Fruit of the Drunken Tree

Petrona arrives at the Santiagos’ with a gruesome black eye and bleeding mouth. Mamá takes her in and tends to her wounds. Petrona says she injured herself falling from a bus, but Mamá suspects violence. She allows Petrona to spend her “holiday” with them. Petrona warns Chula that she should forget that she saw Gorrión when they drove to the Hills. Chula understands that Petrona’s beating relates to her involvement with Gorrión, but Chula does not understand why Petrona is protecting someone who hurts her. Petrona stays with the Santiagos for several weeks, and during this time, Mamá decides Petrona should have a Confirmation and First Communion, which she has always wanted.

One evening, Cassandra discovers that photographs of her and Chula have been removed from the family album. Chula is sure that Petrona took them. Chula discovers Petrona has a tiny battery-powered television that she can watch even when there is no power, and they start watching telenovelas together. Petrona tells Chula how her family’s home in Boyacá was destroyed, but she refuses to answer Chula’s questions about the danger she was in while the Santiagos were in El Salado the previous winter.