Caray, Caray!

Santos translates for DB the part of Danger's diary about how she planned to kill Orestes Prieto because he was providing evidence to Santos and he was planning to initiate a lawsuit to get El Miedo. Santos says that now it all fits together: the poison dart and the wound that Dr. Arias found on Orestes. DB says that the whole thing is lies. Santos reads her another passage about Danger selling cattle stolen from Altamira. "What, you don't have anything to say to me?" says Santos to DB, "Thief, murderer," he calls her. Melquíades is listening outside the room. Santos reads to DB what the diary says about how DB fooled Santos when he came looking for the body of Orestes Prieto's father. DB gives a signal to Melquíades. Since she really doesn't have any other choice, DB continues to deny what is in the book. She takes the familiar position that Santos always accuses her of everything. She says that if Danger wrote those things, maybe was creating an alibi (coartada) for himself. DB asks if Santos is going to denounce her to the authorities. She says that she can prove that she is innocent.

Marisela asks how Cecilia knows about the last wishes of her father. Cecilia tells Marisela that her father wrote her a letter on the night of her birthday party and asked Cecilia to give it to Marisela when the time was right. We have some flashbacks. Marisela says that she misses her father so much. Cecilia says that she does, too.

Antonio says that he and Lucía should get married tomorrow or even today. Lucía asks why Antonio is in such a rush to marry her but she is happy.

DB tells Santos that she won't listen to another word. He is just looking for an excuse to get rid of her so that he can take up with Marisela. DB says that she will go to the authorities and tell what she knows and she won't be responsible for the effect that her confessions will have on "his adored Marisela." (Is she threatening to accuse Marisela of murdering Meléndez?)

Maurice comes home and has a happy reunion with Cecilia. Marisela runs off to read her letter.

Santos and DB:
What does Marisela have to do with all this?
DB: Everyone will find out when the time is right and then we will see if you have the courage to call me a murderer. (Then DB says, "No escupas para arriba, Santo Luzardo," does that mean something like, "don't spit in your eye?").
S: This time I'm not falling into your trap. So stop with the ridiculous threat against Marisela. As for you, I doubt that you have the courage to hand yourself over to the authorities for an investigation.
DB: I thought you knew me better, Santos.

Melquíades is digging up the place where Apolinar Prieto and the horse were buried. He says that if DB comes to harm because of Santos, the next poisoned dart will be for him. BP comes up and Melquíades asks him to help DB by digging.

Cecilia tells Maurice about the mysterious visit of DB to Marisela before her birthday party and Marisela's surprising rejection of the gift of DB's hacienda. Marisela comes in and says that she refused the hacienda because she killed a man.

BP asks Melquíades why they are digging and Melquíades says to just dig. DB doesn't like questions. BP laughs and Melquíades asks why. BP wont't say.

DB comes to the police station followed by Santos. DB wants Mujiquita to go with her and Santos and let her prove that Apolinar Prieto isn't buried where the horse skeleton was found. Santos says that if she is so willing to dig up that grave, he is certain that Prieto's remains are no longer there. He doesn't want to play her games. DB says that he has accused her so he has to go with them.

Marisela tells Maurice and Cecilia about Melendez' death (with flashbacks) and DB's threat to accuse her of murder if she accepted the property. (Recappers are happy when the characters rehash things we already know about.) After hearing all this, Cecilia says that DB is despicable. She tells Marisela that she has to return and claim what is hers. Marisela says that she can't do that.

Fausto pressures Don Encarnación to accept what he is offering for DE's hacienda.

DB, Santos and Mujiquita comes to the place where Apolinar Prieto was buried. Santos notices that the ground has been disturbed. He says that it isn't necessary to dig. They will only find the bones of a horse.

Marisela and Mauricio-
Mau: I don't like to see you in doubt like this. Marisela, since you came here, you have taught me to see a different Marisela, strong and energetic, who doesn't fear anything and doesn't say no to anyone, including Santos Luzardo, your great love. What are you thinking about?
Mar: The hacienda. I was born there. It was so pretty. I got to know the world there for the first time... At that time, it wasn't 'El Miedo,' it was 'La Barquereña.' How I would have liked for my father to return to that hacienda.
Mau: Have you thought that you have to return and get back what is yours?

DE tells Antonio and Lucía that he is being pressured to sell his hacienda. Lucía asks him not to. She wants to raise his grandchildren there. She tells him that she and Antonio plan to marry very soon. Antonio says that he will work to improve DE's hacienda.

