""The onion must be chopped finely." ""I suggest that you put a piece of onion on the crown of your head" ""to avoid the annoying crying that is caused by chopping it."" "The trouble with crying while chopping onions isn't the crying." "It's that sometimes you can't stop." "Mother always said that I'm as sensitive to onions as my great-aunt Tita was." "She even cried inside her mother's womb whenever my great-grandmother chopped onions." "Señor Juan!" "Señor Juan!" "Go get the midwife!" "There's not enough time." "What's happening?" "The baby's coming." "Too late!" "Nacha, the maid, said that Tita was literally pushed into this world by a torrid stream of tears that overflowed from the table to the kitchen floor." "Another girl, Juan." "When the fright was over and the water had evaporated, thanks to the sun," "Nacha swept up what remained of the tears." "With that salt, she filled a 40-pound sack which they used for cooking for a long time." "It's a girl." "What a little cutie she is." "That means another drink, right?" "Here's to you." "What's the matter with you?" "Can't you do it right?" "At this point, you've got three daughters." "When are you going to make a son?" "Well, it's not entirely his fault." "Why do you say that?" "They say that your second child, Gertrudis, isn't your daughter, but the daughter of the mulatto." " Señora." " Our condolences." "Poor little innocent child." "You've been left fatherless and without milk from one day to the next." "But don't you worry." "My teas will make you strong and pretty." "The first man who sees you will want to marry you." "You'll see." "Don't ever say that again, Nacha." "Tita will never marry." "Being my youngest daughter, she's destined to care for me until I die." "Feed the girls." "They're hungry." "Whatever you say, Señora Elena." "Fed by Nacha, Tita grew up in the kitchen amidst the smells of chicken soup, thyme, laurel, steamed milk, garlic, and, of course, onion." " Some more hot chocolate, señor?" " Thank you, no." "Good evening, Don Pascual." "Sit down, please." "When Tita felt Pedro's burning gaze upon her shoulders, she understood exactly how raw dough must feel when it comes in contact with boiling oil." "The heat that invaded her was so real that she feared that, just like dough, bubbles would break out all over her body, on her stomach, her heart, her breasts." "She lowered her eyes and tried to escape." "Señorita Tita," "I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I am deeply in love with you." "I know this declaration of love may seem hasty and out of place, but getting anywhere near you is so difficult that I decided to tell you tonight." "I only beg you to tell me if I may hope for your love." "I don't know what to say." "Give me time to think." "No, I can't." "I need an answer right now." "One doesn't think about love." "Either one feels it or one doesn't." "I'm a man of few, but firm, words." "I swear you'll have my love forever." "What about you?" "Do you feel the same way about me?" "Yes." "Mommy?" "Yes?" "Pedro Muzquiz wants to talk to you." "To talk about what?" "I don't know." "Tell him if it's to ask for your hand, he needn't bother." "He'd be wasting his time and mine, too." "You know that as my youngest daughter, you must look after me until the day I die." "That'll be all for today." "But I think that's not fair." "You don't think." "And that's that!" "Never, for generations, has anyone in our family ever questioned this tradition." "My daughter won't be the first!" "Chencha, see who's there." "Yes, Doña Elena." "You didn't invite anyone for your birthday without telling me?" "No, Mommy." "I really don't know." "It's Don Pascual Muzquiz and his son, Pedro." "They want to talk to you." "For the reasons I've just explained," "Tita will definitely not be able to." "Of course, if you want Pedro to get married, let me suggest my daughter Rosaura." "She's only two years older than Tita." "She is amply prepared and ready for marriage." " Please forgive me!" " Chencha!" "Girls!" "Girls!" "Really!" "How can your mommy be so cruel?" "You can't just exchange tacos for enchiladas!" "What did she say?" "Come and greet Don Pascual and Pedro and we'll toast to your sister's wedding." "You'll let Tita marry Pedro?" "No." "Pedro will marry Rosaura." "Why did you do that?" "We looked ridiculous by accepting your marriage to Rosaura." "Where's the love you swore to Tita?" " Don't you keep your word?" " Sure I do." "But if you definitely couldn't marry the woman you loved, and the only way to be near her was to marry her sister, wouldn't you make the same