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She didn't want to become another Jovita. She removed the feathers, gave her hair a vigorous brushing, and went down to receive John and Mary, who were just arriving. Pulque's barking had announced their presence. Tita received them in the living room. Aunt Mary was just as she had imagined her: a pdlite, pleasant elderly lady. Despite her years, she was impeccably turned out. She was wearing an understated floral hat, in a pastel color, that contrasted with the white of her hair. Her gloves matched her hair, gleaming snow-white. She carried a mahogany walking stick with a silver head shaped like a swan. Her conversation was absolutely charming. The aunt pronounced herself delighted with Tita; she went on at length about her nephew's excellent choice and Tita's perfect English. Tita made her sister's excuses for not being present, saying she was indisposed, and invited them to move into the dining room. The aunt was delighted with the rice with fried plantains and praised the bean dish to the heavens. When the beans are served, they are covered with grated cheese and garnished with tender lettuce leaves, avocado slices, chopped radishes, chiles tornachiles, and olives. The aunt was used to a different type of food, but that did not prevent her from being able to appreciate the wonderful meal Tita had prepared. "Mmmm. It's delicious, Tita." "Thank you." ii 0 V EM BE R thing she had to do was brush her teeth. The roll on the ground, when she'd been knocked over by the whirlwind of chickens, had left them full of dirt. She took some tooth powder and brushed them vigorously. They had learned to prepare these powders in school. They're made by combining half an ounce cream of tartar, half an ounce of sugar, and half an ounce of jivia bone with two drachmas of Florentine iris and dragon's blood, reducing all the ingredients to a powder, and blending well. Jovita, their teacher, was in charge of making it. She was their teacher for three years in a row. She was a small, slight woman. They all remembered her not so much for what she had taught them, but because she was such a character. They say she'd been left a widow at eighteen, with a baby. No one wanted to become stepfather to this child, which is why she had chosen to spend her life entirely celibate. Who knows how she adopted that resolution or how it affected her1 as the years went by, the poor thing went completely out of her mind. She struggled night and day to put a stop to bad thoughts. Her favorite saying was "Idle hands are the devil's playground." She never rested a moment the entire day.
She worked more and slept less all the time. In time, the work inside her house wasn't enough to put her spirit at rest, so she was out on the street at five every morning to sweep the sidewalk. Her own and her neighbors. Then she expanded her field of action to the four blocks around her house and so on, gradually, until, in crescendo, she was sweeping all of Piedras Negros before going to school. Sometimes she still had bits of garbage clinging to her skin, and the students laughed at her. In the mirror, Tita saw that she looked like her teacher. "You are lucky, Johnny, to be eating well from now on, because to tell the truth Katy is a very bad cook. Marriage is going to fatten you up. John could see that Tita was upset. "Is something the matter, W\to?" "Yes, but I can't tell you right now, your aunt would feel bad if we stopped speaking English." John answered her, speaking in Spanish. "No, don't worry, she's completely deaf." "Then how can she talk with us?" "She reads lips, but don't worry, she only reads English. Besides, when she's eating, she doesn't know us from Adam, so for pity's sake tell me what's the matter. We haven't had a chance to talk and we're getting married in less than a week." "John, I think we'd better call it off." "But why?" "Don't make me tell you now. Tita smiled, trying not to let the aunt see they were discussing a rather delicate topic. The aunt smiled too, obviously perfectly happy, quite satisfied eating her plate of beans. It was clear, she really couldn't read their lips in Spanish. Tita could talk to John without any danger. John stuck to the subject. "Don't you love me anymore? "I don't know." It was hard for Tita to go on speaking when she saw the look of sorrow that came over John, which he immediately tried to control. "While you were gone, I had relations with a man I've always loved, and I lost my virginity. That's the reason, I can't marry you anymore. After a long silence, John asked: "Are you more in love with him or with me?" "I can't answer that, I just don't know. When you aren't here, I think he is the one I love, but when I see you, everything changes. Near you I feel calm, settled, at peace. . . . But I don't know, I
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Like Water For Chocolate by Laura S
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Combine the onions, chopped chiles,
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that she had finally managed to sub
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you're excited-you're shaking and I
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kitchen table and were taking the e
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Tita on the other hand had always b
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She felt powerless against it, feel
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the whispers in the church, and she
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ed, on which the nuptial sheet was
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others it was easier. She just pret
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of the others, obviously the captai
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This woman desperately needed a man
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had swooped down on the ranch, set
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griddle, the sound of Tita's melodi
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frightened by stories of La Llorona
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aby. What good did it do her now to
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way to the village to visit her fam
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the table where he was sitting, he
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"I've never needed a man for anythi
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sergeant started toward the door. M
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and set her to grinding the spices
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placed a cut-up watermelon in case
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their departure; three days later t
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She was sitting by the window of th
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That is but one small example of th
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he could scientifically prove all t
Page 53 and 54: Unfortunately, she had to admit tha
Page 55 and 56: Alex, John's son, who was chasing d
Page 57 and 58: who disobey their parents and maste
Page 59 and 60: Tita served the soup and took it up
Page 61 and 62: I can't tell very well . . . some t
Page 63 and 64: y spasms and violent convulsions. A
Page 65 and 66: distance she made out Pedro's silho
Page 67 and 68: and with the gruels and the teas sh
Page 69 and 70: She felt its rapid rising, flowing
Page 71 and 72: kitchen. Now all she had to worry a
Page 73 and 74: champagne and called for a toast, t
Page 75 and 76: CHOCOLATE: 2 pouno Soconco chocolat
Page 77 and 78: long time to buy her the "little mo
Page 79 and 80: She felt sure that her fatness, her
Page 81 and 82: When the dough has doubled in size
Page 83 and 84: evolutionary soldiers. When they go
Page 85 and 86: candles. Juan impressed all the gue
Page 87 and 88: Tita hugged Gertrudis and cried on
Page 89 and 90: She didn't know how much sugar was
Page 91 and 92: family. It was the only savage act
Page 93 and 94: Trevino withdrew quickly to go brag
Page 95 and 96: Several men carefully lifted him be
Page 97 and 98: Pedro's health. They had waited a w
Page 99 and 100: emoved her plate, took a sip of her
Page 101 and 102: daughter with those sick ideas you
Page 103: patio, a hole so deep that most of
Page 107 and 108: when she made her decision, that cr
Page 109 and 110: scheduled for midday. He looked at
Page 111 and 112: The waiters were running from one s
Page 113 and 114: them on friendly terms, avoiding je
Page 115 and 116: Her fellow diners were delighted. W
Page 117 and 118: inappropriately named dark room. Ti
Page 119: great-aunt, who will go on living a
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