Caray, Caray!

Tonight, Yolanda Andrade and Aleida Núñez are "Elvira y Mercedes, Justicieras" (Elvira and Mercedes, Avengers). Adal Ramones is the unkempt stepfather, Domingo. Geraldine Correa is Lupita, the frightened stepdaughter.

Apologies in advance for missing/incorrect material. The captions were virtually useless as usual and a lot of these characters mumbled.

Mercedes ("Meche") and her sister Elvira are led from their home in handcuffs. Lupita, daughter of Mercedes, is escorted separately. She's not in handcuffs, but her left hand is pulled back into the sleeve of her sweater, and she's holding the cuff in her mouth. She is a thin girl and doesn't look to be much past puberty. She looks curiously at the female DIEM agent who's holding a radio. (I'm sorry, I shold know her name but I don't. Aranda?)

The cop who's leading Lupita pauses to put a jacket over her head to hide her face before bringing her into the street to load her into the van. Maybe-Aranda radios Capellan that they've got the suspects, and one of them is a minor.

Elvira and Lupita are out on the patio, preparing some vegetables for dinner while Dirty Domingo lazes beside the table with a newspaper. (Backstory: Domingo lost his comb in 1987. It was the best comb in the entire world and he can't bear to put any lesser grooming implement to his head. He also has a very special razor that's way too good to use more than twice a month. He's apparently very thrifty about using soap, too.)

He keeps stealing glances at the backs of Lupita's thighs under a ratty old skirt that's too short for her. Elvira notices.

It seems that there's a baby on the way and Domingo's been out of work for a while. He insists to his Elvira, his sister-in-law, that he's been looking, but there just isn't any work - only little office jobs for errand-boys. (With combed hair.) He's gotta work out in the fresh air, baby!

He kisses Lupita on the top of her head and takes his drink (oh yeah, he's got a bottle) into the house. There is a look of intense loathing on Lupita's face as she watches him exit. Elvira expresses doubt that he'll find any job, either indoors or outdoors. Lupita says he's looking.

Elvira changes the subject. Hasn't Lupita noticed how Domingo looks at her? Is it only looking, or is it something more? Lupita weakly denies anything. Elvira angrily wonders why Lupita's mother is with him - he's good for nothing.

Meche shows up with some laundry and sends Lupita to put it away. Apparently this isn't the first time she's caught Elvira complain about her dear Domingo. She scolds Elvira for bad-mouthing him to Lupita. She's not supporting him; on the contrary, he's showing what a good man he is. Elvira replies, "just for impregnating you?"

Elvira asks what Meche is going to do with four kids and one more. More conversation about working and changing the way they live... sorry... help...

Elvira also suggests that Lupita should start sleeping in her (Elvira's) room. Meche rejects the idea. Elvira shares her thoughts on the way Domingo looks at Lupita. Meche says she's making things up and I think she says she's bitter. Elvira persists - Lupita is not a little girl any more.

Lupita enters the room. Meche angrily demands that Lupita tell them what's going on with her "papa." Elvira asks more gently for an answer. But they are both impatient for her reply, and Lupita just seems overwhelmed.

Meche and Lupita are taken to separate offices. Lupita still has her sleeve in her mouth. Aranda tells her to be calm and and tell them what happened to her and what she did. "I didn't do anything," Lupita sobs.

Lupita is no longer in the room. Meche tells Elvira that Domingo could never do something like that. He's her father! "No he isn't," Elvira replies. Well, he's like a father, Meche insists. And now that little brat is going to hear from her for saying things about him. Elvira says Lupita didn't say anything - Elvira did. She doesn't have to be sleeping in the same room; one would have to be an idiot not to realize that the girl is in real danger.

"Well, now it turns out that DOMINGO is in danger," Meche replies angrily. "Your bitterness [captions say "embarazada," I'm pretty sure that's wrong] is making you sick in the head." Elvira says she's got enough problems and doesn't want any more.