decision as I did?" "Eat, my child." "Food will make it hurt less." "Thank you, Nacha, but I'm just not hungry now." "Just take one bite of the Christmas roll and I'll tell you what I heard." "Don Pascual asked Pedro why he agreed to marry without love, and young Pedro told his father that he is marrying for love, a great big love for you." "I can't eat." "Thank you, Nacha." "I want to be alone." "That night, Tita found it impossible to sleep." "She couldn't understand what she was feeling." "It's too bad that black holes hadn't been discovered yet." "Because then she'd have understood that a black hole had landed in her chest that allowed the infinitely cold air to rush in." "That night she cried and knitted, knitted and cried, until dawn, until she finished the quilt and covered herself with it." "But it didn't help." "Neither that night, nor many other nights could she conquer the cold." "What are you doing here?" "I'm helping Nacha." "You should have been at your sister's engagement." "I had a headache." "You will not disobey me, nor ruin your sister's wedding by playing the martyr." "And since you're so interested in helping Nacha, you'll be responsible for the wedding banquet." "And no sour face." "And not a single tear." "You hear me?" "Yes, Mommy." "Doña Elena, I'll prepare the carriage to deliver these invitations." "Fine." "I'm sorry, Pedro." "Did I hurt you?" "Not as much as I hurt you." "Let me explain my intentions." "I haven't asked for explanations." "At least allow me a few words." "I did once, and it was all lies." "I won't listen to you anymore." "One hundred and sixty-seven." "We're just missing three." "Isn't the cake ready?" "No, but everything else is." "Hurry up." "It's midnight." "You should rest a little before the ceremony." "I'm going to bed." "Good night." "Good night." "See you tomorrow," "God willing." "Now you can let your tears flow, my child." "Because tomorrow nobody must see you cry." "Especially not Rosaura." "I'll finish up." "You go on." "No, I'll help you." "We're almost done." "Go to sleep, girl." "I can manage." "Only the pots know the boiling points of their broths, but I can guess yours." "And stop crying into the batter or you'll ruin it." "Go." "Poor Tita, watching her sister marry her boyfriend!" "One day I happened to see, during Mass, Pedro slipped Tita a love note." "It was even perfumed!" "I saw them holding hands in the town square." "How happy they looked!" "They'll all live in the same house!" "If I were Elena, I wouldn't allow it." "Dearly beloved, Rosaura and Pedro, I welcome you." "You have come to this place of worship on you own accord, to marry one another." "Don't I get a congratulatory hug?" "Yes, of course." "I hope you'll be very happy." "I'm sure I will be, now that I've got what I wanted, to be near you, the woman I truly love." "What did Pedro tell you?" "Nothing, Mommy." "Don't try to fool me." "I've done everything you're thinking of doing." "So don't play innocent with me." "And don't let me see you near Pedro again!" "This is delicious." "Some more, please." "Congratulations, children." "Cheers, Pedro!" "A toast!" "Cheers!" "Ah!" "Yes, thank you." "Thank you." "Weeping was the first symptom of a strange intoxication." "A sense of melancholy and frustration overtook all the guests, making them take refuge on the patio, in the barns and bathrooms as they yearned for "the love of their lives."" "Nobody escaped the spell." "Several lucky ones reached the bathrooms in time." "The rest took part in the collective vomiting spree that took place by the river." "Mommy, Nacha." " What emetic did you put in that cake?" " Emetic?" "You and Nacha will regret ruining your sister's wedding!" "Nacha is dead!" "I think it's best to wait a while until the intoxication wears off, don't you?" " Pedro." " Yes?" "It's been three months since the wedding." "I'm feeling perfectly fine now." "Yes." "Lord, it's not vice, nor lust, but to produce a son to serve you." "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name..." "Tita, I told Mother I want to cook today." "You've never cooked before." "Should I help you?" "No, I want to do it myself." "It's Rosaura's first cooking effort." "I think it's not bad." "What do you think, Pedro?" "For the first time, it's not that bad." "Hurry, Chencha." "I need the bathroom again." "Who told Rosaura she can cook?" "She gave us all the runs." "Don't do that, girl." "They're like the devil himself." "They say one look from them and you're pregnant!" "Tita, today is your first anniversary as the ranch's head cook." "So I took the liberty of