Caray, Caray!

Tonight, María Sorté is "María, Pescadera" (María, fishmonger).

A body is wheeled out on a stretcher through a supermarket. One of the DIEM crew walks a handcuffed and bloody-handed María out, while Aranda walkies Capellan that they're on the way.

You got it, Gloria, it's gonna get bloody tonight.

Capellan watches María Gonzalez get walked into an interrogation room by Moran. She's looking like she was rode hard and put away wet. Gerardo tells Capellan that they're not going to be able to do much--they've got a body, witnesses, and a suspect. Aranda says they found a knife, too. Capellan says they might not have much to do, but they investigate the "How?"…She investigates the "Why?" Touché, madame, touché. Capellan walks into the room and introduces herself.

Flashback: It's 4:30 in the morning. A young woman stumbles toward María's bed and wakes her up. This would appear to be her daughter, Luchi, who has some kind of physical or developmental disability. María hands her a crutch so she can walk to the bathroom. Later, she braids her daughter's hair and comments that they ought to try getting up earlier in the morning instead of having baths at night. María vetoes lip gloss for Luchi saying she's already told her "no". María and Luchi have breakfast. María announces that it's late and she asks Luchi to wash the dishes. Luchi holds out a hand and María remembers she has to give Luchi her massage. She starts stretching out Luchi's fingers, then stops to massage her own hand, which is getting a little stiff. She goes back to massaging Luchi's hand and asks if it feels nice. María tells Luchi that her godmother will be there at 9 to take her to therapy, because it's Tuesday. This would be godmother Carmelita. Luchi reaches her other hand over and strokes María's hand, asking her if it feels nice. María assures her that it does and reminds her again to wash the dishes, brush her teeth, and don't do anything naughty. Luchi nods. María left money for Carmelita for the therapy. She asks Luchi if she remembers. "Mom! I'm not stupid!" "Of course you're not." "You are mom!" "Hey!" "You forgot I go to get tortillas today." "You're right! What would I do without you?" "You wouldn't eat tortillas." María kisses Luchi and blesses her.

María makes her way to her stall in the market, wishing everyone a good morning as she goes. She puts on an apron and starts putting out ice in the display case. The ice is hurting her hand. She starts laying out the fish.

Present: "That's how it was for years. The same thing always. An endless nightmare. Only my daughter got me through."

Flashback: Blanca and Ramón walk through the market. Ramón gets an eyeful of María. Blanca teases him that there's nothing to see there. Ramón says "If I told you, you'd get mad." Blanca goes over and bitches out María for not having her hair back. She says she's been warned before and she'd better get it taken care of or she'll report her to the health inspector. Blanca says it's Don Ramón who pays them off. Blanca walks off. Ramón takes an extra few seconds to linger before he says goodbye.

María calls Luchi at home from a pay phone. She has to convince her to let her godmother have the phone. María checks to make sure that Luchi gave her godmother the money. María, repeating what Carmelita is telling her, says for our benefit that she has to take Luchi to a checkup tomorrow. She thanks Carmelita for feeding Luchi, "I know how much she eats! And she's so skinny." María goes back to her stall and her neighbor, Lupita, offers her half her sandwich. María tries to refuse, but gives in, saying she hasn't had time to eat anything. She and Lupita chat about how Luchi is doing. Lupita has noticed that Blanca is giving María a hard time. María says they're after her spot. Lupita encourages her to talk to Pancho, the union rep. That's what their dues are for. María says she doesn't want to get the union involved. If she ticks off Ramón he might take her spot. Lupita notices that María's arm is still bothering her. María says sometimes she loses feeling in it. She won't go to a doctor, though, because she'd have to ask Blanca's permission. She gets the idea to ask Don Ramón directly, since he's the owner. Lupita laughs that he's Blanca's boyfriend, a little fishie told her.

