We Were Here

The chapter opens with ruminations from the protagonist, Miguel Castaneda, regarding his upbringing by his widowed mother in Stockton, California. He recalls his father’s death and military funeral and midnight jaunts around the neighborhood with his older brother, Diego, during which they peeped into windows to watch people sleep. He notes the universality of sleep: “That every person you come across lays down in a bed, […] and closes their eyes at night” (5).

While not mentioning the nature of his crime, Miguel recalls standing before a judge and implies that he has the power to cause events to occur merely by imagining them. He advises the reader that “I can sometimes make stuff happen just by thinking about it” (5); therefore, he was granted a relatively light sentence involving one year in a group home and writing in a journal. He recalls that his mother refrained from looking at him following the sentencing, or when she dropped him off at juvenile hall, to begin serving his term. He merely indicates that this was because of what he had done, leaving the rest to the imagination of the reader.