Gary Soto’s novel Buried Onions is the story of Eddie, a Mexican American young man struggling to survive the hardships of daily life. The story goes through Eddie’s fight against his community’s gang and drug problems as well as the struggle to overcome the deaths of his father and best friend.

Eddie, momentarily, has a streak of good luck when he’s able to work for Mr. Stiles; however, this is short-lived. While using Mr. Stile’s truck, it is stolen and used in a laundromat robbery. Eddie is embarrassed that the truck was stolen and unaware of its part in the robbery, so he goes home instead of facing Mr. Stiles.

Mr. Stiles tricks Eddie into coming back to his house. He tells Eddie he’s forgiven him, but he is actually working with the police to set him up. The police told Mr. Stiles about the robbery, and he believes that Eddie was involved.

After being detained and questioned for two hours, the police believe Eddie’s story that he had nothing to do with the crime. When he’s released, he finds soda and a $10 bill with an apology note on his bicycle. Though the note wasn’t signed, he knows it’s from Mr. Stiles.

Eddie has conflicted feelings about Mr. Stiles. He’s upset that Stiles turned him in, but Eddie’s also impressed that Mr. Stiles has been able to achieve the kind of life Eddie has always dreamed about.