Erick is the son of a single mother, a Mexican-American immigrant. She works low-paying jobs but is very beautiful, and men are always hitting on her and giving her things. She goes out with a lot of them. Erick doesn't like it and never speaks. She says to them it's because he doesn't speak English well, even though he does. He only speaks to his friend Albert, who has a large family.

At one point, his mom is dating an incredibly wealthy engineer she works for. Erick tells Albert the engineer is his new dad. Then, he dumps and fires his mom, and she starts dating a Mexican-American man named Roque again, who is incredibly kind and doting. Erick tells Albert he's his Uncle Rock, since he doesn't want to say he lied about the engineer being his dad. Though he doesn't specifically say it, it's clear he dislikes Roque because he wanted his mother to marry the engineer. He stops being friends with Albert after it becomes apparent he lied.

Roque takes Erick and his mom to a baseball game, where Erick, who loves baseball, catches a home run ball. After the game, the players call to Erick from the bus they've boarded to give them the ball to sign. They all give it back, along with a note to Erick's mother from one of the players who Erick admires, hitting on her and asking her to meet him that night. Erick sees his mother and Roque talking, oblivious. He thinks, "Roque was the proudest man, full of joy because he was with her. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t an engineer." He drops and leaves the note on the ground and goes back to his mother and Roque, where he says his first words in Roque's presence: "Look, they all signed the ball."