Santos and DB-
DB: We can't leave this alone, Santos. I'm talking to you. Don't ignore me. If you are convinced that I ordered that ground dug up, I want you to tell me so, to my face.
S: Why, Bárbara? The more that I want to believe in you, I can't. In every step you take, I find proof that you lied, that you only act for your benefit.
DB: You always believe in others, never in me. Hasn't it occurred to you that there are others who want to destroy me, that they are capable of whatever to see me fall, even digging up the ground so that you don't believe me?
S: Look Bárbara, no more traps, please. I want to love and believe in you. I wanted this to be a relationship of two people who fight against one and all. But all that is important to you is your deceits and lies. You don't want a companion, you want an accomplice and that isn't me.
DB: What are you going to do with that book full of lies? What do you want it for?
S: To understand how much you deceived me with your lies. Now, I want to find out exactly how stupid I was.

Santos leaves Altamira with Danger's book. DB tells Melquíades that someone is out to get her. It isn't BP; he's not bright enough. She guesses that it's El Sapo.

Fausto tells El Sapo (and now we see him) that DE has refused so far to sell his hacienda but his economic situation may force him to do so. El Sapo tells Fausto to pressure DE and then raise the offer. DB will find out and will want to get in on the bidding (puja). He says that then he is going to bleed her white (desangrar). El Sapo tells Fausto that he doesn't need to tell DB about his interest in La Chaparral, news like that spreads like wildfire ('pólvora', literally 'gunpowder.'). Fausto asks when El Sapo is going to show his face to his enemy. He says he will wait a little while. He wants her to surprise her.

Santos has gone somewhere and reads Danger's book all night. He appears to be impactado by what he is reading.

DB tells Eustaquia that Santos can't prove what Danger's book accuses her of doing. She says that Santos is a man of the law. He only believes what he can prove. He only the has the word of a dead man against hers. DB says that Santos loves her and will believe her rather than what some idiot says. Eustaquia says there are things Santos won't be able to forgive. DB says that she can't lose Santos because it would be like losing her own life.

Santos is at Melesio's house. He sits staring into space when Antonio comes in asking why Santos was looking for him. Antonio says that Santos doesn't look well. Santos, in fact, looks like he is going to cry. "I've just discovered," he says, "that I am the world's biggest idiot." He hands Antonio Danger's book.

Marisela has a flashback to when he overheard DB tell Eustaquia that she can't love her daughter. She wonders if she should go back and confront DB. She flashes back to when Santos kissed her. She wonders if she has the strength to return and confront him.

Santos tells Antonio that he has wasted his life and worst of all, he has lost his love. He says that he has to make very hard decisions. He can't let things continue because of what is in the book. He says that he has to recover and move forward. He can't let DB destroy his life like she had done with the others. "She isn't going to destroy me," says Santos.

DB says that she has to find out where Santos is and see if he can live without her. Eustaquia tells her that Santos isn't in the house and he didn't sleep there. Cracking her whip, DB demands to know where Santos is. She says that since Santos went to the Capital, he doesn't want to sleep with her anymore. Eustaquia advises her to not to behave this way, it will just make things worse but we can see that DB isn't going to take her advice.

Santos has a morning coffee at Melesio's house. He tells Melesio that he is going to have a hard day. Melesio tells him that if he knows what he is doing is right, it is will be ok. Santos replies that he is concerned about hurting other people. Melesio repeats that the important thing is that Santos is sure he doing the right thing. Santos says that sometimes one commits errors in thinking that they are doing right. Melesio says that everyone commits errors in their life and assures him that such errors can always be corrected.

Lorenzo's letter to Marisela-
My darling daughter. Only a few hours remain before your birthday party and here I am writing these lines that will wait until the moment that you are ready to accept my words. I have decided not to go on about La Barquereña. I know that it is useless because the more I would fight to find out what DB did to force you to to refuse your hacienda, the less you would tell me. Marisela, my beautiful daughter, I know that DB took advantage of your innocence and fragility to succeed in her objective. Don't you see that more clearly now, my love? She wants to look good in front of Santos and keep our hacienda at the same time. Surely, she threatened you with doing something as bad as hastening my death, isn't that so?
Marisela: Yes, papa. That's what happened.
Lorenzo: Fine then, I'm not among the living anymore, so she can't do me any harm. What is holding you back, now, daughter? The moment has come, then. Cecilia has the property transfer deed that DB signed. You only have to make it valid in order to have what should always have been yours. Tbe time has come, daughter. Fight! You be the guardian of my rights. Fight for the land of your elders, do it now, because if you don't do it, you will live like me, regretting that I never tried. This is the only inheritence I leave you, my love: to live life wisely and intensely and my thirst for justice, so go forward. You are everything and your enemy will tremble when she sees you standing in front of her, strong, beautiful and just. It's time for war, little daughter, and I says this not only about the hacienda but about everything. If you love and finally recieve love, don't turn and look back. Don't be afraid of what prejudiced, stupid people say. Don't let anyone tell you what is good and what is bad. You already know in your heart. Live each minute intensely because life is only an instant in the sun. Laugh and cry without fear and remember that you were, are and always will be my greatest pride. I adore you and I will be with you at every step.
Your father, Lorenzo.

