First person is singular, the past of it will be the pronoun verb
Answer:
to illustrate how much Alfonso cares about outward appearances
Explanation:
Soto most likely described Alfonso's attention to his bike and his teeth at the same time to show that he cared too much about outward appearances.
From the excerpt, Alfonso is described as balancing his bike on the handlebars and seat and cleaning the spokes with a sock and at the same time, he pressed a knuckle to his teeth until it tingled which shows that he cared about the appearance of his bike and teeth. Alfonso shows great attention to detail in both cases because he likely cares about his outward appearance.