Night. Meche can't sleep. Some discussion with Domingo as to whether the baby is moving or not. She asks if he loves the kids even though they're not his. He says of course - he's supporting them, right? Er, not exactly, but he promises he'll find a job. He loves them as much as he'll love his own little Dominguita when she arrives. As for Lupita, he loves her most of all.

Next day, Elvira and Meche resume their argument whilst cleaning beans on the patio.

Elvira: Domingo doesn't love Meche or the kids.
Meche: You love to talk bad about Domingo. Lupita didn't accuse him of anything.
Elvira: That's because she was afraid.
Meche: He was probably just being affectionate with Lupita and she took it the wrong way.
Elvira: She's scared. If he lays a hand on her, I'll kill him.
Meche: If you threaten him, you threaten me.
Elvira: When your husband gets the urge to go to bed with your daughter, he's messing with you too.
Meche: You're a pig.
Elvira: I'd rather than be a pig than blind.

Elvira goes into the apartment. Lupita asks if they were fighting about her. Meche comes in and Lupita says she was just helping her aunt. "And who is going to help me with your brothers?" Meche replies. An increasingly flinchy Lupita pulls her hand back into her sleeve and her sleeve in her mouth.

Elvira asks if Meche hasn't reconsidered the sleeping arrangements. No, Meche says, Lupita will continue to sleep in her own place. And it's well and good if Elvira threatens Meche, but Elvira is going to have to stop threatening her husband. It's not her problem if Elvira's single - she should go find a man to give her what she needs.

Elvira: What for, so I can end up like you? No thanks, sis.
Meche: Better to have multiple men than be an old maid [una quedada is harsher and more colloquial than solterona].

Lupita is chewing her sleeve in Capellan's office. Capellan asks her to be calm; she doesn't believe Lupita's guilty of anything. But Lupita thinks she's in jail. Capellan assures her that it's only an office. She asks Lupita to trust her and tell her everything that happened.

Nighttime again. Domingo gets out of bed, picking a wedgie. (Gross.) Meche asks her Prince Charming what's going on. He can't sleep because his stomach is growling. Meche goes back to sleep. Domingo approaches Lupita's bed and lifts the covers.

Meche wakes some time later and notices that he's still out of bed. She hears creaking bedsprings. She finds him standing next to Lupita's bed looking guilty. He says she startled him. (He's fiddling with his underwear again.) He claims that he was just covering up the kids and before that he had some beans. Meanwhile, Lupita is sucking her thumb and clamping the pillow tightly over her head.

Next morning, there is more conversation between M and E, including mention of a man named Hugo who liked one sister more than the other and then Meche had Lupita. Then Elvira says she spoke to "Dr. Ceci." Meche angrily assumes they were gossiping about her, but the doctor merely said Lupita is an adolescent. Elvira feels they should be "taking care of her."

Meche says Ceci is only a nurse, not a doctor, and Elvira should mind her own business because Domingo loves the kids. The best way to take care of Lupita is to leave her alone (I think that's what Meche says.) Elvira mumbles something to herself about fixing it on her own.

Capellan asks Elvira if she thinks that she had fixed things. Elvira says, "At least I did something." Capellan: "Unfortunately, your decision was not the best." Elvira: "Well, whether it was good or not, it was certainly too late."

Lupita is sweeping in a courtyard or something. Two boys about her age are there, and she seems to be glad for their company. Domingo shows up and asks if the boys are bothering her. Without waiting for an answer, he sends the boys away. She gazes wistfully after them.

The wicked stepfather asks again if they were bothering her. Petrified, she answers "no, Domingo." Offended, he insists that she call him Papa. And, lifting her chin to look her in the eyes, he says that if anyone's going to bother (molestar) her, it'll be him. With a mouthful of cigarette smoke, he kisses her forehead. She scurries away.

Some time later, Meche is looking for Lupita. Elvira says she's been behaving strangely lately and might be sick.

Lupita is crying over the washtub on the patio with her sleeve in her mouth. Meche finds her and starts to talk about "what your aunt has been saying." Lupita hurriedly washes her face and tells Meche that she didn't tell Elvira anything.

Aranda lays her gun aside and sets up the voice recorder. She tells Lupita that although it's difficult, she'll have to explain in her own words what happened. She's safe here.

