Caray, Caray!

Part One of Two: Of mothers who suffer, mothers who love, and mothers who destroy – sometimes all at once; of caring sisters and clueless fathers.
Herewith the abridged version:Osvaldo heads off for a retreat looking for inner peace. (No, really. I’m serious.)

In this story, Grandma really IS the wolf -- Bernarda tries to poison María D against Victoria; then Juan Pablo tries to tell MD his mother is a liar. Without actually saying his mother is a liar.

Just as Victoria is ready to start a new stage of life with her lost daughter at her side, Bernarda reveals that Magdalena is the wrong María.

Victoria shows what she’s made of: in spite of Bernarda’s dirty trick, she’ll stand by MM.

And MM shows what she’s made of: she’ll strike out on her own with gratitude for the new chance at life Vic and Toni have given her.

Oscar and Toni start to get to know each other.

The FerBeast softens toward María D, recognizing that she, not Ximena, is her brother’s happiness; but she hardens her heart towards her mother, blaming her for driving Osvaldo away.

Victoria, already devastated by the discovery that MM isn’t really her lost daughter, is further crushed to learn that Osvaldo has left home.----------------
And now the unabridged version:

María Desamparada continues to pour her heart out to Bernarda: The strangest thing of all, she says, was meeting up with a girl I knew at the orphanage. Now she says she’s Vic’s daughter! Why didn’t she live with her mother when she was growing up?

Suddenly it occurs to María D to ask: It’s obvious you and la sra Victoria have known each other for a long time and you dislike each other – Just what is the link between you? Our only link, replies Bernarda, is that in the past Victoria worked as a servant in my house.

María Magdalena is at Toni’s apartment happily unwrapping her new clothes. She remembers thinking she’d never forgive her mother for abandoning her. But now that she has gotten to know her, she realizes she is such a good person. There’s no reason to turn down her invitation to go and live with her.

At the Casa de Modas, Fabián comes upon the usually cheerful Luci in tears. She admits she is crying over a romantic disappointment.

Vic announces joyfully to Toni: Even though I haven’t told my family yet, today I’m taking María Magdalena home with me. It’s time they knew her. I’m not hiding her any longer.
And what will you tell them? asks Toni. The truth, says Vic. Except for the identity of María’s father – that’s something I have to hide; I’ll only tell Osvaldo.

Valle de Bravo, Osvaldo’s Retreat:
It’s a place for physical and spiritual exercises to heal body and soul; a place to find peace. Just the ticket, says Osvaldo. Enlightenment Lite. Ah peace!

Vic and Toni continue their conversation. Says Victoria: Pip spilled the frijoles -- he told me you’re in love with Oscar. Yes, it’s true, says Toni. But why talk about it when Oscar is in love with you? Vic reminds her that Osvaldo is and always will be the only man in her life.

Bernarda is filling MD’s head with a bunch of whoppers about Victoria: that she was always immoral, always messing with other employees. Because of her, Bernie had to fire gardeners, chauffeurs – she was a slut! MD is dubious:
Me cuesta mucho trabajo creer lo que usted dice.(It’s hard to believe what you’re saying. Literally “It costs me a lot of work…)
When did she leave your house? asks Maria. She didn’t leave, says Bernarda:

I threw her out when I found out she was pregnant.
[Ay, María Desamparada, listen to what Evil Buns is saying! Do you think she will treat you any better?]

Poor, deluded Victoria continues telling Toni: Now I have what I always wanted: my daughter, my family, my husband. And you know what?

I’m going to leave this business in Max’s hands and yours so you can take charge of everything!

Toni is delighted but the Telenovela Imminent Tragedy Alarms (TITA) are flashing – Threat Level Orange! Orange Alert!
Alas, there’s no joy in Max’s office at the moment: He rages impotently against Ximena’s invasion of his privacy: What right do you have to go through my stuff? (¿Con qué derecho revisas mis cosas?) What right do you have to to torture María D with the letter she wrote me?

I'm your wife, explains Ximena matter-of-factly. Max retorts: I’ve told you a thousand times you have no rights over me or my life. As soon as the baby is born, we’re getting divorced.

This just rolls over Ximena. She’s there for money for her expenses and her mother’s. Max agrees to give her a check for herself – it’s his obligation as her husband – but her Mami can fend for herself (or Ximena can use her money to take care of Mami). If Rox is hard up, she’ll have to find a job. Maybe they can find something for her in the business, if they have to.
[Max, Max, what are you thinking? You might as well let loose ten thousand roaches in the office – the result would be just as nasty and equally hard to eradicate!]
Ximena flounces out angrily.

Fabián laughs when Max tells him Ximena expects him to support her mother too. En serio? Qué descaro! (Really? What a nerve!)

Bernie continues weaving her fabric of lies for María D. She tells her Victoria had several lovers before she met Osvaldo Sandoval. She married him for his money and his social position. MD is still skeptical:
Se me hace muy extraño. La señora Victoria siempre ha dicho que se enorgullece de sus origines humildes.
(That sounds odd to me. Sra Victoria has always said she’s proud of her humble beginnings.)

