Infinite Country

Karina narrates this chapter, beginning by discussing the manner in which displaced species somehow manage to thrive in foreign environments. She describes an incident that captivates her mother's attention: A Colombian woman and her children were lost in the jungle for days before being discovered. The father had despaired of finding them and was ready to take his own life. Karina describes the stories she has been hearing about imprisoned children at the Mexican/US border. She feels as one with them even though the story of her immigration is different.

She and Nando discuss how things will change when Talia arrives. They also discuss how things might work in the future. Though there is a chance Nando can seek a change in his mother’s status when he turns 21, there is also a chance that the family could be deported.

Engel relates one of the myths, as told to Elena by Perla, of a condor—a powerful symbol of the Colombian people—who falls in love with a human girl and kidnaps her, only to lose the girl to a parrot, who returns the girl to her home. In punishing the parrot, the condor creates the great abundance of colorful birds that populate Colombia.

The narration moves to a recounting of an incident in which Mauro, sitting on Perla’s roof, claims to have seen a condor fly above him, an extremely unlikely sight. He begs her to overcome her skepticism and believe him. Years later, facing deportment, Mauro compares himself to the condor, which mates for life, lives for decades, and dwells in nests so high humans can never reach them.

In the following section, Elena deals with the possibility that Talia will be so inculcated in Colombian culture that she will not accept living in the United States nor embrace Elena as her mother. The thought rekindles her uncertainty about deciding to remain in the United States. Inadvertently, Elena is confronted by Mauro’s questions about the United States in the news: violence, contamination, ineffective government. This discussion adds to her uncertainty about bringing Talia back to the United States. 

Aguja delivers Talia to Bogotá. Since Mauro is at work when they arrive, they wait until dark to ring his bell. Their reunion is sweet. Mauro offers hospitality to Aguja, who demurs, saying he has to return home. Mauro gives him money for the trip. Talia expresses deep gratitude to Aguja and kisses him goodbye.

Mauro has prepared everything for Talia’s departure. Their reunion is anticlimactic because they are so focused on her flight the next day. At night she watches her father sleep, wishing she was a little girl asking for more of his comforting stories.

At the airport, once Talia has claimed her ticket and is ready to go through security, she has a sudden change of heart. Mauro tenderly convinces her that she must go. Engel writes, “They said all the things a father and daughter say to each other when they are not sure when or how they will ever see each other again” (176). She boards the plane and takes off without incident. At the other end of the journey, Talia is immediately embraced by her mother, sister, and brother. Elena’s employer provided a chauffeur-driven car to the airport to bring Talia and her family home. 

This chapter details the story of Mauro, the last missing family member, striving to reunite with his family in New Jersey. Mauro is motivated by the quick adjustment Talia is making to her new setting as well as the absence he feels now that she is gone. Mauro feigns surprise when the police call him to say that his daughter has fled the country. They console him, saying he may never see her again.

His trek is told against the backdrop of 2020’s border wall and immigration controversies. Mauro carefully evaluates choices and decides to fly to Panama, from which he will travel through Mexico and across the US border. His great hope is that Elena will be waiting and glad to see him. Mauro sets the goal of arriving in time for Nochebuena, Christmas Eve.

The final chapter is narrated by Karina, who has been tabbed as the true author of the manuscript. Karina notes that the arrival of her sister was a catalytic event beginning a series of positive events. In particular, new transparency has come into being with Elena confiding in her daughter that she was raped. Likewise, Talia tells Karina about her crime, arrest, imprisonment, and escape. Ultimately, Talia wrote a letter of apology to Horatio.

Karina relates that the family did not know Mauro was coming to them until he was at Laredo on the west Texas border. The family waited anxiously for word about his fate. Karina speaks of going to her mother’s bedroom “to sit with her on her bed and listen as she told me it was a scary thing to have all your prayers answered” (189).

Karina is the first to see Mauro walking up the driveway of the host’s compound. She leads him to the main house, where Elena is doing laundry. She drops the laundry basket and rushes to him. The book closes with a scene of Mauro dancing with Elena at a party as if they were young lovers. Karina notes that, in the moment, all the pain the family endured melts away to insignificance.