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Mami
Papi is Twin and Xiomara’s father. The Papi that Xiomara knows is silent and although he’s around in a literally sense, he seems mostly absent. He barely acknowledges his children and only speaks to Mami if it’s about Xiomara, Twin, or meals. Before Xiomara and Twin were born, however, Papi was a womanizer. Xiomara has heard that Mami was forced to marry Papi in order to immigrate to the U.S. and that once in the States, Papi began hanging out at bodegas and propositioning pretty women. There are other rumors that Papi had so much casual sex in his youth because he was infertile and not concerned about consequences. Despite the fact that Mami doesn’t believe in divorce, everything that Xiomara has heard suggests that Mami and Papi’s marriage was on the brink of collapse when Xiomara and Twin were born. The children supposedly made Papi into a good and upstanding man, though he seems unhappy and never plays music. Despite his own sexual history, Papi calls Xiomara a cuero (a whore) when he finds out that she kissed Aman in public. He also goes along with Mami’s cruel and abusive punishments and never advocates for his children. The first time he steps in is when Mami burns Xiomara’s poetry notebook, though he seems more concerned about the fire than the emotional trauma it causes Xiomara. Later, when the family begins attending counseling with Father Sean, Xiomara discovers that Papi loves to talk and is actually very funny. He also shows that he’s a good listener and seems to take it to heart when Xiomara tells him how he’s hurt her in the past. At her poetry slam, he publicly claims Xiomara as his daughter and does so proudly.
Papi Quotes in The Poet X
The The Poet X 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:
).
Part I Quotes
Their gazes and words
are heavy with all the things
they want you to be.
It is ungrateful to feel like a burden.
It is ungrateful to resent my own birth.
I know that Twin and I are miracles.
Aren’t we reminded every single day?
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What if I like a boy too much
and none of those things happen...
they’re the only scales I have.
How does a girl like me figure out the weight
of what it means to love a boy?
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I just needed people saying words
about all the things that hurt them.
And maybe this is why Papi stopped listening to music,
because it can make your body want to rebel. To speak up.
And even that young I learned music can become a bridge
between you and a total stranger.
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Part II Quotes
I don’t yell how the whole block whispers
when I walk down the street
about all the women
who made a cuero out of him.
But men are never called cueros.
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I’ll be anything that makes sense
of this panic. I’ll loosen myself from this painful flesh.
See, a cuero is any skin. A cuero
is just a covering. A cuero is a loose thing.
Tied down by no one. Fluttering
and waving in the wind. Flying. Flying. Gone.
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Part III Quotes
But even business deals are promises.
And we still married in a church.
And so I never walked away from him
although I tried my best to get back
to my first love.
And confirmation is the last step I can give you.
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Get the entire The Poet X LitChart as a printable PDF.
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Papi Character Timeline in The Poet X
The timeline below shows where the character Papi appears in The Poet X. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part I: In the Beginning Was the World
Unhide-able. Xiomara says that she can’t hide. She’s taller than Papi, and Mami has always said that she has too much body for a 15-year-old. Boys...
(full context)
...name, but now, Mami curses how well Xiomara lives up to her name. Mami and Papi probably wanted a girl who would sit in church in floral dresses, but Xiomara wears...
(full context)
...circle at church and Father Sean came to the ER to hold Mami’s hand while Papi paced. The doctor said that Xiomara’s was the most difficult birth she’d assisted. The first...
(full context)
...Born to Old Parents, Continued. Xiomara continues and says that when the twins were born, Papi stopped drinking and hanging out at the bodega where men flirt. He stopped playing music...
(full context)
...Twin understands the burden that Xiomara feels. Mami sees only Xiomara, Twin, and God, while Papi seems to be serving a silent penance. Both Mami and Papi have expectations. Xiomara knows...
(full context)
...nun since she was a young girl but, supposedly, Mami’s family forced her to marry Papi so she could move to the U.S. Thirty years later, Mami and Papi are still...
(full context)
Holy Water. Xiomara listens to Mami and Papi talking about her—they never think that Xiomara and Twin listen in, but it’s impossible not...
