Romiette and Julio

After their near-death experience, Romi and Julio close the novel believing they are “soul mates…forever” (320). Romi and Julio are presented as destined to meet, their love sanctioned by nature and the stars themselves. From the moment they meet online, they fall into easy chemistry that energizes and inspires them. The idea of soul mates is a vague, romantic concept difficult for the practical Romi to accept—until she starts chatting with Julio online and meets him in the school cafeteria. She initially dismisses the aptly named Destiny’s idea of soul mates as a fantasy but is nevertheless drawn to Julio.

A soul mate symbolizes one’s other half, a person who reciprocates one’s love and provides a comforting sense of connection. Destiny is a romantic at heart who believes in fate and the power of the stars and invests in a Scientific Soul Mate System kit to find her a soul mate through dreams. With its inclusion of a relaxation CD, scented oils to rub on one’s temples before sleep, and a scented candle, the kit frames finding one’s soul mate as methodical, scientific even—rather than just a matter of inexplicable connection. However, while the kit happens to work for Romi and Destiny (as Destiny later identifies Ben as her soul mate), finding a soul mate is often anything but predictable (which is the case for Destiny, despite her use of the kit). Whenever Romi and Julio share tender moments, they are described as transcendent, their love a powerful force that gives them the strength to overcome others’ interruptions and attempts to separate them.

Upon starting school in Cincinnati, Julio recalls the gangs at his high school in Corpus Christi: “Either you were in a gang or you get hurt” (20). Using the local news station and its investigative team, the novel establishes the reality of gangs in public schools. Without much research, the local news station decides gangs don’t exist in Cincinnati, but the novel exposes gangs for what they are—small networks of organized bullies who threaten students and teachers alike. Julio recalls the stress of his previous school: “It was hard to concentrate on schoolwork with fights in the hall every day and bullies in colors pushing everyone around” (20). His father also recalls the death of his first girlfriend by a Black gang. In the face of such a threat, teachers and administrators are helpless to make change (either due to indifference, denial, or fear) or even become victims of gang violence. Julio’s parents decide to leave Corpus Christi when the death of a teacher is eventually linked to gang involvement.

Because Romi, Julio, Destiny, and Ben resist their high school’s gang, the Devildogs, the novel offers insight into gang mentality through Romi’s former friend Malaka Grimes, who threatens Romi to end her relationship with Julio; Malaka also partakes in Romi and Julio’s kidnapping. Romi remembers young Malaka as a friendly girl, but her parents’ divorce broke her. She spiraled into loneliness and joined the Devildogs to find emotional security and stability. Romi notes that Malaka now “smoke[s], dr[inks], and w[ears] her skirts very tight and very short…and always seem[s] angry” (101). In other words, joining a gang provides teenagers with a sense of identity at the cost of surrendering one’s authentic identity, suggested by the Devildogs’ required purple sweatsuits.

As teenagers are often just beginning to figure out who they are, gang mentality stunts this growth and provides a rationale for bullying and violence—which can lead to an escalation of violence later in life. Though Romi and Julio’s abduction ultimately fails and the Devildogs involved are arrested, there is no indication that this will be the end of the Devildogs as a gang. The only realistic hope is that with the cooperation of the local media and school-related figures, schools can be freed from the influence of gangs.