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Mona's home life with Frank was horrible. She was left to do all the housework and cook, all on top of taking care of their child. This left her to never have time to make sure her own self was healthy. As the rate of domestic abuse grew in the home, she was hopeful it would stop, until it got too much and she knew it wouldn't end. The only thing that was her final push to truly leave was her child. Frankie Jr. was the main thing in the world she cared for the most and she knew if she didn't leave soon, he was going to start sharing the abuse with their kid. Ever since the start of the abuse Mona was very serious that, "Nobody hits my kid." She was ready to leave at any time if anything happened to Frankie. This picture relates to the theme and quote by showing the love that comes from mother and child. They saved each other in their most desperate times.

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When Mona met Frank, she thought he was different from the other vatos. He was able to have thoughtful conversations, which she wasn’t used to. Once their relationship got serious, and they moved in together, Frank's attitude started to change. He became uninterested and violent. Frank was on PCP and Heroin, which make the user groggy and aggressive. The day after they met, Osuna asked her if there was a new guy in her life. Mona, "…blushed and shook her head.” This shows the new happiness she felt for Frank, instead of all the negative feelings we see she has towards him in later chapters. The fighting between Frank and Mona started very quickly once Frankie Jr. was born. One night while Frank was getting high with his buddies, it escalated to a slap, and it only got worse from there as his drug use overcame himself. Mona didn't know how to feel, she was in shock. She couldn't believe, “he hit me… he really hit me.” This picture relates to the theme and the quote by showing the love they once had for one another, and how the violence that came from his drug use effected their feelings for one another.

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Mona's development during her adolescence isn't like most people experience. Her introduction to gangs and troublesome behavior made her feel stuck in this life. The portion of her life where she was affiliated with gangs deeply affected her character development through her story. Everyone around her doubted her goals, which soon made her feel uneasy about them. It took her many years to be able to overcome the backlash and experiences she faced from even the people closest to her. Once she began to only care about her own opinion and not others is when she was able to follow her dreams. Her past is what developed her into the great cop she became, and even when, "everyone doubted that I would ever become a cop," she knew from her own skeptic mind that she could do it. This picture relates to the theme and quote by showing the main portion of her character development which was her traumatic life in gangs.

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Mona's changed her lifestyle and views in many ways throughout her story. When she was growing up her father influenced her to never be affiliated with gang life. Mona wanting to differ from her sisters already involved in that life, she followed his words until she entered high school. That was her gateway into the life of drugs, gangs, and violence. She ran the streets for many years till she was awoken by the sight of Oso's death. She put her gang life to rest and started to work towards her dream of working at the PD. Her goals stopped though, once she met her husband. His abuse and old school attitude kept her from pursuing her schooling. After years of torment from Frank, she finally got the strength to leave to a woman's shelter and restart her dreams. Mona had many trials and errors to find her true identity, but in the end through her all her experiences she found herself and," learned that you can never give up." This picture relates to the theme and quote by showing how she took her whole life to find who she was but never gave up, even during the parts of her life that sunk her down.

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Mona’s dream since she was a little girl was to become a police officer due to her fathers praise of cops. Even when she got involved in the wrong crowd, her goal stayed. During her time in gangs she went to many parties, and at this specific party everyone was having a conversation about the future. It was quite uncommon for gang members to talk about their future in a positive light, so when Mona explained she, “wants to be a cop,” everyone was disrespectful towards her dream. The negative comments got to her in the moment and she tried to redeem herself by saying, “… I was just joking.” This picture relates to the theme and quote by showing how alone she felt in this moment, and throughout the book when no one believed she could accomplish her goals.