Bodega Dreams

Blanca insists that they can’t keep Vera’s ring, but Chino sees opportunity there—if not the chance to give his wife a beautiful ring, then for the chance to pawn it for four or five months’ rent. As they argue, Blanca brings up the impending dinner with Pastor Vasquez and Claudia, and Chino snaps, telling her the Bible is “the most sexist book ever written” (130) and that the women in her church are treated as if their sole purpose is to glorify men. He insists that Blanca, who will be the first person in her family to graduate from college, doesn’t need to be held back by these beliefs. At the end of their argument, Blanca reports that Negra is in the hospital, having been beaten by Victor. She passes on a message from Negra, that Chino should contact Bodega. Chino recognizes that Negra is trying to collect the debt that he owes her and he feels sick to learn that Blanca knows something about his involvement with Bodega. He realizes that if she found out the whole truth about his involvement with Bodega, she would leave him. From this point on, he says, their relationship becomes strained and polite, as if they were strangers.