Oh that’s just an act, says Bernie dismissively. Osvaldo provided her with access to a new world. For that, she was willing to abandon her daughter in the street. Thank God the nuns found the child and took care of her.

But how do you know that? María asks. I found out by chance, says Bernie. She felt so sorry for Victoria’s poor daughter that she wanted to rescue her from her life of sin. Why, she even took her in to live with her. But Vic took her away. Who knows what plans she had in mind?

Then María D asks:
¿Y quién es el padre de María M?
(Who is MM’s father?)
Bernie throws up her hands? Maybe one of those lowlifes (pelados) she ran around with? There were so many!

Casa de Modas: Toni reproaches Pip for squealing to Vic about her feelings for Oscar. He is unrepentant. Someone had to break through her wall of reserve.

Victoria tells Oscar he has to find a woman who loves him – she’s not the one!

Meanwhile, María D can scarcely believe what she is hearing from St. Bernarda. How sad! In spite of everything, she admired Vic and wanted to be like her.
Pero después de lo que usted me ha contado, me siento tan desilusionada que jamás me hubiera gustado tener una madre como ella. Jamás.(But after what you told me, I feel so disappointed
that I would never have wanted to have a mother like her. Never.)
Bernie strokes MD’s hair, holds her face in her hands and locks eyes with her. [This is impressive. Bernarda is a sociopath who has learned to mimic human emotions to perfection.]

Ximena pays a visit to her mean Mami. Mama Rox turns up the nasty another notch when she hears that Max won’t fork over money for her upkeep. Then, out of idle curiosity, she asks her daughter: Do you love Max? Her answer:
Max es el hombre más aburrido y correcto que he conocido en toda mi vida!(Max is the most boring, the most proper man I’ve ever met in my life.)
The only thing interesting about him is his money. Well, agrees, Rox, that is the most important thing. And tomorrow she’ll show up to work at Casa Victoria – they don’t know what’s in store for them!

Vic is heading off to pick up María M and take her home to Casa Sandoval. She asks Luci to find Os and Fer. She wants them present for an important occasion:

This is going to be the happiest day of my life, she tells Toni.
[Ay! TITA! TITA! Now the Telenovela Imminent Tragedy Alarms are flashing red! Red Alert! Run, Toni, Run!]

Linda rides up a mall escalator and thought-bubbles: She sold JuanJo’s engagement ring and the bracelet and ring she got from Osvaldo. Now she’ll use the money for something worthwhile. (algo que vale mucho la pena.)
Osvaldo’s exercises at the retreat may not exorcise the conflicting images of Linda and Victoria from his mind. But they do give him a chance to show off his big arms and shoulders.

Linda pulls a stuffed toy – a teddy bear on a rocking horse -- out of a shopping bag and wonders if everything between her and Os is really over.

Toni is in Oscar’s office checking out the titles on his book shelf. She sees not just accounting texts, but also volumes of Latin American fiction -- Rulfo, Vargas Llosa, García Marcos. And now he’s into some of the newer authors, he says. What about you, Antonieta? asks the newly minted galán who has suddenly awakened to Antonieta’s many charms. What are you interested in? What are your hobbies?

I’m into bondage and self-abnegation… um.. I mean … music, she says. Shy smiles on both sides. They’ll have to go to a concert together some time.

Secretary Luci tells Max that Vic has already left for home but she wanted him, Fer and Osvaldo together at the house because she has a big surprise for them.

Waiting for the fall:Vic and María Magdalena are leaving Toni’s apartment and heading for Jaime and the Casa Victoria van. MM is so happy, she’s afraid it’s all a dream and when she wakes up it will be over. They are both startled by the sound of a horn honking; then a black SUV driven by Fausto pulls up to the curb. Bernarda gets out and approaches them.

Vic looks her in the eye and defiantly declares that she is taking her daughter to live with her. Forever. Bernie will never be able to come between them.
Bernanda replies dispassionately:
“Nunca” y “siempre” son dos palabras muy peligrosas, Victoria. Hay que tener mucho cuidado con ellas.(“Never” and “always” are two very dangerous words, Victoria. One has to be very careful with their use.)
Bernarda goes on:
Yo sólo vine a sacarte de tu confusión, de tu mala información.(I only came to clear up your confusion and correct the bad information you were given.)
She reaches into her purse, pulls out a paper and hands it to Vic. Read it, she tells her.

María D and Juan Pablo walk and talk. María wants to discuss what Bernie said about Vic.

Bernie looks on without apparent emotion while Vic seems to crumble as she reads: ¡Eso no es posible!, she cries. (That’s not possible!)
It’s a DNA result, a laboratory study, not something I made up, says Bernie.
¿Qué cosa Mamá? (What is it?) asks MM.
¡Mamá! repeats Bernie mockingly.
Que le guste o no, la señora Victoria es mi madre! says MM defiantly.
(Whether you like it or not, Señora Victoria is my mother!)
Tell her the truth, Victoria, says Bernie: María Magdalena is not your daughter.

