The Book of Unknown Americans: Chapter 11: Mayor Summary & Analysis

Mayor and Maribel grow closer, despite Maribel’s difficulties with communication. Mayor is patient with her and he helps her to recover her train of thought when she loses it and to remember words when she is uncertain of which to use. Mayor begins to understand how smart Maribel is, and how she is always listening even when she does not appear to be.

Rafael chides Mayor for not being able to “talk to normal girls,” but Mayor refuses to “pass up” the chance to grow close to a girl as beautiful as Maribel. Celia defends Mayor, but Rafael still disapproves. This pushes Mayor even closer to Maribel, who feels that he is really “the only one willing to give her a chance.”

Mayor begins visiting the Riveras’ apartment some afternoons after school in order to spend even more time with Maribel. He wishes he could take her out somewhere, but Alma insists the two of them stay in the apartment. One afternoon, Mayor and Maribel discuss the weather—she has never seen snow, and is eagerly anticipating its arrival. As Mayor describes all the different forms snow can take, Maribel hastily writes everything down in her notebook—Mayor asks to take a peek at it, and she allows him to. He sees that she has written several simple directions to herself to help get through her days such as “This is Newark, Delaware,” “Delaware is 3,333 kilometers from home,” and “The school bus is free. The city bus is not free.”

Mayor asks Maribel what happened to her. She tells him that she fell, but she cannot remember the word for what she fell off of—finally, she arrives at the word “ladder,” and she describes her injuries and her lingering headaches. She tells Mayor that she “lost herself” in between the accident and the hospital, and confides that she likes being around him because he does not constantly ask her how she is feeling.

One evening, Mayor leaves the Riveras’ apartment for the night and, when he arrives home, finds that his father is home earlier than expected. Rafael asks Mayor why he isn’t in his soccer clothes, and Mayor makes up a flimsy excuse. Rafael seems on the verge of discovering Mayor’s secret, but instead he asks Mayor to get him another beer.