bringing you these roses." "Throw them out!" "Don't throw them out, my child." "You can use them to make quails in rose petal sauce." "This is the nectar of the gods!" "It's much too salty." "Excuse me." "I don't feel well." "A strange alchemical phenomenon seemed to have occurred." "Not only Tita's blood, but her whole being had dissolved into the rose sauce, into the quails, and into every aroma of the meal." "That's how she invaded Pedro's body." "Voluptuously, ardently fragrant, and utterly sensual." "They had discovered a new way of communicating." "Tita was the sender and Pedro the recipient." "Gertrudis was the lucky one within whom this sexual encounter was synthesized through the meal." "The rose smell that Gertrudis emitted traveled ever so far." "This fragrance caused the Villista chief to seek out something unknown at an unspecified place." "It wasn't difficult to realize that horse and rider seemed to be obeying superior orders." "Tita!" "Tita, what's happening out here?" "The Federales came and set the bathroom on fire." "Where is Gertrudis?" "They kidnapped her." "Mama Elena believed the whole story and became quite ill." "But she almost died when Father Ignacio told her that he had heard that Gertrudis worked in a brothel near the border." "Not a holy house." "She forbade any mention of her daughter's name and had her photos and birth certificate burned." "Today we ate this dish and Gertrudis ran away." "My Gertrudis!" "Tita!" "Where the devil are you?" "Your sister's there?" "Yes, and it's none of your business." "Give it to her and come right back!" " Tita!" " I don't want my mother to find out." "Where were you?" "In the bathroom, Mommy." "You're in charge of the ranch today." "Chencha is coming with me to Eagle Pass to shop for your sister's baby." "Very well." "Tita!" "Tita!" "Tita, the baby is coming." "I'll go get Dr. Brown." "Please watch over Rosaura until I'm back." "Hurry back." "I have lots of work." "Nacha, help me, please!" "I'm really amazed at the way Tita handled it." "Rosaura was near death." "Speaking of my daughter, doctor, shouldn't you come visit her every day?" "Yes, I think that would be best, given her delicate condition." "Preparing the mole," "Tita knew how contact with fire alters elements." "How dough becomes a tortilla and that a breast untouched by love's fire just isn't a breast, but a useless ball of dough." "In one instant, Pedro had transformed Tita's breasts from chaste to voluptuous without even touching them." "Miss Tita, a stray bullet hit Roberto's wet nurse on the head when she was coming here." "She's dead." "Tita never could resist helping anyone who cried out for food." "She immediately felt the need to relieve that hunger." "That feeling enabled her virgin breast to nurse her nephew." "Tita, what happened with the baby?" "Did he eat?" "Yes, Mom." "He drank his tea and fell asleep." "Thank God!" "Pedro, what are you waiting for?" "Take the baby to your wife." "Children should be with their mothers." "My, my..." "The boy looks wonderful next to such a beautiful aunt." " Thank you, doctor." " He's not even your child." "I'm picturing how lovely you'll look when you carry your own child." "Forgive me." "Did I say something wrong?" "No, it's just that I can't marry or have children because I must care for my mother until she dies." "What?" "That's ridiculous!" "But that's how it is." "Excuse me." "I must attend to the guests." "Tita, the mole is superb!" "Do give me the recipe." "Of course." "The secret is that when you cook it, you do it with much love." "She thinks I'm dumb." "I worry that someday Rosaura might need a doctor and we'll be unable to get one." "I think, once she regains her strength, she should move with her husband and child to San Antonio, Texas, with my cousin." "There she'll get the best medical attention." "I don't agree, Doña Elena." "During this political situation, you need a man at home to protect you." "I've never needed one." "I've managed the ranch and my daughters by myself." "Besides, men are not that important for living, Father." "Nor is the revolution as dangerous as they claim." "It's worse to have chilies without any water around." "Doña Elena!" "Always so witty!" " Pedro?" " Yes." "Pedro..." "You'd better stay away while I feed the baby." "Mother suspects and she'll have you move away." "Mmm-hmm." "Let's not give her more cause." "Please, go." "Tita!" "I could never cut watermelon like your mama." "Don't worry." "Nobody besides her can do it." "When it comes to breaking things up, your mama's the master." "Really!" "Stop babbling." "Come, let's