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Layla Benitez
Papi, who in Pride’s “remix” of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice corresponds to Mr. Bennet, is husband to Mama and father to Janae, Zuri, Marisol, Layla, and Kayla Benitez. A bookish introvert, Papi has an associate’s degree and encourages his daughters to read; he is very supportive of Janae and Zuri’s academic and intellectual aspirations. Papi also works long hours at a hospital cafeteria to support his family. Though upset by Bushwick’s gentrification, he agrees to a buyout of the apartment building where his daughters have lived their whole lives and uses the resulting money to move the family to a two-story house in Canarsie, a less expensive neighborhood in south Brooklyn.
Papi Quotes in Pride
The Pride quotes below are all either spoken by Papi or refer to Papi. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapters 11–15 Quotes
I recognize that look. It’s that same look people used to give us when Mama would get on a crowded train with a double stroller holding the twins, me, Marisol, and Janae with our messy hair, runny noses, and each with a bag of chips to keep us occupied while Mama quieted down the babies. It’s the look that assumes Mama is a single mother, that she’s on government assistance, that she beats us when she’s tired, that we all have different fathers, that we live in the projects, and that we’re ghetto. Everybody used to look at us like that—white, black, other mothers with kids who thought they were being responsible by only having two or three. I’d look back at them with defiance and a little pride; a look that says that I love my family and we may be messy and loud, but we’re all together and we love each other.
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After Darius overhears Zuri and Janae’s younger sister Layla joking that Janae should date Darius’s brother Ainsley for his money, Darius says something to Ainsley that causes Ainsley to get a particular “look” on his face. Zuri associates Ainsley’s judgmental “look” with strangers assuming her Mama is “ghetto” for having five children. The backstory that Zuri provides here helps explain both her pridefulness and her protectiveness toward her family. It reveals that Zuri’s “pride” is, at least in part, a mode of “defiance” against onlookers who stereotype her and her family. These onlookers assume that Mama must be a “single Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid i
Chapters 26–30 Quotes
“But he gets to stay, Papi,” I say quietly, and I realize that Darius will no longer be the boy across the street. He’ll still be in Bushwick, and I’ll be . . . somewhere else because the rent is too high in my own hood.
“So. And you get to leave. Him and his family are living somewhere new. They get to have new experiences. And you and your sisters, you’ve been in Bushwick all your lives.”
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Zuri’s Papi has just informed her that a developer has bought the apartment building where Zuri and her family have lived all Zuri’s life—and that, in consequence, Zuri’s family will have to move out of their beloved Bushwick neighborhood. In the face of Zuri’s devastation, Papi tries to change the subject to Zuri’s new romantic relationship with gentrifying newcomer Darius. Zuri, however, remains focused on the fact that wealthy Darius “gets to stay” in Bushwick while her working-class family, long-term residents, are driven out. In response, Papi tries to reframe the gentrification of Bushwick and Zuri’s loss of her beloved Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt re
I have always thought of Bushwick as home, but in that moment, I realize that home is where the people I love are, wherever that is.
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Zuri’s Papi has just revealed that a developer has bought the apartment building where Zuri has lived her entire life—and that, as a result, Zuri’s family will have to leave not only their apartment but their beloved neighborhood, Bushwick. As Papi cajoles Zuri through her devastation and comforts her with a hug, Zuri “realize[s] that home is where the people I love are, wherever that is.” This moment constitutes a major change in Zuri’s perspective. Throughout the novel, she has worried deeply about Bushwick’s gentrification and the possibility of her family being driven out of the neighborhood by rising prices. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur
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Papi Character Timeline in Pride
The timeline below shows where the character Papi appears in Pride. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapters 1–5
...they can go introduce themselves. While Marisol, Layla, and Kayla rush ahead, Zuri hangs back. Papi comes out of his room and asks whether Janae has arrived. When Mama tells him...
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...Madrina, a woman in her mid-60s who practices Santeria, arrives. She hugs Janae and asks Papi whether he realizes his good luck—his rich new neighbors are his future “son-in-laws.” Mama cuts...
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...that because her family doesn’t have that much money, she “read[s] to travel” like her Papi advises. In reality, she has gone almost nowhere.
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Chapters 11–15
...named Alana. When he suggests they hang out elsewhere, Zuri explains that her Mama and Papi are not going to let her leave the neighborhood with Warren before they’ve met him....
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Chapters 26–30
...Zuri is distraught, worrying that her parents will feel inappropriate guilt for Layla’s acting out—and Papi might even work fewer hours despite the family’s financial stress to watch his daughters more....
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...that Colin is grieving Madrina’s death terribly—and that Madrina willed him the building. Zuri sees Papi and Colin having an angry conversation. When she walks over, Colin flees. She asks Papi...
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Zuri starts crying. Papi tells her one must accept “the good with the bad”—and the buyout is good even...
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Chapter 29. As the Benitez family packs to move, Mama tries to hoard everything while Papi tries to get rid of everything. The day before Janae returns to Syracuse, all five...
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...to pick her up, Zuri tells him to take the train like a normal Brooklynite. Papi wishes Darius well and gives him a “homie hug,” which Zuri finds heartwarming.
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