Summary
The next chapter begins with Cara apologizing for being late. She says that Lulu did not show up for coffee that morning. She talks about being worried about Lulu and then starts to talk about how Lulu treats her son, Adonis. She notes that when Adonis was young she always doted on him and treated him like he was the perfect son. She says that she didn't treat Fernando that way and instead tried to be tough with him to better prepare him for the world.
She then discusses a time when Hernán had a cousin named Elvis visiting. She says that everyone was dancing and she found Elvis with Fernando and Fernando seemed different. She says that she later learned from Hernán that Elvis is gay. Cara goes on to say that only Hernán has continued to help her seek out Fernando, because he has real affection for her. He works at a hospital and has contact with a number of people. In 2001, Hernán gives her an address for Fernando and she seeks him out in the Bronx.
When she goes to the apartment number Hernán gave her a thin young man answers the door. He says Fernando isn't there. She returns again and talks to the young man again. He tells her Fernando doesn't want to see her but allows her into the apartment. They talk and he tells her his name is Alexis. She figures out that Alexis is Fernando's boyfriend. She has his utility bill put in her name and leaves him his favorite food. The chapter ends with text from Cara's tenant rights in her building as well as her rent payment receipt, which shows a significant outstanding balance.
In the next chapter, she says that her apartment has just been visited by a building inspector, causing her a great deal of anxiety. Lulu shows up in the middle of the inspection, much to Cara's relief and surprise. Lulu begins telling Cara that Adonis is in a great deal of trouble, as he has lost his job and now his family is in a bad situation financially. Cara says that Lulu feels very humiliated by the whole situation.
Cara says that the building is constantly making changes to the way that they live. She talks about her neighbor Tita who had an issue with keeping her in-unit washing machine. She says she found the building's harsh treatment of her to be very cruel. Tita works a job as a nurse and sleeps on a yoga mat next to the elderly woman she cares for. Cara thinks they treat her very poorly.
Due to the fact that Tita works this job during the day, her daughter Cecilia is left unattended. Cecilia is mentally underdeveloped and needs to be cared for, so Cara and some of the other women in the building take turns watching her. One day Cecilia has a meltdown in her apartment and Cara successfully calms her down.
Cara tells a story about a time when a major hurricane was supposed to hit her town in the Dominican Republic, Hato Mayor. After a hurricane had just rolled through their town, another, even bigger hurricane was predicted. She says that despite days and days of beautiful, clear weather, the people of the town began preparing for a devastating storm. Finally, she says that everyone was certain they were going to die but the storm never arrived. She presents this as evidence that life is very unpredictable. The chapter ends with a job-skills assessment that Cara takes and a job posting for a housekeeping position.
Analysis
Motherhood is a very prominent theme in this part of the book. Cara gives more insight into her relationship with Fernando. She expresses her longtime fear about Fernando being unprepared for the realities of the world. At the same time, she is extremely critical of his sexuality and avoids discussing whatever event caused Fernando to leave her life. Her continual assertions about loving Fernando and being a good mother become increasingly questionable as she also seems to have been quite harsh with him in various moments. For Cara, motherhood is about not being overly indulgent to her children and making sure they are prepared to survive in the world. What the book demonstrates, however, is that this view of motherhood can create other blind spots, as Cara fails to be kind and gentle to Fernando in key moments.
Sexuality is also a prominent theme in these chapters of the book, as Cara makes a number of unkind comments about Fernando, Elvis, and Alexis. She calls Elvis "soft," obviously critical of the fact that he is gay, and also suggests that she thinks that the moment in which Elvis met Fernando made him gay. In addition, her description of Alexis is focused on how thin he is and the transparent shirt he wears. She makes similar comments about Elvis' tight pants. The concern that she expresses for Fernando is rooted in a sense of prejudice. She believes that his sexuality makes him weak and more vulnerable out in the world. In this way, the book shows how Cara's traditional views about this subject limit her ability to love Fernando for who he is and also demonstrate the ways in which she is trapped in the past.
Pride is also a prominent motif in this part of the book. Lulu acknowledges that her son Adonis is in crisis but also that he will not take on any work outside of banking. He is too prideful to own up to what has happened. Similarly, the reader knows that Cara has fallen severely behind on her rent payments, but in her comments to Lissette, she says everything is fine and that she just needs a job. While Cara is very critical of Adonis's arrogant attitude, she behaves in a similar manner, downplaying her struggles to make it appear that she is doing well. She wants to preserve the image of herself as a person who is managing a crisis and has not been overwhelmed by financial circumstances. Her pride prevents her from plainly stating how dire things have become. In these moments, the book underscores how pride stands in the way of the characters asking for what they need.
Money and work are also major themes in this section of the book as Cara examines the lives of the people around her. In particular, she views the life of her neighbor Tita as a kind of cautionary tale. She says that Tita works tirelessly as a caretaker for an elderly woman. She is paid very little and sleeps on the floor on a yoga mat. In addition, her daughter Cecilia is mentally underdeveloped and needs to be watched constantly. Cara says that she thinks Tita's life is extremely tragic, as she has essentially no savings and has to spend every second of her life taking care of other people. All of her life is intensive labor. Cara wants a way out of this and hopes that additional employment will help her with that.
This second section of the book highlights the ways in which Cara experiences being trapped in her circumstances. She is hemmed in by her lack of money and is concerned by the possibility of spending the rest of her life doing intensive labor for extremely low pay. She is also haunted by the loss of Fernando and feels defensive about the way she handled her parenting of him. She measures her own life against that of her neighbors and family, comparing their mistakes to hers. The reader gets a better sense, in these sections, of how Cara has arrived at this trying time in her life.
