The Five Wounds

Angel approaches Brianna and her father, a look of confusion on her face. Brianna puts on her best professional smile and pretends that she and Amadeo just ran into each other and were discussing Angel. In fact, Amadeo and Brianna had been arguing. Amadeo leaves with Angel, the status of his relationship with Brianna now distressingly unclear, and tries to play it cool. Angel, however, immediately asks how long he’s been sleeping with Brianna, then tells him that she does not want to speak to him.

In class the next day, Angel fumes silently. Brianna has put on her most professional outfit, a business suit, as a kind of armor. Brianna’s sense of self has been severely shaken by Angel’s possible discovery of her relationship with Amadeo—Brianna does not yet know about the conversation between Angel and her father in the car. Accordingly, Brianna relies on her clothing in an attempt to regain the authority that she’s lost. Angel looks sadly at Lizette’s empty desk, and when Brianna asks Angel to spit out her gum, Angel refuses, instead accusing Brianna of kicking the one girl out of school who most needed help. Brianna instructs her again to spit out her gum.