She is in a semi-vegetative state for most of the play, making guttural noises for speech and barely being able to move her own body.
Her mother Rosa has dealt with the pain of the car crash by becoming a devout Christian who believes that only God can make everything right.
To help with the family's financial situation, Rosa is about to go back to work, and she has hired an undocumented maid to care for Ceci and help with the cooking and cleaning.
Alvaro, who is Rene, Misha and Ceci's cousin, has been away fighting in Vietnam for the last two years, but he is now back and he visits the family for the first time since the accident.
After Alvaro has left and Rene has fled the house in a state of grief and anger, Lydia tends to Misha's wounds.
After this the play returns to present reality and Rosa gives Misha a gold Cross pen because she feels guilty for not being able to stop Claudio from beating him up.
Rosa then takes Lydia shopping, and also, it is later revealed, to see about getting her papers so she can stay in America legally.
She started pummeling him over the head so he couldn't see where he was driving, and the car swerved and crashed into the telephone pole.
Rosa is completely shocked at this story, and after Rene admits it is true, he throws the jacket Alvaro gave him on the ground and leaves the house, never to return.
The civil rights movement was waning, and the African-American fight for equality had become an inspiration for other oppressed minority groups, such as the Mexican-American people.
[7] Chicano youth in the movement viewed this from a racial perspective, arguing that the Mexican-Americans and other minorities were carrying the main burden of the war.
The character of Alvaro highlights the issues pertaining to the Vietnam War as the family deals with his absence and safe return.
Octavio Solis grounded this exploration in his own experience growing up with two undocumented parents who would hire illegal maids to help in the home.
[10] The play as a whole arises and thrives in the turmoil and conflict created from the place and time period in which it is set.
This, along with the central focus on a Mexican-American family, brings into question the rights of and respect given to minorities in the United States, and if it is enough.
Ceci's shifts from semi-vegetative state to fully functioning human makes the viewer question the stereotypical views of disability.