Chapter 5 opens with Eddie again philosophizing, this time that he “wanted to sprint straight into the future” but “kept going in circles” (69). The chapter begins at Holmes Playground. Here he encounters two young gang children who are getting high from inhalants. Eddie asks them if they’ve seen Angel, but gets no response other than laughter. Eddie heads into the rec room to talk to Coach, a role model who has acted as a guide and confidant for Eddie throughout his youth. A former gang-banger, Coach is accepted in the neighborhood, with some level of respect from and control over its adolescent population.

He and Eddie talk briefly about Jose. The story about Jose being knifed has run in the newspaper, interestingly enough on the obituary page. Eddie is unhappy his own name has been included in the story; he worries this means he will be attacked for being an unintentional bystander. Coach asks Eddie to paint the base lines on the softball field and Eddie complies. He uses a chalk machine with smashed chalk from “teachers who had given up” (71). A kid named

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