(full context)
People Say; On Papi. Papi used to be a womanizer. He’d touch women and compliment them, but people also...
(full context)
...very different. Mami wanted to move so they could each have their own room, but Papi refused. Xiomara remembers hearing that goldfish only grow as big as their tank will allow,...
(full context)
...she needed to hear people speaking about the things that hurt them. She wonders if Papi stopped listening to music because it made his body want to rebel or speak up....
(full context)
Part II: And the Word Was Made Flesh
...comes to boys, she’ll only ever love Twin. She doesn’t want a “converted man-whore” like Papi, or a boy more in love with himself than anything else. She has to love...
(full context)
...warns Aman not to laugh. Aman closes his eyes and listens to a poem about Papi. Xiomara’s hands tremble and she feels naked. Aman says it reminds him of his mother...
(full context)
...a biological parent. But in this case, Xiomara feels like she said too much about Papi and she wants to hear about Aman’s family. She asks him about his mom. Aman...
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...fixes Xiomara with a stare and says that they’re both messing around and Mami and Papi will kill them if they find out. They don’t need to talk about it. Xiomara...
(full context)
...Xiomara tells him that she knows he’s probably felt this way forever, but Mami and Papi will kill him if they find out about this boy. Twin says the boy’s name...
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...her from defending herself or getting Twin into a good school. Mami has never asked Papi for money or complained about her job, and she prays every night. Once Xiomara grew...
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...miss her stop because she didn’t want to stop kissing. She hears Mami shouting at Papi that she saw Xiomara making out with a dirty boy. Xiomara realizes that Mami’s eyes...
(full context)
Miracles. Xiomara doesn’t scream when Papi calls her a cuero. She doesn’t tell him that people whisper about all the women...
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...look at him since she knows it’ll make them both cry, and if Twin cries, Papi will yell at him. Xiomara wants to lash out at the fear in Twin’s voice....
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...While You’re Kneeling on Rice That Have Nothing to Do with Repentance. Xiomara remembers watching Papi peel an orange without lifting his knife. The peel curled away and he dropped it...
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...wearing jeans. She thinks that kneeling on pews was never this bad. She thinks of Papi and Twin not saying anything. Her fists are clenched and pain shoots up her thighs....
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Part III: The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
...Confession. Xiomara notes that a person would think she’s pregnant by how Mami is acting. Papi just tells Xiomara to listen to Mami. Xiomara wants to tell them it’s not such...
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...away from God. She says that she was ready to marry God when she married Papi. It was God’s punishment to make her marry Papi, withhold children, and make her question...
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...Assignment 4—When was the last time you felt free? Xiomara recalls being five or six. Papi had watched a karate movie and Mami was at church. Xiomara and Twin were home...
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...too. Twin races in and grabs for the poetry notebook, but Mami pushes him back. Papi gently coaxes the notebook out of Mami’s hands and knocks it against the wall to...
(full context)
My Mother Tries to Grab Me; Returning. Papi puts out the fire with the fire extinguisher. Mami watches him silently, but Xiomara knows...
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...to know. Ms. Galiano says that she called Xiomara’s house yesterday because she was concerned. Papi sounded frantic and didn’t know where Xiomara was. She asks if Xiomara has called home...
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...never forces her to do anything. Xiomara thinks that Mami wants her to be proper, Papi wants her to be quiet, and Twin and Caridad want her to be good. God...
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...session with Father Sean, Mami gives Xiomara back her repaired baby bracelet. Sometimes, Twin and Papi come too. Twin is quiet, but Xiomara hopes he’ll be able to speak up someday....
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...a deep breath and prepares to practice her poem in front of Twin, Mami, and Papi. She feels like she can’t do it, but Twin nods encouragingly. Xiomara finds her words,...
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...Caridad holds Xiomara’s hand, so Xiomara misses Aman and Twin messing around. Because Mami and Papi are in the front row, Xiomara doesn’t see Father Sean. When she does notice Father...
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Celebrate With Me. After the slam, Mami and Papi invite everyone to their house for pizza and rice and beans. Mami and Papi let...
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