The First Rule of Punk

At school the next day, Malú and Joe have a candy necklace thrown at them by Selena and her friends. Joe tosses it back at Selena. Selena mocks Joe and Malú, saying they have a crush on one another. Later, at home, Malú’s mom says that she’s noticed that Malú and Joe are spending a lot of time together.

At band practice, Malú brings up the idea of covering a Lola Beltrán song. She’s convinced the group will dislike the idea, but everyone’s into it. Malú is concerned about singing in Spanish.

The chapter concludes with an eight-page zine titled “Music” that details the reasons for Malú's love of song. Included among these reasons is that “lately music has made [her] feel more connected to the Mexican part of [her]” (211).

Back in the Hidalgos’ basement, Mrs. Hidalgo tells Malú she can indeed sing in Spanish. Joe tells his mom that Malú’s mother doesn’t know that Malú is in a band. Mrs. Hidalgo offers to help break the news to Malú’s mom. Benny says that he’s already familiar with the Lola Beltrán song that the Co-Co’s plan to cover, and then plays the trumpet part of the song excellently. While the rest of the band practices, Malú doesn’t sing. Joe offers to do art for the anti-talent show flyer and teases Malú about chickening out of performing. Malú says she will not chicken out but is secretly concerned.

In the proceeding days, Malú listens “to Lola B on loop” (217). After a week of practicing the song, the Co-Co’s begin to get the music down. Malú has yet to sing during a practice and finally does, at first failing and asking for a glass of water but then succeeding enough for Joe to deem Malú’s singing as “not bad,” and Ellie calling it “great” (219). The Co-Co’s go over the song more, picking up the tempo in order to make it sound more punk. Benny offers that background vocals should be added. Malú grows in her confidence.

October arrives and with it, beautiful fall weather. Malú falls in love with apple cider donuts and wants to “bottle up all the smells and colors and the feeling of fall so they’d always be close” (221).

Malú’s mom asks if Joe is Malú’s boyfriend, as Malú is always over at the Hidalgos’ house for band practice. (Malú has still not told her mom that she’s in a band.) Malú refutes her mom’s claim and gets embarrassed discussing boys with her. Malú calls her dad, who says he has a surprise for her but then refuses to reveal what it is. He asks Malú if she wants help telling her mom about the band, but Malú declines, saying that Mrs. Hidalgo is better suited to aid her because Hidalgo is like Malú: “She’s a girl. And she’s Mexican. And she’s into punk” (224). Malú ends the conversation by saying she’ll tell her mom about the band on her own.

At Calaca, Malú shows Joe one of her zines. Zines are new to Joe, and he comes up with an idea for his own that involves Mexican vampires from the 1800s. Ellie arrives, and the reader learns that her parents have enrolled her at JGP so she can learn a second language; she’s attended the school since kindergarten. She deems herself an “outsider,” though Malú says she’s not. Joe shows Ellie and Malú a drawing of “four coconuts, real coconuts, wearing mariachi hats. Above the coconuts was the band’s name written over an eighties-looking checkered pattern” (227). This is to be the design for the Co-Co’s T-shirts. Malú offers that this is “the happiest [she’d] felt since [moving] to Chicago” (228).

Malú and Joe make copies of the anti-talent show flyer in the library after school. They plan to hand them out the following Monday. Malú is currently reading a book about Posada. She puts the book in her bag and finds the flyer for the Irish dance class that Selena had thrown out, after Selena’s mother said that Selena couldn’t attend. Malú says that “as much as Selena bugged [her], [she] felt a little bad for her” (230).

The band clandestinely hands out flyers Monday morning, near the school bus stop. Joe offers that he knows of “at least a couple of kids who are [also] interested” in performing at the anti-talent show, adding that “Rivera gave them the ax because their entire comedy act consisted of fart and bathroom jokes” (231).

Selena tells Malú she knows all about the anti-talent show because she found the original of the flyer Joe had photocopied in the library’s photocopier, forgetting to take the original with him. Selena refuses to give the flyer back to Malú.

Later, during science class, Malú is called in to Principal Rivera’s office. Rivera reveals that she’s aware of Malú’s plan to “disrupt” the Fall Fiesta. Rivera has gotten her hands on the original copy of the flyer, and shows it to Malú, saying that “there will be consequences” (234) should a disruption of the Fiesta occur. Malú leaves the meeting angry at her mom, Joe, Principal Rivera, and Selena.