Blanca comes up to Ramón in the market. She asks him if he remembers telling her that he wanted to rent the fish stall with a higher rent. She's got people interested. Blanca notices him looking at María again and says she's slow and dirty. Plus she figures she's so dumb that if they took the stall away from her she wouldn't even be able to find another job. Ramón laughs and says you don’t have to go to university to know how to cut the heads off fish. He then remembers that Blanca used to do the same thing. "Hey, don’t compare me to her! Besides, I'm not so dumb. You made me administrator!" He says he just meant that she was "perrada" (a dirty trick?). She totally agrees. He calls her a tigress. He asks if María is her friend and she gets pissed off again. He reminds her that he's the owner. "Fine. DON Ramón." She walks down to the stall.

Lupita gives María a warning when she sees Blanca coming. Blanca asks María if she's tired. "You've been cutting fish as long as Lupita and you've only done half what she's done." María tells her to back off, what business is it of hers how fast she does her job. Blanca says it is her business because if María doesn't work, she doesn't sell, and if she doesn't sell, she can't pay the rent. Blanca tells her Don Ramón isn't going to cover her rent. Lupita blurts out that María's having a problem with her arm. Lupita keeps encouraging María to tell her and says it's what they've all got. María says it's tendinitis. She tries to downplay it, but Lupita says she needs to go to the doctor. Blanca says "ok, go to the doctor, then." Oh, but she's going to make María pay a penalty for being out. Lupita says she'll pay it and insists that María really needs to go. "Or have you already forgotten how our arms hurt when we cut fish? You don't remember anymore?" Blanca tells María to go to the doctor and pay the fee for having the stall closed. María doesn't think it's fair and Blanca mocks her, asking if she thinks they ought to pay the doctor bill for her too. Blanca lists her options as going to the doctor and paying the fine or losing the stall altogether. That's as fair as Don Ramón wants to be, she says. Blanca leaves and Lupita apologizes for making things worse. María's not worried about it--she can take advantage of the day and take Luchi to her appointment. They go back to cutting fish.

The doctor tells María that she should be proud of Luchi--she's been doing her exercises. Luchi says she has been, but Mom hasn't. "Oh yeah, what haven't I done?" Luchi tells the doctor that her mom cries because they don't have money and her arm hurts. The doctor asks about it, but she tries to play it off, at least until he stretches her arm out and it hurts. The doctor pronounces it a severe tendinitis and recommends she rest it for at least 15 days. The doc confirms that she's working at the fish stall in the market, all day, standing. He tells her she needs to work sitting down, maybe on a bar stool. María tells him the administrator won't like it. He offers her some anti-inflammatories and some muscle relaxants. María protests that the appointment is for Luchi. "And if you're sick, who takes care of Luchi? Luchi is well, you're the one who needs to take care of herself. This is very delicate and it could turn into a paralysis." Luchi looks upset. María tells her not to worry and hugs her.

The alarm goes off at 4:45am. The gals go through their morning routine. Carmelita comes over. María is going to try to close up at work early. Carmelita is worried about what will happen if Luchi has another "attack," but María says they're just spasms, don't worry, it's not epilepsy. María says goodbye to Luchi.

Present: María cries. Capellan wonders if even with the doctor's note, María still had problems with the administrator.

Flashback: Blanca sneers at 15 days of rest. She asks why María doesn't just give up the stall, but María can't. Then Blanca notices María is supposed to work sitting down, "Oh, anything else? Do you want coffee? Cookies?" María reminds her that tendinitis is serious, not to mention her arthritis and her legs. "You remember what it's like to work this job. Do you remember when you started getting arthritis?"

Two years ago: Blanca is in María's house bragging about telling off Don Ramón. Blanca is rubbing her wrist. She says it's horrible, either they take away your job or send you in back where no one can see you. Blanca says she's brought María a present, a really nice knife. María asks if she stole it. Blanca laughs that it's fair payback for all her hard work. María recognizes it as one of Don Ramón's special knives. Blanca doesn't think she'll get caught, or if she does, she doesn't care. María notices that Blanca's wrist is hurting. "I told you to wear gloves when you put your hands in the ice." Blanca asks who's going to buy her gloves. María asks Luchi to pass her the arnica cream. She won't accept the knife. María takes Blanca's hand and massages it with the arnica. Blanca puts some arnica on Luchi's hand and starts rubbing it. So I guess we know how that little ritual started.

