40 pages • 1 hour read
A Place to Stand
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Chapter 13-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Although Baca has tried to serve his time by focusing on the present, he realizes that he is nearing the end of his sentence. His correspondence with Virginia has progressed from literary discussions to love. The two begin to write long, erotic letters to each other, and Virginia offers to let Baca come to live at her place in the woods of North Carolina when he is released.
Baca also continues to write poems and letters for other inmates to commemorate their family members’ birthdays and anniversaries. He continues to submit poetry for publication, as well.
In the cafeteria one day, Baca sees Carey, who has undergone many changes since their last meeting. Carey now sports the tattoos of the Aryan Nation, and he criticizes Baca for refusing to work. Carey is angry that Baca will be released soon. Carey says, “I shot that FBI for you, and you’re getting out” (252).Carey adds that he will kill Baca if Baca doesn’t leave prison soon.
In February 1978, Baca is called before the parole board. The committee, however, does not have his paperwork. After the warden says Baca has broken rules and been insubordinates, a guard returns him to his cell.
Baca is then called before the parole board again. This time, Baca explains that he is not eligible for parole. He hears the ward whispering about his refusal to work, and the committee again orders him to leave. Baca’s release date, April 17, 1978, arrives at last. He waits all day until he’s finally taken to the hearing room late in the afternoon. Again, the warden discusses Baca’s behavior, and the board denies his release. He tries again to explain that he has completed his time and should be released, but a guard removes him from the room.
Baca tries to keep his spirits up, in part to spite the warden, who is trying to break him. In May, when he is brought before the committee and dismissed again, his frustration and anger surfaces. Baca borrows a shank, locates Carey seated with the skinheads, and moves on him. Before Baca can use his weapon, a friend of Baca’s stabs Carey. Later, his friend explains that he already has a life sentence, and he acted to save Baca additional prison time.
In early June, a guard awakens Baca to inform him that he is being released. Baca receives twenty dollars and a bus ride into town. At twenty-six, he is on his own.
Epilogue Summary
After his release, Baca says that he is still imprisoned in many ways. He is uncomfortable with people, and he often experiences nightmares. He lives with Virginia for two years before moving to the state of Virginia, where he finds himself homeless.
Baca decides to return to Albuquerque. In 1981, he meets the woman he will marry, and after his first son is born, Baca’s mother comes to his home. Baca wants to know about his mother’s childhood, so he and his mother agree to meet on a regular basis.
Her children with Richard still do not know about her other children, and Richard’s parents still believe Baca’s mother is white. She tells Baca that even though Richard has threatened to kill her if she leaves him, she plans to divorce him. She also intends to tell her younger children and Richard’s parents the truth. Richard reacts as he has promised. He shoots her five times, killing her.
Mieyo’s alcoholism becomes much worse after his mother’s death. Mieyo moves to Florida to live with his sister, but he starts drinking again and is found beaten to death in an alley.
Several months after Mieyo’s death, Baca walks into a Catholic church in Santa Fe. While watching an infant being baptized, Baca begins to feel forgiveness for others, and for himself: “I was that child, free to begin life over and to make my life one they would all bless and be proud of. I was truly free at last” (264).
Chapter 13-Epilogue Analysis
In the final chapter of A Place to Stand, Baca is finally released from prison. He has coped with prison life by focusing on the present, but he is excited and anxious to face the challenges of freedom. As his release date approaches, the warden begins to attempt to break him, but Baca realizes what is happening and maintains his composure.
At age twenty-six, Baca is on his own. He stays with Virginia for a while following his release from prison, but eventually Baca makes his way back to Albuquerque. He is still uncomfortable in social situations, but he continues to attempt to fit into society. When he marries and has children, he finally gains the family he has wanted for so long. Baca says that he writes A Place to Stand so his children will know the truth of his life.
The memoir’s epilogue offers hope that Baca will finally reunite with his mother. He does so briefly, but their conversations convince her that she must cast aside the lie she has been living with Richard. When she threatens to divorce Richard, he kills her.
His mother’s death ends any further hope Baca has for a loving relationship with his mother, and his brother, Mieyo, grieves deeply for the loss of his mother, too. In fact, Mieyo’s drinking escalates after his mother is murdered. When Mieyo is murdered in an alley, Baca feels another piece of his past chipped away.
Although earlier he has expressed disdain for religion in his letters to Harry, Baca decides to visit the church where he was baptized as an infant. There, he begins to let go of the past by forgiving the people who have wronged him. More importantly, he is able to forgive himself for his own shortcomings. Baca finally begins to feel comfortable with others and with himself, and he leaves the church feeling that he has left the past behind. Baca feels cleansed and triumphant, having finally found “a place to stand” in the world.
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