bring her the ice before she yells." "Where's the ice?" "Tita!" "Tita!" "Where were you?" "In the bathroom, Mommy." "Hup!" "Ay, Tita!" "The water's too hot!" "You haven't learned anything in all these years!" "Give it to me!" "The towel!" "You want me to wrinkle up in here?" "Where's the slip?" "I burned it, Mommy." "What are you thinking of, you stupid little girl?" "Save the tears for when I die." "Hand me the dirty one or I'll catch cold." "You opened the door too wide." " Do you want me to die of pneumonia?" " No." "You're pulling my hair!" "Leave me alone!" "Go to the kitchen and finish the chorizo." "Why are you crying?" "I hate to see you cry." "What's wrong?" "Nicolas came back from San Antonio and said he passed away." "What?" "Who died?" " The boy!" " What boy?" "Your grandson." "Everything he ate made him sick." "So he died." "Sit and keep working!" "I don't want tears." "Poor child." "I hope God has him in Heaven." "We can't let our sorrow take over." "There's a lot of work." "First finish this." "Then do whatever you want." "But no crying." "You hear me?" "That's what I think of your orders!" "I'm tired of always obeying you!" "Roberto's death is your fault!" "Have Nicolas remove the ladder from the dovecote and keep it away until tomorrow." "Tita, my child." "Chencha!" "What's wrong?" "Why isn't Tita coming down?" "She doesn't want to." "She's like crazy." "Fine." "Then let her go to the crazy house." "There's no room in my house for lunatics!" "Tita, it's okay." "I want to see my dad." "Don't bother him now." "Can't you see he's with a patient?" "What's wrong with her?" "Shh, be quiet." "Is she crazy?" "I'll tell you later." "Tell you later." "I bought you this yarn." "I noticed you like to knit." "Is the color all right, or should I exchange it?" "You didn't like the food, right?" "I don't blame you." "Our housekeeper, Sue Ellen, is an awful cook, but my poor son and I have to put up with it." "Of course, you don't have to." "I'll tell Sue Ellen that you're not feeling well." "So don't worry." "Hmm?" "Tita, whose hands were now free of her mother's orders, didn't know what to ask of them." "They could do anything or change into anything." "If they could just turn into birds and fly away!" "She'd like them to take her far, far away." "To fly away from herself." "She didn't want to think or make decisions." "Above all, she never wanted to speak again." "She didn't want her words to scream out her pain." "In 1669," "Brand, a chemist from Hamburg, while searching for the "philosopher's stone", discovered..." "Phosphorus." "My grandmother, Morning Star, who was a Kickapoo Indian, used to say that we're all born with a box of matches inside." "We can't light them by ourselves." "Just like in this experiment, we need oxygen and the help of a candle." "Except that in our case, the oxygen has to come, for example, from a lover's breath." "The candle can be anything." "A melody, a word, a caress, a sound." "Just anything." "Anything that pulls the trigger and sets off one of the matches." "Every person has to discover what will pull his trigger to enable him to live." "Because it is the explosive flare of a match that feeds our souls." "If there's nothing to trigger the explosion, our box of matches becomes damp and then we'll never be able to light any of them." "There are many ways to dry a damp match box." "You can rest assured there is a cure." "Of course, it's important to light the matches one at a time." "Because if an intense burst of emotion were to ignite them all at once, they would produce such a strong brilliance that before our eyes there would appear a tunnel of such radiance showing us the path we forgot at birth," "the same path that calls us back to our divine origins." ""Broths can cure any type of illness," ""be it physical or mental."" "At least, that was Chencha's opinion, and Tita's, although lately she hadn't believed it strongly enough." "Now she had to accept it as true." "She herself had recovered after just one bowl of this magic beef broth." "John, please don't go!" "Child!" "And I imagined you tied up with some crazies." "Why not, considering the mother that God gave you!" "I'm almost going crazy." "She has nobody left to order about, so I get it all!" "And she lectures me." "She says disobedient women who leave home" ""end up wallowing in the filthy river of sin."" "I think she meant Gertrudis." "Ah, Chencha..." "Thank you for coming." "It's been so good to see you." "I have a favor to ask." "Tell my mother that you saw me, that I'm fine, and that I'll never go back to the ranch." "Ah!" "Thank you." "Can you guess what I'm thinking?" "Will you marry me?" "Yes." "I will." "Chencha!" "Come, look at this." "What do you want here?" "No, let me go!" "Mama Elena!" "Mama Elena!" