The House on Mango Street

Two young girls from Texas named Lucy and Rachel offer to be friends with Esperanza if she pays them five dollars. They are trying to collect enough money to buy an old bicycle, and they will share the bike with Esperanza if she contributes. Cathy tells Esperanza to stay away from them because they smell bad, but Esperanza likes the idea of making her own friends, so she steals some money from Nenny and gives the girls five dollars. They don’t laugh at her when she tells them her name is Esperanza. They cannot decide who will ride the bike first or how to share it, so all three girls ride at the same time. Lucy pedals because her legs are the longest, and Rachel sits on the handlebars. The girls ride around the neighborhood, which is described as a crumbling urban city block. An overweight woman says, “you sure got quite a load there. Rachel shouts, You got quite a load there too. She is very sassy” (16). Esperanza is happy riding the new bike, laughing with her new friends.