In the first chapter, the longest, the riot is revealed through the anxiety of Serge Duran, being held at Hollenbeck and waiting to have to enter it. Later, the nervous conversations of three officers thrown together in a radio car reveal aspects of the riot. They do not know where they are or what they should be doing. Leaderless, they finally fall in with a small collection of officers gathered by a sergeant and put down the looting in just one store on one block. They are stunned to realize that this show of authority is enough to "quell" most of the rioters in the area, some of whom are children. On his way home that night, Duran stops to eat. He orders "menudo", a soup which has always represented his Chicano background, and finally identifies as Hispanic.