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "May I have this dance?" "Doctor, something very serious has happened at the ranch." "I'll take care of it." "Let's go." "Come out of there, you devil!" "You've no right to steal my belongings." "When she realized her mother's secret," "Tita cried." "Not for the woman who had repressed her, but for someone who'd been frustrated by love, like herself." "Be kind to her." "Okay?" "Mmm." " It's a girl!" " Is she okay?" "Yes, considering how premature she was." "But, unfortunately, she'll need a lot of care." "And Rosaura?" "The birth was very complicated, Pedro." "I had to operate and she won't be able to bear any more children." "I'm sorry." "Is she all right?" "Her condition is delicate." "She won't be able to tend to the child." "We're thinking of naming her after you." "It's strange that, like you, she was born out of grief and will have to live in the kitchen and drink teas." "And since she'll be my only daughter..." "I don't like the idea." "Give her a different name." "How about Esperanza?" "Hmm..." "I don't know." "Tita, why does she cry when she's with me?" " She doesn't seem to love me." " Shh." "That's not it." "She misses the warmth and smell of the kitchen." "But I want her to be with me." "To keep the child near Rosaura, the child had to feel she was in the kitchen with her Aunt Tita." "Daddy, I want to marry this little girl." "Just like you and Tita." "Not yet." "You're too young." "Not ever." "This little girl will have to take care of me." "She won't marry." "Is that true?" "Tita was so angry with Rosaura's plans for Esperanza that she wished her sister had never allowed those disgusting, repulsive, and revolting words to escape from her mouth." "Tita wished she'd swallowed them and kept them inside until the rot and worms ate them up." "Thank you, love." "You're welcome." "As you already know, the purpose of this visit is to ask for Tita's hand." "When will you be getting married?" "As soon as possible." "I don't see any problem with that." "You have our blessing." "Let's set the wedding date." "Well, I think this is the time when I'm supposed to give you this." "To the happy couple!" "Take care of yourself." "Hmm?" "I won't be gone long." "I promise." "Bye, now!" "I'm almost done." "We're almost done for today." "See you tomorrow." "See you tomorrow." "And thanks for everything." "Pedro!" "What are you doing here?" " Tita!" "Come here." " Tita isn't here." " She's washing dishes." " Come!" "Look!" "Holy mother of God in Heaven, take Doña Elena's soul, so she'll stop walking in the shadows of purgatory." "What do you mean, Chencha?" "Can't you see it's the ghost of the dead woman?" "She's paying for something!" "I'll never go near that place again!" "Me neither." "Oil of cocoa is an excellent lip moisturizer." "Every winter, Tita's lips were so chapped that if she wanted to smile, she had to use plenty of ointment." "But today it had nothing to do with smiling." "The possibility of finding herself pregnant was no laughing matter." "I didn't hear you come in." "I noticed." "You're lost in thought." "It's just that I miss Gertrudis." "I bet she'd like to be with us tonight, cutting this bread." "Listen, Tita." "I need your advice." "About what?" "Well, first let me say" "I've been wanting to talk to you, but jealousy kept me from doing it." "Now it's different." "If you still loved Pedro, you wouldn't be marrying John." "So, well..." "You must help me win back Pedro." " Me?" " Only you can do it." "Look, I think it's my weight, my flatulence, and my bad breath that keeps him away from me." "What can I do?" "Put me on a special diet, because this fat," "Pedro won't even touch me." "Don't cry." "I'll give you a special diet." "You'll get so pretty." "What about the gas and the bad breath?" "Mint leaves for the breath." "They can freshen the worst breath." "I'll take you off those foods that cause gas." "Don't cry now, or you'll have me crying, too." "You're such a good sister!" "I'm so happy we're together again." "I'll get some mint leaves." "I told you many times not to go near Pedro." "Then, why?" "I tried, Mommy, but..." "No "buts"!" "There's no name for what you've done!" "You forgot about morals, respect, and the rules of society!" "You're worthless." "You don't even respect yourself." "You've dragged my family name through the mud from my ancestors down to that cursed