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The House on Mango Street Chapter 10 Summary

Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin

  • Meme's family rents out their basement to a Puerto Rican family. Louie is the oldest child.
  • Louie has an older cousin named Marin who lives with the family. She wears a lot of makeup and black nylons. She's in charge of babysitting for Louie's little sisters, which means she's stuck in the house.
  • One day Louie's other cousin drives up to Louie's house in a big, shiny, yellow Cadillac. Everybody comes out of the house to ask questions – where'd he get the new car? Can they have a ride?
  • Louie's cousin tells everyone to pile into the back, and drives them around the block six times. The seventh time around, they hear police sirens.
  • Louie's cousin orders everyone out of the Cadillac. He takes off speeding down the alley, with a police car in pursuit.
  • Louie's cousin crashes into a lamppost, and the police cuff him and haul him off to jail. The narrator says that she and Louie's family all "[wave] as they [drive] away" (10.8).