K.Esquivel-LWFC

She felt sure that her fatness, her flatulence,
and her foul breath
were driving Pedro farther away every day, -
I 171 and she couldn't see
a solution. So now she was asking Tita's
help. She needed help as
never before1 she had no one else to turn to.
Every day the situation grew more serious.
She didn't know how she
would react to what "they" would say if Pedro
left her, she couldn't
stand it.
Her otily consolation was that at least she
had her daughter Esperanza,
who was obliged to stay with her forever.
Until that point all was going well, since what
Rosaura said had
produced pangs in Tita's conscience, but
when she heard for the second
time what Esperanza's fate was to be, she
had to make a supreme effort
not to shout at her sister that it was the
sickest idea she had heard
in her life. She couldn't begin a discussion
between them right now
that would spoil the good impulse she felt to
forgive Rosaura for how
she had harmed her. Instead of voicing her
thoughts, Tita promised her
sister that she would prepare a special diet to
help her lose weight.
She kindly supplied her with a family remedy
against bad breath: "Bad
breath originates in the stomach and several
causes contribute to it.
To eliminate it, start by gargling salt water
mixed with a few drops of
powdered camphor vinegar, sniffing the
mixture up into the nostrils at
the same time. In addition, chew mint leaves
constantly.
By itself, the regimen proposed here, when
followed rigorously, can
purify the foulest breath."
Rosaura was infinitely grateful for her sister's
help and quickly went
out to the garden to pick some mint leaves,
asking for Tita's absolute
discretion in this delicate matter. But Tita
was distraught.
What had she done!
How could she make up for the harm she'd
done to Rosaura, to Pedro, to
herself, to John? How could she face him
when she saw him in a few
days, when he returned from his trip? John,
the person to whom she
owed nothing but thanks; John, who had
brought her back to her senses;
John, who had shown her the way to
freedom.
John, his peace, serenity, reason. Truly, he
did not deserve this!
What could she tell him, what could she do?
For the moment, the best
thing she could do was to continue preparing
the Kings' Day bread,
since the leavened dough she had left to rest
while she talked with
Rosaura was now ready for the next step.
Use a kilo of flour to form a well on the table.
Place all the
ingredients in the center of this well and
begin kneading, starting in
the center and gradually adding a little of the
flour from the well
until all the flour has been incorporated.
When the leavened dough has
risen to twice its size, combine it with this
other dough, blending