchen, Malú’s mom makes “blueberry-and-cashew pancakes,” which Malú says she makes only on special occasions (264). Further, Malú’s mom says that Malú looks nice, which makes Malú extra-suspicious. Her mom adds that she may not be able to make it to the Fall Fiesta due to midterm grades being due.

Joe arrives, and the reader discovers that what Malú needs help with is dyeing her hair. After Joe finishes the process, Malú regards herself:

Joe handed me a small mirror, and I held it up to see. He had cut off most of my hair. It was shorter than it had ever been, shaved close on both sides, with long bangs. The bleach Joe applied to my bangs left my hair a shade of yellow like the marigolds on Mrs. Hidalgo’s altar (266).

Joe then applies green hair dye to Malú’s hair. It’s at this point that Malú’s mom comes into the bathroom and sees what they’re doing. Joe and Malú have managed to get the dye everywhere: on the floor, on themselves, and on the toilet paper doll that Oralia made for Malú and her mom as a housewarming present. Malú’s mom tells Joe to leave and then admonishes Malú for what she’s done and the mess she’s made. Nonetheless, Malú deems her new hairdo “awesome” (270).

The chapter concludes with an eight-page collage/zine titled “Quetzal’s Guide to Dyeing Your Hair” (271). The zine offers details both about dyeing one’s hair and the quetzal as a species.