My Beloved World: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Right before Christmas of Sonia’s freshman year, her family moves to a new apartment in Co-op City, a brand-new development. It’s close enough to Cardinal Spellman that Sonia can walk, though poor Junior now has to commute an hour to Blessed Sacrament. Mami is ready to move because gangs are moving into the Bronxdale projects and arsonists set fires often. Dr. Fisher enables the move when he unexpectedly leaves Mami $5000 in his will. Sonia immediately sees why Mami wanted to make the move: the apartment is big and Junior and Sonia can even have their own rooms.

Sonia gets a job at Zaro’s Bakery. She enjoys the job, and some Jewish customers assume she’s Jewish—but thankfully, they don’t call her a “spic” when they discover she’s Puerto Rican. Gradually, Co-op City transforms into a real community as the construction wraps up. Many residents are Jewish, but people from all over the city from all different backgrounds move in. Soon, Alfred, Titi Carmen, and others move in—and Titi Aurora moves in with Sonia’s family. Titi Aurora sleeps in the foyer and grumbles if Sonia or Junior stays out late, and she’s a packrat. She’s also frugal to a fault and takes issue with Mami’s willingness to go into debt (which she always pays off) for things like Catholic school or encyclopedias.

Sonia doesn’t understand how Titi Aurora and Mami get along with their differences, but she can tell that they’re oddly bound to each other. She also suspects that Mami invited Titi Aurora to move in to deter Sonia and Junior from misbehaving—though Titi Aurora cannot punish the children, and most things look insignificant to Mami if they’re not drugs or jail. Just as before, Sonia’s friends congregate at her apartment. Once, when a neighbor calls security about the noise, Mami shouts at the security guard that if kids can’t have fun at home, they get trouble elsewhere. She then invites the guard for coffee.

Sonia and Marguerite Gudewicz become best friends after a boy dumps both of them for another girl. Marguerite’s house makes Sonia feel like she’s back at Abuelita’s, and though Marguerite’s father holds racist views about Puerto Ricans, he still defends Sonia to even more racist friends and family. Sonia begins to see that there’s more to New York than a small area of the South Bronx. Marguerite’s German and Polish parents introduce Sonia to more vegetables, while the Jewish community introduces her to new curses. But despite all the differences between the groups, Sonia still sees that everyone is committed to their families and community—and food binds everyone together.

Junior year, Sonia has a teacher named Miss Katz for history. She’s different from the other teachers in that she’s not a nun, and she warns against “getting stuck in rote learning,” focusing on conceptual thinking instead. Sonia is intrigued and often visits Miss Katz’s office. She learns about Miss Katz’s freedom fighter boyfriend and learns that though Miss Katz is Jewish, nuns and priests in Latin America inspired her to work at a Catholic school. Miss Katz speaks reverently of Father Gigante, Titi Aurora’s priest; he’s a tenants’ rights activist. Miss Katz is the first progressive Sonia sees up close, and Sonia thinks that Miss Katz is so interesting because she is so engaged in her own continuing education. But despite Miss Katz’s attempts, Sonia doesn’t understand critical thinking until college.

Sonia isn’t considered a beauty in high school. She barrels down the halls instead of ambling sexily, and even Mami says that she has bad taste in clothes. Boys ask her out occasionally, but she often feels like everyone’s second choice. One guy, Kevin Noonan, makes Sonia feel attractive. After their first date, they’re inseparable. Kevin brings Sonia a rose every day for the first month that they date. One day, Sonia drags him to meet an aunt and uncle, but Kevin goes pale and doesn’t talk. Later, he admits that he’s been stealing roses from that man’s garden, not knowing he was Sonia’s uncle.

Kevin spends most of his time at Sonia’s apartment. They study and watch TV together, and they work on Kevin’s car. They don’t often go to Kevin’s house, as Kevin’s mother doesn’t like Sonia. Eventually, Sonia introduces Kevin to Abuelita, which makes their relationship official. Everyone knows they’ll get married at some point. One afternoon, as Sonia looks out her window at Kevin working on his car and Junior on the basketball court, Mami joins her and remarks on “[her] two sons.”