The Book of Unknown Americans: Chapter 4: Alma Summary & Analysis

A few days after the Riveras arrive in Newark, Arturo begins work at a mushroom farm “just over the state line in Pennsylvania.” The farm is the only place near to Maribel’s new school that would sponsor the Riveras’ visas. After Arturo’s first day of work, Alma is appalled to find that he stood on his feet for ten hours in a dark warehouse picking mushrooms out of stacked boxes, with no breaks or time for lunch. Alma remembers how in México, Arturo used to come home for lunch each day from his construction job, and she feels full of guilt.

Arturo asks if Alma has heard from Maribel’s new school, but she says that they did not call. Alma cooks Arturo a single hot dog, and the “insufficiency” of their new lives hangs over them.

Five days later, a translator from the school district calls—her name is Phyllis. She informs Alma that Maribel will have to start at a nearby public school before she can be “placed in a school like [The] Evers [School]”—the special school that the Riveras moved to Newark for. The translator tells Alma that getting Maribel set up for Evers will probably take about two months, and Alma knows there is nothing she can do “but say okay and wait again.”

Arturo is disappointed by the news, but optimistic. On Maribel’s first day of school, Arturo and Alma, “filled with impossible expectation,” help Maribel to get ready for school. Maribel is visibly confused, unable to understand why she cannot go to her old school, and seemingly unaware of where she is. Maribel dresses herself, and when she puts her sweater on backwards and Alma tries to fix it, Maribel lashes out. After breakfast, Alma asks Maribel if she is ready, and Maribel responds, “’For what?’” Alma says there is “no rhyme or reason” to Maribel’s confusion—“even a year after the accident,” Alma still cannot make sense of any pattern to Maribel’s behavior. Alma and Arturo take Maribel downstairs to catch her bus, and send her off with both hope and trepidation.

Arturo leaves for work, and Alma is alone in the apartment for the first time since their arrival in Newark. She watches television and attempts to “replicate the sounds,” though she has no idea what anyone is saying. Alma longs to cook something, but has none of the ingredients she needs. She realizes that this is going to be her life—long days alone in the apartment—and she must learn how to spend them.

Alma wants to buy more food, but she does not want to return to the gas station. She showers, dresses, and heads outside, and as she steps out onto the walkway, she hears a skateboard in the parking lot below—it is Garrett Miller, the boy with the neck tattoo. Alma is full of fear, but she tells herself to calm down. She waits for Garrett to leave, and after several minutes, he does. Alma wonders why he came to the building—for Maribel or for something else.

As Alma heads to the staircase, she spots a man who introduces himself as Fito, the landlord. He gives Alma her mailbox key, and she asks about the boy—Fito tells Alma that he is “just a local troublemaker,” and that he lives down the road in a neighborhood called Capitol Oaks. He assures Alma that there is “nothing to worry about.” He describes the neighborhoods of Newark to Alma, and declares with pride that the Redwood Apartments—his building—is home to Latino immigrants from several countries. He tells Alma that she will “fit right in,” and once again reminds her that there is nothing to worry about. It occurs to Alma that perhaps Fito is just afraid to scare the Riveras away and lose out on their rent, but she nonetheless repeats his words back to him—“Nothing to worry about.”