We Were Here

Miguel awakens in his bunk at the Lighthouse group home and senses that someone else is in the room. He realizes that Mong is standing over his bed, and experiences a panic attack while recalling the anecdote regarding Mong having caused a compound fracture to another resident’s arm. Miguel considers calling for help, and then realizes that “[m]aybe I actually don’t care what happens,” because Miguel “ain’t even a real person no more” (33). He tells Mong that “I don’t care what you do, man” (33), at which point Mong ceases smiling eerily and leaves the room.

Miguel experiences an epiphany regarding himself after this interaction. While he initially thought that expressing indifference to Mong might have been intended to sound “tough,” he realizes that he has no emotional stake in his own life. Without revealing the specifics of his crime, he notes that “[a]fter what happened back in Stockton it’s like I’m already dead” (34). He remembers caring very much for his home, parents, and brother as a young child, but none of these things impact him emotionally any more.