Santos returns to Altamira and DB doesn't waste a second before laying into him for spending the night away from her. She says that Santos is the man who never makes mistakes - what is the next thing he is going to accuse her of?
S: It's over.
DB: What did you say?
S: You heard me perfectly well, Bárbara, but I'll repeat it: You and I are finished. (Lo nuestro se terminó).
DB: Really? We're done and that's it. Why so? Because you decided? What about me? This diary that certainly contains lies and filth that the gringo made up. You believe it because it turned up just at the moment that you saw her again.
S: That has nothing to do with it.
DB: It has everything to do with it. Do you think I am an imbecile, Santos? Since the moment she left, you haven't been the same with me, you haven't looked at me the same way, you haven't talked to me the same way. You've never talked to me the way you talked to her. You've never looked at me the way you looked at her. She.. she has been between us this whole year. Look, Bárbara, the only thing that has come between you and I this year and forever is this (he holds up the book). This disgusting history of crimes and thefts. The kind of barbarism that I have fought against my whole life. It's true that I wanted to forget to give myself permission to love you. Look, I turned my face so I wouldn't see. I covered my ears so I wouldn't hear... I began to drink to not think about the things that you were doing. Because I wanted to believe that you loved me enough to change. But you didn't do it, Bárbara. You didn't do it. You continued being this way and the fault isn't even yours. It's mine. Because I am gullible and conceited. Look, who am I to tell you how you have to live or what you have to do? Why did I get the idea that you were going to change just because you were with me? You are what you are and you can't change: always the wild animal and predatory tigress. Lorenzo Barquero was always right.
DB: You still believe that drunk?
S: Yes. I beleive him more than ever because he loved you. He always loved you in spite of himself.
DB: I never loved him. I never loved anyone. Only you. Do you doubt my love?
S: No, but that's the worst of it. Your love is killing me, Bárbara and for whatever reason, I still have a little sanity (cordura). I want to live, I want to be the person I was before. So, please, leave, go back to your place and let's continue with our lives.
DB: My life is you. Don't you understand? You can't leave me. You love me, Santos. What has happened is that stupid diary has confused you. The people who hate me have filled up your head with bad thoughts. But I know you still love me.
S: Bárbara, please, don't make this more difficult. Leave.
DB: I'm not leaving here. I'm the señora of Altamira. You promised me. I have your mother's ring. You gave it to me. You told me that you loved me. Where is our love? our engagement? The children that we will have. We will have children, my love. When they come, I will be good. A good mother like you want me to be.

Santos turns and walks away without a word. DB follows screaming that she won't leave. She is the señora of Altamira. Santos speaks to Carmelito, gets on his horse and rides away. DB grabs Carmelito and demands to know what Santos told him. Carmelito says that Santos told him that he would be in the hotel at Progresso until... "Until when!" demands DB. "Until you leave Altamira," replies Carmelito.

Eustaquia begs DB to leave Altamaira. DB says that she is sure that Santos will return when his rage has passed. Eustaquia says that her man has broken off their relationship. She shouldn't behave like a wretch. She should have some dignity and not beg for love from someone who doesn't want to give it.

Antonio asks Mujiquita to marry him and Lucía.

Watched by Melesio, the terneras and the vaqueros, DB loads up her truck and she, Eustaquia, Melquíades and Juan Primito leave Altamira.

Santos flashes back to various good and bad times with DB. Carmelito tells him that DB has left.

Back at El Miedo, DB says, "I've lost everything, old woman. Without him, I have nothing, nothing." Eustaquia tells her not to say that. She has this house, her hacienda, her life. "But my life was him," she says, "only him. Without him, there is only this: an empty, dark house. Nothing. I am nothing. I have nothing."

The next morning Marisela tells Maurice and Cecilia that she will go back with Cecilia to the Arauca and confront DB. She will fight for her land and will get La Barquereña back. Cecilia is ecstatic. Maurice is sorry to lose his roommate.

Labels: barbara