Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

oom goes the literature 279
“He knelt on one knee and with his fi ngers smothered my dress that had
begun to burn. I saw his grieving eyes.
“‘Take me away from here!’ I shouted with all my might because I remembered
that I was in front of my father’s house, that the house was burning
and that behind me my parents and my brothers and sisters lay dead.
I saw everything refl ected in his eyes while he had one knee on the ground
smothering my dress. I let myself fall over him so he would hold me in his
arms. With his warm hand he covered my eyes.
“‘This is the end of man’ I told him with my eyes beneath his hand.
“‘Don’t look at it!’
“He held me against his heart. I heard it like thunder rolling over the
mountains. How much longer before time would stop and I could hear it
forever? My tears refreshed his hand that burned in the fi re of the city. The
shouts and the stones drew closer to us, but I was safe against his chest.
“‘Sleep with me . . .’ he said in a very low voice.
“‘Did you see me last night?’ I asked.
“‘I saw you.’
“We slept in the light of the morning, in the heat of the fi re. When we
awakened, he stood up and grabbed his shield.
“‘Hide until dawn. I will come for you.’
“He left running, his naked legs moving swiftly . . . and I escaped again,
Nachita, because I was afraid by myself.” 11
Josefi na came down later tripping over the stairs. “Señora, the señor and
señora Margarita are at the police station!”
Laura stared at her in surprise, silent.
“Where did you go, señora?”
“I went to the café Tacuba.”
“But that was two days ago.”
Josefi na was carrying the Latest News. She read it out loud: “The señora
Aldama is still missing. It is believed that the sinister individual with an
indigenous appearance who followed her from Cuitzeo is a madman. The
police are investigating in the states of Michoacán and Guanajuato.”
Señora Laurita wrenched the newspaper from Josefi na’s hands and tore it
up angrily. Then she went to her room. Nacha and Josefi na followed her, it
was better to not leave her alone. They saw her throw herself over her bed
and dream with her eyes wide open. The two had the same thought and they
told each other later on in the kitchen: “It seems to me that señora Laurita
is in love.” When the señor arrived, they were still in the bedroom of their
mistress.
“Laura!” he cried. He rushed to the bed and took his wife in his arms.