Blanca tells María she doesn't remember it and has no idea what she's talking about. Bitch. Blanca says she can do whatever she wants, but she won't stand up for her if she's late on the rent again. "Thanks to me, you're not on the street. I haven't done anything but watch your back." María starts to leave. She turns back to tell Blanca that Luchi asks about her and misses her. "She's well. She's a young lady now. But she asks why her Tía Blanca doesn't come to visit. I tell her that I haven't seen her in a long time either." Blanca looks sad.

A year ago: María leaves Lupita in charge of her stall and goes to pay Don Ramón the rent. When she knocks on the office door and pushes it open, Ramón is screwing Blanca. Blanca goes running out after María and Ramón laughs. María and Blanca get into a strange argument. María is perfectly willing to keep her mouth shut and isn't judging Blanca, but Blanca acts like María can't wait to blab it to everyone and is looking down on her. Blanca is offended at María saying "to each his own" and takes it as María thinking she's better than Blanca, as opposed to agreeing that she would've done it too.

Blanca thinks about that day and sniffs, collecting herself. She sits back down at her desk and reviews the file of health inspections. There's a certificate saying that María has complied with health department regulations. Blanca signs it, but I don't get what's going on with this.

Present: Capellan visits the lab. Gerardo says she may not want to hear it, but the victim's blood was on the suspect, the fingerprints match, and she did it in front of witnesses, so let's close this case already. Capellan says she won't until she has a full picture of what's going on. She accuses the team of only being interested in blood, fingerprints, and criminals. Well, in their defense, they are cops. Capellan seems to be in a particularly pissy mood today.

Flashback: What it looks like is that Blanca has signed a complaint to the health department. Ramón looks at a couple of them and gripes that he'll have to talk to the union. He doesn't like the idea of getting rid of María, though. He says she's got a sick daughter. Blanca complains that she's always late with the rent and wants to work sitting down. She accuses Ramón of being into her. Ramón says fine, he'll get rid of her if Blanca wants, but first he's going to screw her. Ramón laughs that there's nothing like a woman to screw another woman over. "Why are you so mad at her? Because she saw us that time? It's been almost a year. Ah, you're mad because she saw what a pig you could be. Or maybe because you gave it up so easily, but she's a decent woman. Or because she has a daughter and you don't even have a dog to bark at you." Blanca starts to say something about his wife, but Ramón reminds her that topic is off limits. He proposes they make a bet--Blanca will do everything she can to break her, to get her to leave, and Ramón will do everything he can to get her into bed (or desk, as the case may be). Blanca takes the bet.

Present: Lupita gives Capellan the 411 about the work environment. She calls Blanca and Ramón pigs, "Begging your pardon, ma'am" (ha ha, didn't realize they called cops "pigs" in Spanish too). Blanca and Ramón were sleeping together, but if Ramón wanted someone, Blanca would get her for him. They would make bets, or rather, Ramón would. And he did have a thing for María.

Flashback: María is leaving for the day, but Lupita reminds her it's the feast day of San Ramón. That means a party for the boss. Lupita tries to convince her to stay. Ramón walks up and scolds her for leaving without staying for the party. María apologizes for being a month behind in rent. Ramón brushes that off and says nothing's going to happen to María's daughter if she stays for just one dance. "You're the only one I haven't danced with." Lupita says he hasn't danced with her either. Ramón's like, "uh, yeah, later maybe." He sends her off to help her coworkers. Ramón starts schmoozing María. "You're a very attractive woman and I like you. But I'm a gentleman, so I'm going to let you go home and see your daughter, but just this once. You have to give me a chance to ask you out for dinner sometime, away from the market." While he's schmoozing, Blanca is smuggling the fancy knife into María's bag. She goes over to tell María and Ramon that she needs to see them both in the office right away.

