“Come on, man, let me use it,” Alfonso pleaded. “Please, Ernie, I’ll do anything.”

Although Ernie could see Alfonso’s desperation, he had plans with his friend Raymundo. They were going to catch frogs at the Mayfair canal. He felt sorry for his brother and gave him a stick of gum to make him feel better, but there was nothing he could do. The canal was three miles away, and the frogs were waiting.

Which message does Gary Soto want readers to take away?

Small gifts have great influence.
Achieving one's goals is unrealistic.
Friendship is something that everyone should value.
People place their own needs above those of others.

The answer is "People place their own needs above those of others."

Explanation:

It is easy to figure out the answer to this question by using the process of elimination. The first answer, "Small gifts have great influence," doesn't make any sense because although Ernie did give Alfonso a stick of gum, the text never showed Alfonso's appreciation for the gum, therefore how could it have great influence? The second answer, "Achieving one's goals is unrealistic," doesn't make any sense either because both goals in the text, Ernie going to the canal with a friend and Alfonso getting whatever he wanted from Ernie, were both realistic. Ernie presumably did achieve his goal as the text ended with him beginning to go to the canal, and Alfonso's goal wasn't unrealistic as all Ernie had to do for Alfonso to achieve it would be to give him whatever he wanted. Lastly, the third answer, "Friendship is something that everyone should value," doesn't make sense because the text never talked about Ernie valuing his friendship with Raymundo nor should he have valued it more because his friendship was still going strong by the end of the text. Therefore, the answer must be the fourth option, "People place their own needs above those of others," if not just because all of the other answers don't make sense but also because Ernie placed his want to go to the canal with his friend over whatever his brother wanted from him.

"silence" is the answer to this riddle.