K.Esquivel-LWFC

perfectly well and has to understand; what's
more, I think that deep
down she has always understood. You have
no choice but to stand up for
the truth, right now.
"You think I should talk to her?"
"Look, while I tell you what l would do in your
place, why don't you
fix the syrup for my fritters? Let's get a move
0fl; the truth is it's
getting late already."
Tita accepted her advice and began to
prepare the syrup, without
missing a single one of her sister's words.
Gertrudis was sitting facing the kitchen door
that led to the back
patio, Tita was on the other side of the table,
with her back to the
door, so it was impossible for her to see
Pedro walking toward the
kitchen, carrying a bag of beans to feed the
troop. Then Gertrudis,
with the practiced eye she'd gained on the
battlefield, made a
strategic estimate of the time it would take
Pedro to step over the 19J
threshold of the door, so that at that precise
moment, she could fire
these words: I think you should tell Pedro
you're expecting his
child."
A perfect hit, bull's eye! Pedro, struck down,
let the sack fall to
the floor. He was dying of love for Tita.
Startled, she turned to discover that Pedro
was looking at her, almost
in tears.
"Pedro, what a coincidence! My sister has
something to tell you.
Why don't you go out to the garden to talk,
while I finish the syrup?
Tita didn't know whether to chide or thank
Gertrudis for her
interference. She would talk to her later;
right now she had no choice
but to talk to Pedro. In silence, she handed
Gertrudis the dish she
had been holding, in which she had started
to prepare the syrup, pulled
a creased sheet of paper with the recipe
written on it from a box on
the table, and left it with Gertrudis in case
she needed it. She
walked out of the kitchen, Pedro following
behind her.
Gertrudis needed the recipe; without it she'd
be lost!
Carefully, she began to read it and try to
follow it: "`Beat an egg
white in half a pint of water for each two
pounds of sugar or
piloncillo, two egg whites in a pint of water for
five pounds of sugar,
or in the same proportion for greater or
lesser quantities. Boil the
syrup until it bubbles up three times, slowing
the boil with a little
cold water, which is thrown in each time it
starts to rise up.
Then take it off the heat, let it stand, and
skim off the foam; next
add another little bit of water as well as a
chunk of orange peel,
anise, or clove to taste and bring to a boil.
Skim it again, and when
it has reached the u OTO B ER stage of
cooking called the ball stage,
strain it through a sieve or a piece of linen
stretched over a frame.""
Gertrudis read this recipe as if she were
reading hieroglyphics.