Duran is soon forced to confront his ethnicity, which he has hidden since leaving Chino to join the Marines. At first, he rationalizes why he does not want to be taken as Hispanic, but is increasingly uncomfortable with his self-denial. While working Hollywood Division for a few months in 1962 before returning to Hollenbeck, Duran begins to see East LA in a new light, as a comfortable place where people are what they seem to be. Teamed with an older but passive and unambitious officer after his return, Duran is pleased to learn that his patrol partner recommended him for a detective position investigating felonies in the Chicano division.