Chapter 6 Summary: Morning Routine
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Olga wakes in her Brooklyn apartment the morning after spending the night with Matteo, a man she met the evening before. Her first thought is how quickly she can get him out. Her usual strategy for overnight guests is a blunt, ego-bruising remark delivered casually, which reliably drives men from her apartment before her coffee finishes brewing. This morning, however, feels different: the encounter was genuinely satisfying, and she wants to keep her options open—even if she still wants him gone now.
She clears her throat loudly to wake him, climbs over a tangle of clothing on the floor (including his Teva sandals, which she notes with some dismay), and heads to the kitchen. She turns on the news and starts the coffee maker as noisily as possible, hoping the racket will communicate what she cannot say aloud. Opening the cabinet, she considers taking out two mugs but settles on just one: her college mug, which serves as both a comforting reminder of her ambition and intelligence and a nagging reminder that she may be squandering both.
Matteo emerges from the bedroom, naked, and marvels at the view from her seventeenth-floor apartment. The building is one of the newer high-rises that have transformed a previously neglected part of Brooklyn, and the floor-to-ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the neighborhood where Olga grew up. He jokes about the construction quality and comments on her college mug, teasing her about spending formative years with "witch burners up north." Olga finds herself less uncomfortable than she expected, which itself makes her uncomfortable.
A news segment about her brother, Congressman Pedro Acevedo, interrupts the moment. Matteo criticizes Pedro's ambition and media presence, and Olga—proud of her brother—reveals that Pedro is her brother. She defends him, saying he would make an amazing president but will never run, and compares him to Pedro Albizu Campos, the Puerto Rican independence leader. Matteo is surprised by the connection but takes it in stride, asking for coffee. Olga, embarrassed that he noticed her single-mug slight, gives him a second mug. He makes his own coffee and tells her he will leave after charging his phone.
While showering, Olga imagines Matteo examining her belongings: her color-sorted bookcase, the art on her walls (including a Barron Claiborne print of Biggie Smalls, a framed Puerto Rican flag, and a Beats, Rhymes and Life album cover), and the photographs on her desk. These include her college graduation photo, a portrait of her grandmother, her brother's congressional swearing-in, and a black-and-white shot of her parents on the subway, exhausted after a day of protesting. The signs resting on their laps are cropped out of the photo, but Olga knows they read "Viva Puerto Rico Libre" and "Tengo Puerto Rico en mi Corazón." Her mother appears young and beautiful, makeup-free, with a scarf wrapped around her head; her father wears a beret and an army jacket covered in protest buttons. The thought of Matteo forming questions about her parents makes her heart race—she cannot imagine discussing them with a stranger.
She shuts off the shower mid-shave, throws on her robe, and rushes out, telling him he needs to leave and cannot touch her things. But Matteo is already fully dressed, knapsack on his back, rinsing the two coffee mugs at the sink. He dries his hands, tells her to wash her own dishes, pats her damp robe, and leaves with a casual "Ciao."
Key Events
- Olga wakes and attempts to expedite Matteo's departure through noise and a single coffee mug.
- Matteo's nakedness and easy confidence disrupt Olga's usual morning-after routine.
- A news segment about Pedro Acevedo leads Olga to reveal their sibling relationship.
- Olga defends her brother's character and compares him to Pedro Albizu Campos.
- While showering, Olga imagines Matteo examining her books, art, and family photographs.
- Olga abandons her shower and orders Matteo out, only to find him already dressed and washing the mugs.
Character Development
Olga is revealed as someone who keeps intimacy at arm's length. Her habit of delivering cutting remarks to drive overnight guests away is a deliberate strategy to avoid emotional entanglement. The chapter shows her internal conflict: she enjoyed Matteo's company and wants to keep the door open, yet she is deeply uncomfortable with the vulnerability that closeness requires. Her reaction to the imagined scrutiny of her family photos reveals how protective she is of her personal history—particularly her parents' activism, which she is not ready to discuss with a stranger. Her pride in her brother is also on display; she defends him without hesitation even though she does not want to engage Matteo on the topic.
Matteo emerges as perceptive and unbothered. He notices the single mug and calls her out on it, but does so playfully rather than with resentment. He respects her boundaries in the end, leaving without prying into her belongings or her family. His easy confidence contrasts with Olga's guardedness, and his final gesture—rinsing the mugs—suggests a casual decency that unsettles her expectations.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Intimacy avoidance: Olga's morning routine is built around minimizing emotional exposure. The single mug is a small but pointed symbol of her reluctance to let anyone in.
- Privacy boundaries: Olga's panic at the thought of Matteo examining her photographs shows how fiercely she guards her family history. The photos themselves—especially the protest image—represent a legacy she is not ready to share.
- Ambition vs. squandering: The college mug carries a double meaning for Olga: pride in her achievements and guilt about not living up to her potential.
- Gentrification: The high-rise apartment, with its sweeping views of the neighborhood where Olga grew up, embodies the transformation of her hometown and her complicated position within that change.
- Cultural identity and family legacy: The Puerto Rican flag, the parents' protest photo, and Olga's comparison of Pedro to Pedro Albizu Campos all tie her present life to a history of political activism and cultural pride.
- Media scrutiny: Pedro's constant presence on the news highlights how public his life is, and how Olga's connection to him shapes her interactions.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter deepens our understanding of Olga's emotional landscape. Her carefully constructed morning routine—the noise, the single mug, the cutting remarks—is a defense mechanism against intimacy, and Matteo's presence cracks that facade. The chapter also introduces the family photographs that will become emotionally significant: the image of her parents at a protest, in particular, connects Olga's present-day life to her family's activist past. Her pride in Pedro and her protective silence about her parents reveal the weight of her family legacy, even as she lives in a gentrified high-rise far from the neighborhood where she grew up. Matteo's easy departure, without judgment or questions, leaves Olga with an unfamiliar feeling: the possibility that someone might see her things and not need an explanation.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Olga take out only one coffee mug, and what does this decision reveal about her?
Olga takes out one mug as a subtle signal that Matteo should leave soon. It reflects her habitual avoidance of intimacy: she wants to control the pace and depth of any connection. The mug itself also carries personal meaning, reminding her of her ambition and her fear that she is squandering it.
2. What does the photograph of Olga's parents reveal about her family history, and why does she panic at the thought of Matteo seeing it?
The photograph shows her parents on the subway, exhausted after a day of protesting, with signs that read "Viva Puerto Rico Libre" and "Tengo Puerto Rico en mi Corazón." It connects her family to Puerto Rican independence activism. Olga panics because discussing her parents with a stranger feels impossible—their history is deeply personal, and she is not ready to explain it.
3. How does Matteo's behavior at the end of the chapter subvert Olga's expectations?
Olga expects to find Matteo examining her belongings and forming questions about her family. Instead, he is already dressed, has rinsed the mugs, and leaves without prying. His respect for her boundaries—and his casual, unbothered exit—challenge her assumptions about what intimacy and departure look like.