child in your womb!" "My child is not cursed!" "Yes, it is!" "I'm cursing it!" "It and you, cursed forever!" "No, please!" "Close that door." "Can't you see how cold it is?" "You're so strange lately." "What's wrong?" "Rosaura, what a pleasure!" "Those Lobo people are here." "The others want to cut the bread." " We're coming." " Pedro, can you help me?" "We'll talk later." "Hello." "What's happening?" "Nothing." "Good evening, Father." "Good evening, Doña Paquita." "What a surprise!" "How are you doing?" "Delicious." "The dog?" "What's wrong?" "The girl is about to faint!" " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "The dog is so old, he barks at anything." "The devil's dog." "It scared us." " Are you feeling better?" " Yes." "You seem out of sorts." "You've a strange look about you." "It's good I know you're a good girl, otherwise I'd think you were pregnant." " Pregnant?" " Uh-huh." "Only you would suspect that." " And what do my eyes have to do with it?" " Mmm!" "Just by seeing a woman's eyes," "I can immediately tell whether she's pregnant." "I came to cut the bread and have some hot chocolate." "Welcome!" "Sergeant Trevino, take the men around back to be looked after." "Yes, General!" "Tita, meet my husband." "Juan Alejandrez, at your service." "Pleased to meet you." "Please, come in." "I don't know where she got her sense of rhythm." "Mama didn't like to dance and Dad was a bad dancer." "You don't know how much I missed this food, especially my cream fritters." "Revolutions wouldn't be so bad if you could eat at home every day with your family." "When Juan and I found each other again, he said he'd come here looking for me." "I got so nostalgic for your food." "So, how soon will my fritters be ready?" "I'm boring you, aren't I?" "Of course not, Gertrudis." "Why do you say that?" "It's your eyes." "Your mind has been off somewhere for a while." "It's Pedro, right?" "Yes." "If you still love him, why marry John?" "I'm not marrying him." "I can't do it, Gertrudis." "I'll move this off the stove and you can keep crying." "Why can't you get married?" "Because I think I'm pregnant." "Pedro's the father, of course?" " Yes." " Rosaura knows?" "Nobody knows." "Not even Pedro." "I don't know what'll happen when Rosaura learns the truth." "The truth!" "Listen, Tita, the real truth is that there is no truth." "It all depends." "In your case, the truth could be that Rosaura married Pedro without giving a damn that you two loved each other." "Yes, but she's the wife and not me." "So what?" "Did that wedding change how you and Pedro feel?" "No." "Of course not!" "Your love is one of the truest loves I know." "And you both should admit that truth to Rosaura and anyone else." "Especially since Mother's dead." "You think I should talk to Rosaura?" "While I tell you what to do, would you fix the syrup for my fritters?" "It might be good if Pedro knew you're carrying his child." "Pedro, it's lucky you came by!" "My sister has something to tell you." "Go and talk outside while I finish the syrup." "Sergeant Trevino!" "At your service." "Can you cook cream fritters?" "To be quite honest, no, but if you wish, I'll try." "Yes, I wish." "And remember, you've never let me down." "I hope this won't be the first time." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Because first I wanted to make a decision." " Have you?" " No." "Before you make a decision, you should know that having a child with you is the greatest joy I could hope for." "And to enjoy it properly, we should go far, far away from here." "But we can't just think of ourselves." "There are also Rosaura and Esperanza." "What will happen to them?" "Little star" "Of a distant" "Sky" "That sees my pain" "That knows my suffering" "Come down and tell me" "If you love me a lot" "Or just a little" "See what you've caused?" "Pedro and you have no shame." "If you don't want blood in this house, go where you can't hurt anyone before it's too late." "You're the one who should leave." "I'm tired of your tormenting me." "Leave me alone once and for all." "Not until you behave like a proper woman." "Until you're decent!" "What do you mean by "decent"?" "How you behaved?" "Yes." "Well, that's how I'm behaving." "Didn't you have an illegitimate daughter?" "You'll be damned for talking this way." "No more damned than you." "Shut your mouth!" "Who do you think you are?" "I believe in what I am." "A person who has the right to live as she pleases." "Leave me alone!" "I can't stand you." "What's more, I hate you." "I always hated you." "With these magic words," "Tita drove her mother's