K.Esquivel-LWFC

laming her for the death of Roberto. She
had forbidden anyone to even
mention Tita's name, just as she'd done with
Gertrudis.
Of course, Nicholas had returned recently
with news of Gertrudis.
He had actually found her working in a
brothel. He had delivered her
clothes to her and she had given him a letter
for Tita.
Chencha gave it to her, and Tita read it to
herself: Dear Tita: You
can't know how grateful I am that you sent
me my clothes.
Fortunately, I was still here to get them.
Tomorrow I will be leaving
this place, which is not where I belong. I still
don't know where that
is, but I know that I have to find the right
place for myself somewhere
I ended up here because I felt an intense fire
inside; the man who
picked me up in the field in effect saved my
life. I hope to meet him
again someday.
He left because I had exhausted his strength,
though he hadn't managed
to quench the fire inside me. Now at last,
after so many men have been
with me, l feel a great relief. Perhaps
someday I will return home and
explain it to you.
I love you, your sister Gertrudis.
Tita put the letter in the pocket of her dress
without a word.
The fact that Chencha didn't ask her anything
about the contents of the
letter was a clear sign that she had already
read it from one end to
the other.
Later, the three of them, Tita, Chencha, and
John, dried the bedroom,
the stairs, and the bottom floor.
As they were saying good-bye, Tita told
Chencha her decision never to
go back to the ranch again; she asked her to
tell Mama Elena.
Chencha crossed the bridge between Eagle
Pass and Piedras Negros for
the hundredth time, without even realizing it,
as she tried to think of
the best way to break the news to Mama
Elena.
The watchmen for both countries let her do it,
because they'd known her
since she was a child. Besides, it was
amusing to watch her go from
one side to the other talking to herself and
chewing on her rebozo.
She felt as if her talent for invention had
been paralyzed by terror.
Whatever version she gave, it was sure to
infuriate Mama Elena.
She had to invent one in which she, at least,
got off scot free.
To manage that she had to come - 12?
up with an excuse that justified her visit with
Tita. Mama Elena
wouldn't swallow just anything. As if she
didn't know it! She envied
Tita for having had the courage to refuse to
go back to the ranch.
She wished she could do the same, but she
didn't dare. She'd heard
talk since she was a child about the bad
things that happen to women