Family Lore

In an interview with Ona, Matilde mentions feeling disconnected from her body, as she did not menstruate until the age of 25 and only did so with Camila’s remedy. She believes her mother never feared for her future because of her lack of children. She also believes that though she was not born with a gift, she made one out of dancing.

Ona and her husband Jeremiah arrive at Pastora’s house to meet with Yadi and Ant. Yadi makes them drinks, and when Ant arrives, he and Ona warmly reunite. Before long, the four of them play spades together. Ant tells Ona that he’s read some of her research papers, and as the game goes on, he asks about Flor. Ona’s anxiety about her mother costs her and Jeremiah the game, as she considers moments when Flor talked about her gift.

A disgruntled Flor tries to comfort Pastora, who feels distressed by the possible death of Rafa’s mistress’s baby and Matilde’s attitude. Flor asks her to lighten the mood, so Pastora apologizes to Matilde and proposes a game of dominoes.

As the family plays dominoes, Pastora misses her husband Manuelito and recalls how she met him in the Dominican Republic. After returning from her stay with La Vieja, she and Flor stayed with an honorary family member. Manuelito was a neighbor, and his and Pastora’s attraction grew over the years. He finally asked to court her when he graduated from college and had a secure job. When he voiced his love, she could hear the truth behind his words.

Matilde is still disgruntled by Pastora’s need to intervene in her marriage, and Camila believes she and Matilde are at a disadvantage due to lacking powerful gifts like Flor (foresight) and Pastora (truth-hearing). Camila asks for the reason behind the wake, and though Flor gives a non-answer, Camila believes Pastora knows the truth. Matilde leaves.

As Jeremiah fumes over losing at spades to Ant and Yadi, Ona decides to give him space and walk in a park. She feels trapped in her suburban home in New Jersey, where everything has to be accessed by car, compared to New York, where she can walk everywhere. When she returns home with Jeremiah, he is still irked with her, but she tries to entice him with sex. When it becomes clear that Ona is doing so to get pregnant, he refuses. Angry, she retreats to her room to watch porn. However, her phone is connected to a speaker downstairs, and Jeremiah hears everything. Ona feels shame at being caught watching porn with lactation kink.

Matilde arrives home to find Rafa sobbing into his pillow. He confesses he impregnated another woman, and claims it was an accident rather than a matter of love; furthermore, the mother kicked him out of the hospital. Matilde feels indignant at being forced to listen to Rafa’s woes, and recalls the year Camila and their mother stayed with her in the Dominican Republic. One night, Mamá Silvia found her sobbing, and Matilde admitted marrying Rafa was a mistake. Silvia did not sympathize, believing being with a man like Rafa was better than being unmarried. In the present, Matilde consoles Rafa.

Flor is disappointed in how the evening turned out, and blames her and her sisters’ distance. She remembers visiting Mamá Silvia and finding the family home unchanged. Silvia sent her to find Camila, and on the way, a snake latched onto Flor’s leg. She threw herself to the ground and banged her leg until the snake released her. She then chopped off its head with her machete. Camila found Flor and tended to her. When she fell asleep with Camila, she suddenly felt watched and saw the snake staring at her. She later told a disbelieving Ona that both snakes were the same, and it asked her to witness her slight against it.

After Ona and Jeremiah left (Chapter 33), Ant asked Yadi to help him set up his phone. She tries to direct him to his mother, knowing their encounter might lead to sex. She also tries to divert the conversation from his imprisonment, but he assures her it wasn’t all bad. Yadi sends Ant to buy sliced jalapeños and continues to cook. When 15 minutes pass, she goes looking for him. She finds him at the store, frozen as the manager threatens to call police. Yadi talks down the manager, and at home, the distressed Yadi and Ant have sex. When she wakes, she lets him sleep and continues cooking for the wake. When he finds her later, he senses he is unwelcome and leaves.