ghost away forever and freed herself from her psychological pregnancy." "But she couldn't keep Mama Elena from getting even with Pedro." "Tita, don't go!" "Don't leave me." "No, Pedro, I won't." "Cover him with tepezcohuite bark." "I'll miss you, Gertrudis." "I'll miss you, too." "I'd like to stay and help you with Pedro." "But I've been ordered on to Torreón." " Be careful." " You, too." "Women soldiers avoid pregnancy by washing with vinegar and water." "Watch it from now on." "That's enough." "Now it's my turn." "Thank you." "Tell Pedro once he's well, after the revolution, we'll do more duets." "Let's go." "It's getting late." "Sergeant Trevino." "Yes, my General." "Let's go!" "I'll finally get a rest!" "Pedro, congratulations!" "You've recovered amazingly well." "You won't be my patient much longer." "That's good." "Thank you." "It's lucky you got here in time." "I wouldn't have known how to use the tepezcohuite." "Don't thank me." "Thank my grandmother." "Her experiments with this bark will be famous someday." "Besides, with such a loving nurse as you, who wouldn't get well fast?" "That's true." "I'll fix you a drink in the living room." "No, thank you." "I won't keep you from preparing tonight's dinner." "You didn't tell me the doctor's coming tonight." "It's just that my aunt, who came for the wedding, is anxious to meet Tita." "We were just waiting for you to get better before arranging a visit." "Now I understand why Tita nursed me so carefully." "Exactly!" "You finally figured it out!" "Come, John." "I think Pedro wants to rest." "See you tomorrow, Pedro." "You should have sent Chencha with my food." "You shouldn't be late for your dinner." "When will you tell him you can't marry him because you're carrying my child?" "I can't tell him that." "Afraid of hurting little doc's feelings?" "It's not that." "It would be unfair to treat him like that." "He deserves my utmost respect." "If you don't, I will." "No, you won't say anything." "First, because I won't allow it, and second, because I'm not pregnant." "What?" "I thought I was pregnant, but I was just late." "But everything's good now." "So that's it." "Without being tied to me, you're torn between staying with a sick man or marrying John, right?" "You're no longer sick." "Even more reason for leaving me." "My loving you more than anybody doesn't matter to you." "Neither do all the sacrifices I've made for you." "For me?" "Like what?" "Marrying your sister just to be near you meant nothing?" "I wish you had just kidnapped me." "We need to talk." "It's long overdue." "Yes, it's been due since the day you married my boyfriend." "Let's start there." "You should never have had a boyfriend." "According to Mother or you?" "According to the family tradition you broke." "And which I'll continue to break until I'm taken into account." "I had the same right to marriage as you." "You had no right to come between two people who loved each other deeply." "Not that deeply." "He simply replaced you with me." "I married Pedro because that's what he wanted." "For your information, he married you to be near me, but he didn't love you." "Never mind the past." "Pedro married me." "Period." "I won't have you two making a fool of me." "No one's making a fool of you." "You don't understand anything." "Oh, really?" "And when everyone on the ranch sees you crying on Pedro's shoulder, holding hands?" "I'm the laughingstock!" "Look!" "I don't care if you and Pedro go to hell for smooching in every dark corner!" "It's good he does it with you because he'll never touch me again!" "In public, I will continue to be the wife." "And you'd better not let anyone ever see you together again." "Starting today, I'll care for my daughter." "You stay away!" "You'd set a bad example and give her bad advice." "You can be sure that I won't let you ruin her life with this stupid family tradition." "From a distance, you can't do much." "Did you ever see prostitutes allowed near children of decent families?" "You really think our family is decent?" "My little family is." "And to keep it decent, you'll stay away from my daughter." "Or I'll evict you from the house Mother left me." "Don't worry, my sweet." "The tradition will die with me." "Nobody'll hurt you." "Mmm!" "This is delicious, Tita." "Thank you." "You're lucky, John, because Tita, aside from being pretty and intelligent, also cooks wonderfully well." "You will even gain weight with that marriage, because, honest to God," "Sue Ellen's cooking is awful." "Is something wrong, Tita?" "Yes." "I can't tell you now." "Your aunt will feel left out if we speak