Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Merci and Lolo are taking their customary Sunday bike ride home from El Caribe. Merci is so caught up with telling him about her most recent spat with Edna regarding map materials that she doesn’t immediately notice that her grandfather has fallen. Merci is stunned. Lolo has never fallen and taught all of the family members how to ride. Merci finds her grandfather bleeding from his eyebrow, tangled up with his bicycle, and with scratched-up glasses. All of the pastries that they got from El Caribe are scattered across the ground. They salvage a few of them, pausing to eat a few, as Lolo downplays the entire thing.

Merci picks up the conversation where she left off, asking for her grandfather’s guidance about Edna. He says, “When it comes to people, sometimes it’s a matter of taste, like these cookies. We like some more than others. That’s not bad. It’s just human” (78). Lolo tells Merci to ride the rest of the way while he walks his bike home. He tells Merci not to tell the family, especially Abuela, about the accident. With the way she worries, she may put an end to Merci and Lolo’s Sunday tradition.