"If something were going on, you'd tell me, right?" Meche asks Lupita in a non-threatening way. Lupita nods and continues splashing her face in the washtub. Meche reminds Lupita that Domingo is such a wonderful, affectionate guy. Domingo spies around the corner as Meche goes into the house

A medical guy and Aranda(?) talk about gaining someone's confidence, taking evidence, an obstetrician, and a report.

In the kitchen, jobless Domingo waves the newspaper around and tells Elvira that someone's looking for a seamstress. Meche comes in and complains that Lupita's been in bed all day and isn't feeling well. Elvira says "I'm telling you, she's been acting strange" (or "she's not well"). Domingo smirks, unnoticed, and takes another drink from his big bottle.

Meche is tired. Domingo says something about the baby. Elvira asks how he's so sure it's a boy. "I know everything," he replies.

Not true. He obviously doesn't know he's going to be a red butterfly soon. He continues to drink out of that giant bottle while they enjoy their candlelit dinner.

I think there's some banter between Elvira and Domingo where he says she needs to get laid (actually that she needs an alignment and balance) and she asks if he's volunteering and throwing someone to the dogs. Whatever, we can tell that it's not the best relationship. She calls him a "mantenido" (dependent; kept man) and he protests that a kept man shouldn't have to eat beans.

Elvira also calls him a "rabo verde" (green tail, i.e. horndog, pervert). Now he isn't amused at all. He takes another big drink from his bottle and walks out. Meche is offended by "rabo verde."

Later, Elvira finds Lupita barfing in the washtub with her underwear clutched in her hand. Lupita cries in Elvira's arms as Elvira stares into space with steely resolve.

Next day. Domingo's got his big bottle with him again. Meche asks him about some plumbing job and he grumpily says no. He obviously has a hangover but claims it's indigestion caused by her sister's cooking. He goes out on the patio and pours his bottle into a glass - classy!

That's when two cops arrive to take him away. Domingo realizes that it's because of Elvira, but he also says they must have mistaken him for someone else. Meche slaps Lupita, knocking her to the floor. Meche blames Lupita and Elvira for everything. The two women struggle, and Meche demands that Lupita say that Domigo didn't do anything to her. Lupita mumbles in agreement through her sleeved hand. Meche marches off, satisfied. Elvira leaves too.

Lupita follows Elvira, wanting to know where she's going. "To get your papa out of jail, and see if they don't arrest me for making up things that aren't so. Lupita asks Elvira's forgiveness. He didn't do anything to her. Elvira loses it and screams "idiot, liar! It's your fault he's in jail!" But then she comes back and takes Lupita's hand. Well, sleeve.

"That guy deserved everything that happened to him," Elvira tells Capellan. "He was nothing, nobody." Capellan asks what Elvira is laughing at. "Right now, everything."

Elvira takes Lupita to the clinic for an exam. Lupita reveals that the abuse has been going on for three years. More crying and sleeve-biting. Someone comes in with some paperwork - test results. Lupita is pregnant! .

"What I have here is a murder with three suspects, one of them a minor - your niece, no less." Elvira is still smirking at "everything," but her smile fades as Capellan continues: "Your niece, at 16 years old, has to make the decision to become un degrado [I don't think this is correct but can't tell what it should be]. Does it seem to you that we can continue beating around the bush?"

Meche visits Prince Charming in jail. He's grateful for the lunch she brought. She tells him Lupita's pregnant - and at the same age when Meche had Lupita. It's being investigated because she's a minor. Domingo blames Elvira for starting all of this, and blames the neighborhood boys for the pregnancy.

"You haven't been fooling around with Lupita, have you?" she asks. She makes him swear to la Virgencita.

"I believed him," Meche tells Capellan. Capellan asks, "What were you afraid of? Being alone? Being abandoned? I don't want to offend you, but there are many cases like yours." Meche answers, "she was a little girl." "Living under violent threat," Capellan says. "Victims that age never completely understand the reason for the abuses that were commited against them. Never."