Spanish." "Don't worry." "She's completely deaf." "How can she carry on conversations?" "Because she reads lips." "But only in English." "So feel free to talk, because, in addition, while she's eating, she notices nothing else." "Watch this." "Auntie." "I'm marrying Tita because the poor girl's crazy." "Tita, the wedding is next week, so if there's a problem, let's discuss it now." "John, we'd better cancel the wedding." "But why?" "Don't make me tell you now." "You don't love me anymore?" "I don't know." "While you were away," "I was with a man whom I have always loved." "I lost my virginity." "That's why we can't get married." "Do you love him more than you love me?" "When you're not here," "I feel that he's the one I love." "But when I see you, everything changes." "With you, I feel calm, safe, at peace..." "But I don't know..." "I don't know." "It's so nice to see a young woman in love cry from happiness." "When I was about to be married, oh, many times, I cried, too." "Always." "Yes, well, I think we should not embarrass Tita anymore" " with our compliments." " Excuse me." "What's going on?" "Tita..." "I don't care what happened." "It's not important if it didn't change what's essential." "I want to be your partner for life." "You decide whether you want me to be your partner." "If you say yes, we'll get married in a few days." "If not, I'll be the first to congratulate Pedro, and also the first to ask him..." "To demand that he give you what you deserve." "Remember the first time we heard that song?" "I'll never forget." "I didn't sleep that night, thinking about asking for your hand." "I didn't know it would take 22 years before I could ask you again to be my wife." " Do you mean that?" " Of course!" "I don't want to die without having you be my wife." "I always dreamed of walking with you into a church full of white flowers and you, the most beautiful of them all." "Dressed in white?" "Of course!" "There's nothing to stop you." "Besides, I want us to have a child." "There's still time, don't you think?" "Now that Esperanza is married and is leaving, we'll need company." "And no one can convince me otherwise." "I don't care what my daughter or anyone else thinks." "We wasted many years worrying about what others might say." "Poor Rosaura." "If she hadn't died, she'd really have enjoyed her daughter's wedding." "You think so?" "She told me that she'd never let her get married, that Tita protected that girl like a fiend, and that the house became a battlefield." "That's right." "But let me cry, all right?" "Fortunately, the fights between Tita and Rosaura didn't last long." "Because three days after their most violent and tearful fight," "Rosaura died of severe digestive problems." "Ah!" "Señorita Gertrudis!" "Look how elegant!" "Thank God you've arrived." "It's a pleasure." "Look at this beautiful girl!" "She looks just like her grandfather." "How handsome!" "Congratulations, Pedro." "Your daughter couldn't have found a better match than Alex." "Yes, Alex Brown is an excellent man." "Too bad he got a PhD scholarship at Harvard." "Bad?" "That's excellent!" "No." "He's taking her along with him and we'll be left alone." "How awful!" "What will you do, Tita?" "Without Esperanza, it'll look bad if you stay here and live with Pedro." "Oh, but before you leave, give me the recipe for these chilies." "They are heavenly." "The secret is to make them with lots of love." "I hope you'll get them right someday." "Excuse me." "How rude!" "Your son is a handsome groom." "Isn't it nice that he married Esperanza?" "Yes." "Yes, it's true." "Then why are you sad?" "Get happy." "Dance with me." "My husband isn't here." "The next song, Chencha." "Be happy, my child." "You take good care of her, you hear?" "Bye, now." "I love you." "We're all alone." "I love you!" "Nobody hears us." "I love you!" "If an intense emotion lights all the matches inside of us all at once, the brilliance would make us see a radiant tunnel showing us a path that we forgot at birth." "The soul will want to return to its divine origin." "When Esperanza, my mother, returned from her honeymoon, all she found under what remained of the ranch was this cookbook, which she left me when she died." "It tells the story of this buried love." "My mother!" "How I miss her cooking, the smell of her kitchen, her talking while she prepared the meals, her Christmas rolls." "Mine never come out like hers." "And I wonder why I cry so much while I make them." "It must be that I'm as sensitive to onions as Tita, my great-aunt." "She'll continue to live as long as someone cooks her recipes."