Ramón wonders what's going on. Blanca tells María to put her bag on the table and starts searching it. She pulls out a knife and María is shocked. Blanca now demands that María strip so that Blanca can search her. María starts undressing, but won't strip past her undershirt. "Touch me if you want, I can't hide anything in here." Blanca tells Ramón that she wants him to take a good look at her, "If she stole this, who knows what else she stole." María accuses Blanca of putting the knife in her bag. Ramón asks to be left alone with María. Blanca gets upset, "Fine, if you don't care that she's stealing, maybe you should know that the health inspector wants to close her down for two days to disinfect." She leaves. María wants to look at the report. María says she didn't steal the knife. Ramón starts putting the moves on her and asks what he can do to compensate her. He claims not to be able to do anything about the two day shut-down, but he offers to pay the fine. He tries to get her to use "tú" with him. He reminds her that he owns half the market and is also Blanca's boss. "Blanca is difficult. Imagine! She says you're ugly, but you're really pretty. I want you to be ok, and to trust me. If she gets bad, come to my office and we'll talk."

Present: Capellan questions Ramón. He claims it was just a chick fight. Capellan asks him if he had an "emotional" relationship with Blanca. He denies that he did. I'm inclined to agree. She asks if he was interested in María. "Well, yeah, I like women." Capellan tells him his interest is the reason she's got a cadaver in the morgue, so he'd better behave himself. He's not in a good situation--she can accuse him of workplace violence and sexual assault.

Flashback: Maria is just waking up and its after 9. Luchi is in the kitchen filling cups with green liquid. She's proud of herself for making jello to sell so that mom won't be sad. She did it all by herself. María asks what she can help with. Luchi tells her to put them in the refrigerator, but carefully. "Don't spill."

María is still home and in her pj's when Carmelita comes over to take Luchi to therapy. Carmelita offers to let María take her. María hesitates, so Luchi jumps in and says they don't have money because they closed down her stall for two days. Carmelita is sure it was Blanca. "Ever since I've known her, I've seen her bad intentions!" María wants her to hush in front of the girl, but Luchi reminds her she's not a little girl anymore. Carmelita offers to give her money. She insists she's taking Luchi to therapy, and no paying back later. Luchi asks Carmelita if she'll buy some gelatinas. Carmelita will buy them all, but after therapy.

Present: Capellan confirms that Blanca was suspended for two days-Tuesday and Wednesday-and went back to work yesterday, Thursday. "What happened yesterday?" María says that Blanca told her that Ramón had stocked the stall with fish for her and she needed to pay him back for it, and she should be grateful not to be kicked out.

Flashback: Ramón is leaving the market, but he changes his mind when he hears that María is working late. He visits her at her stall and gives her a scare. She says she's making up for the time she lost. Ramón tells her that he does need her to pay him back for the fish. He goes behind the counter while she's washing her hands and starts touching her. She knows what's up and tells him to back up. Ramón says he'll do her a favor and report her the next time he sees her working late. María sits on the floor of her stall and cries.

Present: Capellan asks what happened today.

Flashback: María gets to her stall and finds it plastered with signs saying it's closed. There's an envelope for her. Lupita wants to know what it says, but María won't talk, so Lupita takes it from her and reads it herself. They took the stall from her.

In his office, Ramón laughs. Blanca is upset again. "I ran her off, see! I won!" Ramón keeps laughing and just wants to know if when she talked to the union rep she was as close to him as she is to Ramón now. She calls him an idiot and leaves.

María is ripping the signs off her stall. She goes behind the counter and tears off all the signs and the tape she can get her hands on. Blanca and Ramón see her and Blanca says she's crazy.

Present: Capellan asks what happened. "It was the lowest of humiliations. They made me feel like my life was worth less than a fish with no head or guts."

Flashback: Blanca comes over and yells at María. "Can't you read? It's not yours anymore! It says closed." Blanca keeps harping on it and saying they're going to throw María in jail. She's a pig, an idiot, she's disrespecting her authority. María yells back to shut up, stabs her, and keeps twisting the knife, holding one hand over Blanca's mouth and shushing her. Blanca bleeds all over some unfortunate produce and the bloody butterflies fly away. María yanks the knife out.

"María Gonzalez was tried for homicide. The judge in charge of her case took into account the recommendations of Sofia Capellan and judged the crime as a product of a violent emotion produced by extreme workplace violence. She was condemned to three years in prison. The provisional guardianship of Luchi was given to her godmother Carmen Gomez. Luchi continued attending therapy."

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