Lupita is feeding her brothers on the patio. Meche comes out and says that until the lab test results are all in, Domingo has to stay in jail. So, who's really the father? Lupita says it's Domingo. She didn't think her mother would believe her.

Meche still doesn't believe her. She knocks Lupita to the ground and sends the boys into the house. Elvira asks Meche, didn't she ever have any doubts? Meche says no, he's my husband! Elvira says thank God the authorities are looking into it now.

Evening. Meche is in hysterics. Lupita is crying in Elvira's arms again. There's a piece of paper in Meche's hand: apparently, the test results have arrived and the evidence suggests that they're going to need a bigger bottle because the unkempt drunken horndog slob has produced another heir. Meche begs her daughter's pardon for not believing her.

Meche goes back to the jail with another lunch. Domingo complains that it's too cold, and where's she been for the last three days? She assembles his lunch patiently and tells him she hasn't been feeling well. But the baby's okay. Domingo says that's good, because he's not okay. Boo hoo, jail is icky.

Meche calmly tells him to eat, and watches with a grim smile. She flashes back to earlier that day (same dress). She's stirring some mole. Elvira wants a taste. Meche won't let her try it.

Domingo tells Meche that the food here is filthy. She asks if she likes the mole, and doesn't he want to know what she discussed with Lupita?

He flashes back to the day he interrupted Lupita's sweeping, then chased her into the hallway and raped her. "What do I care?" he asks Meche. Meche calls him a dog, an animal, for doing that to Lupita all that time, since she was 14.

He swears to Virgencita that he didn't do it. "Don't you know what they do to rapists in prison?" Meche asks him. (He flashes back to Lupita sobbing in the hallway, begging, "ya.")

He's still stuffing his face. "Eat," she says, shoving it at him. He doesn't notice her smirk. He insists that it's all lies from Elvira.

Then he changes tactics. "You want to know the truth? Your daughter offered herself to me. Just like you! Know why? It was the call of blood."

Meche stands. He puts down his tortilla and jumps up, saying he was just joking. "You're making me nervous. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in prison. You won't let me rot here, will you? Not really?" She comforts him and says no, he won't rot here.

I think he should, but another plan is already in motion.

Meche flashes back to the kitchen and the mole. Elvira is holding a box. Meche takes out a dainty spoonful of powder. As she stirs this into the mole, Elvira pours in the rest of the powder from the box, and we see that it's a box of rat poison. (Is anyone surprised by this? Did anyone not see this coming?) Elvira taps the bottom of the box for good measure.

Domingo is starting to feel it. (Then again, he never did like Elvira's cooking.) He's gagging and choking and retching as Meche stands by with a cold smile. "I told you," she says...

"...that I wouldn't let him rot," she explains to Capellan.

In a separate inteview, Elvira says that he died like a rat.

Meche holds him down to keep him quiet as he convulses with blood trickling from his ears and nose and mouth. The red butterfly takes off, and Meche leaves, wiping flecks of blood from her face.

"The wretch deserved to die that way," Elvira tells Capellan.

"Domingo Martinez murió por envenenamiento. Mercedes y Elvira Gonzalez fueron encontradas culpables en primer y segundo grado de responsabilidad, respectivamente. El embarazo de Mercedes, así como su situación emocional, se consideraron atenuantes para su condena. Fueron sentenciadas a 24 años de prisión. Lupita fue declarada inocente y se le permitió abortar, segun las leyes vigentes. Actualmente trabaja en un almacén y se ocupa de sus hermanos."

Domingo Martinez died of poisoning. Mercedes and Elvira Gonzalez found guilty of first and second degree murder, respectively. The pregnancy of Mercedes, as well as her emotional state, were taken as mitigating factors in her sentencing. They were sentenced to 24 years in prison. Lupita was decared innocent and was allowed to have an abortion as permitted by law. Currently, she works in a store and cares for her brothers.

Next week on "Parade of Assholes": Tune in for another inspirational tale starring Belinda, Isabela Camil (spelled "Issabela" on the MA website, I don't know why), and William Levy in "Annette y Ana, Nobles."

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