Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

Gabi’s mother becomes pregnant with Gabi when she’s 25 and unmarried. Her experience as an unmarried mother sets the stage for frequent hypocrisy and double standards as she doesn’t want to see Gabi repeat her own sexual mistakes. She is a conservative adult foil to Gabi and Gabi’s friends. She is critical of Gabi’s weight but is always there when Gabi needs her most (275). She passes judgement against “the loose morals of White people” (165) and worries that Gabi will be influenced by over-sexualized “hoochies” always “offering their goodies to everyone” (34). She struggles to accept Gabi’s development into womanhood and adulthood, attempting to prevent Gabi from experiencing sex and trying to convince Gabi to stay close to home instead of going to her dream college.

Gabi’s mother contributes heavily to examples of double standards and hypocrisy in the story, both in her reaction to Cindy’s pregnancy and in the different rules she sets for Gabi and Beto. Gabi recognizes the hypocrisy in her mother judging Cindy’s pregnancy—Gabi’s mother was unmarried and pregnant once, too, but she doesn’t show any sympathy for Cindy and instead thinks Cindy is a bad influence who will convince Gabi to “open your legs for everybody” (20). Gabi reflects on her mother’s apparent forgetfulness of her own experience: “I guess as you grow older, you forget that you were ever young and that you may have been in love and may have forgotten (or didn’t think about) condoms and made mistakes” (20-21). Unlike Gabi, and even Tia Bertha, Gabi’s mother does not embrace her sexuality by the end of the story. She becomes pregnant in the story, so readers know that she is sexually active, but sex remains something shameful to her. She does not experience the growth and personal acceptance that Gabi and Tia Bertha share at the end of the story.

Martin is Gabi’s second boyfriend in the story. He and Gabi meet in poetry class and develop a connection over poetry, and his role and significance increase as the story progresses. Martin is the first person with whom Gabi shares her poem about her father, and he offers genuine suggestions for Gabi’s poetry as they learn to workshop their writing together. He also encourages her to share her poetry, supporting her in her growth as a writer.

Martin’s mother dies before the story opens, and he is understanding of Gabi’s emotions when her father dies right after her 18th birthday. As Gabi questions traditional views on sex, Martin offers an alternative perspective on teen sex and masculinity. His father gives him room to make his own decisions and “hates all that macho boys will be boys bullshit. He says it’s an excuse for men to act like animals” (255). Martin is someone with whom Gabi feels she can be herself—not too fat, too White, or bad, just herself (247).

Cindy is one of Gabi’s two best friends. Gabi describes her as “tall, thin, beautiful olive skin and curly brown hair” (14) and refers to Cindy as her “kindred spirit” (49). Gabi appreciates that Cindy never judges her or tries to change her, but instead loves her for who she is. Their friendship encounters challenges when Gabi struggles to understand Cindy’s relationship with German, which creates tension at occasional points in the plot. Cindy’s pregnancy creates early drama in the story and immediately raises topics that continue throughout the novel such as sex, shame, and ownership of one’s body.

Cindy becomes pregnant after German rapes her, although she is too ashamed to tell anyone that the incident was not consensual until after her baby is born. Cindy’s reaction to Gabi attacking German on her behalf is crucial to the novel’s message about owning one’s story when she tells Gabi, “It happened to me. ME, Gabi. You didn’t have a right to say anything” (270). Cindy’s experience and her choice of when and with whom to share that experience teach Gabi that words belong to individuals, contributing to the story’s ongoing themes related to the power of language.