Mañanaland

Max arrives home and asks about his baptism record, hoping to use it if Papá can’t get him a birth certificate in time for tryouts. Buelo does not want Max looking for it and changes the subject, asking Max to help prepare wood for the new bridge. Another peregrine falcon appears, prompting Max to ask Buelo about his time as a guardian. Buelo helped hidden ones during the war in Abismo, as well as later when a new wave of hidden ones were looking to escape. This group they called the “Brigade of Women,” and they were escaping gender oppression in Abismo. Even outside Abismo, many don’t support the hidden ones and would be willing to expose them for reward. Max pushes Buelo for information about Max’s mother. This upsets Buelo, and he tells Max to wait for Papá to explain.

A week goes by without word from Papá about the birth certificate. Max’s mood sours. One afternoon, Ortiz, Gui, and Chuy find Max working at the bridge site. Chuy invites Max to the water hole, though Max can’t join since he’s working. Chuy reveals he went to Ortiz’s house for dinner and Ortiz’s mother accused Max’s family of being criminals. Max confronts Ortiz. Ortiz pushes Max and they begin to fight. Ortiz leaves, calling for Gui and Chuy to follow him. Max lashes out at Chuy for not standing up for Max, calling Chuy “a little stray dog following at Ortiz’s heels because he invited you to the fútbol clinic, and you got new shoes, and he buys you leche quemada, and brings you to dinner at the big house” (103). Upset, Max drops some wood and cuts his hand. Chuy tries to help, but Max pushes him away. Max tends to his hand, but he is more hurt by the fight with Chuy. 

Max is angry with his friends and frustrated with the secrets his family keeps from him. Max decides to snoop through Papá’s important documents for his baptism record although Buelo had forbidden him from looking. Max finds Papá’s map for building bridges, marked with numbered circles to indicate existing bridges and stars that Max believes indicates Buelo’s favorite places to fish. Max will learn in Chapter 16 that the stars indicate hiding spots for guardians.

Max finds a photo from his baptism along with a certificate. However, it is dated three years after Max was born and won’t work as proof of his age. Max also finds a stone rubbing and makes out the word “Mañanaland.” The shape of the stone looks like the stones in the tower, where the hidden ones carve messages. Max decides to visit the tower to trace the message. Although Papá warned Max never to visit the ruins alone, Max decides “that was just Papá being overprotective” (109). Max vows to be careful.