Victoria calls the lab and verifies the test results. [Estudios Clínicos de México -- Their motto: Count on us to blab your most intimate secrets to any fool who calls!]

She turns to MM and says tearfully:
Efectivamente, tu no eres mi hija, no eres mi hija, no eres.(It’s true, you’re not my daughter...)
[Why say it three times? Maybe it’s a spell to fend off Evil Buns. Doesn’t work, though. Those of us who expected a house to fall on Bernie are left nursing our disappointment.]

I told you so, says Bernie, snatching the paper back. My mission is done. But you and I still have a lot to talk about.

Meanwhile, Juan Pablo says carefully to María Desamparada: That’s what my mother told you about Victoria? Yes, she says, that’s what she said.
JP: Daughter, let me clarify something. You don’t know everything Vic had to live through.
He continues trying to find a rational explanation for his mother’s lies:
It’s very common for human beings to make assumptions and later convince themselves they are absolute truths when the reality is very different.
So you know something about Señora Victoria’s life? asks MD.

After the fall:Victoria turns to the now devastated María Magdalena. Listen carefully, says Vic:

I don’t care what that woman said. I accepted you as my daughter and my decision to take you to live in my house hasn’t changed.
Tú eres mi hija y vas a seguir siéndola, pésele a quien le pese.(You’re my daughter and you’ll continue to be my daughter, whether others like it or not.)

And back at the Casa de Modas, Toni and Pip are imagining the excitement of the moment -- Vic must be taking MM home right now!

Let’s go, daughter, says Vic. But MM turns away and refuses: Yo no soy su hija. (I’m not your daughter.) They’ll go to Toni’s apartment where they can talk.

Valle de Bravo, Osvaldo’s Retreat:
The blindfolded Os puts his hand on his guide’s shoulder and follows him. The guide says:
Este es el laberinto de tu alma. Yo te voy a guiar a encontrar la salida. Y luego te vas a intentar tú solo guiado únicamente por un solo pensamiento: el salir del laberinto en que tú mismo te has metido.
(This is the labyrinth of your soul. I’ll guide you to the way out. And then you’re going to try it alone, guided only by one thought: the way out of the labyrinth in which you have trapped yourself.)

Os takes his hand off the guide’s shoulder, sinks to his knees, removes the blindfold and sobs. [Maybe he’s crying because he realizes that a little New Age mumbo-jumbo won’t make him any less weak and selfish. Or maybe not.]

When Vic and MM get back to Toni’s apartment, Vic tells the girl:
Yo no te di a luz pero he aprendido a quererte como una verdadera hija.(I didn’t give birth to you but I have learned to love you like a true daughter; dar a luz = to give birth)
Stay with me, begs, Vic. You can help me find my real daughter. But MM refuses. She knows that her presence will cause problems in Vic’s family, and knowing there’s no blood tie between them makes her sad. Even so, she won’t go back to her old life. She’ll make her way alone. Someplace far away where she can think about what to do with her life. And she’s grateful for what Vic has done. Vic is sad to see her leave but tells her she is proud of her.

Toni and Pip are at a sidewalk café anxiously awaiting Victoria’s call.
Oscar joins them and Toni’s cell rings – It’s Victoria!
Toni’s joy changes to shock and disbelief while she listens to her friend’s story. Vic will explain more later:
Por lo pronto quiero pedirte que la acompañes a María Magdalena al aeropuerto.(For now, I’d like you to take MM to the airport.)
Vic won’t come with them – MM prefers it that way, maybe to avoid the pain of saying goodbye.

Casa Sandoval:
Max paces and wonders where his father has gone. A cell phone rings – it’s Osvaldo’s. And Linda is calling. She hangs up when she hears Max’s voice. Max sees her name on the caller ID: Linda. Well at least he’s not with her, says Max. Where are you, Osvaldo? sobs Linda. Why don’t you answer me?

Jaime, the chauffeur, is driving while Victoria sits alone in the back and thinks:
Dios mio, mi calvario empieza de nuevo. Tengo que seguir buscando a mi hija hasta encontrarla.(My God, my torture begins again. I have to keep looking for my daughter until I find her.)

Juan Pablo and María Desamparada have made their way back to the church and continue their talk:
Argues Juan Pablo:
Si Victoria fuera de verdad esa mala mujer que algunos creen, Osvaldo no habría casado con ella.(If Victoria were really that bad woman that some people think she is, Osvaldo would never have married her.)
MD agrees:
Pues sí, en eso tienes razón Padre.(Well, yes, you’re right about that, Father.)
MD thanks him for talking to her. He hopes she’ll take his words to heart. His mother will always be his mother, but for reasons he can’t explain, she and Victoria have always hated each other. That has caused many conflicts that have affected all of them.

Juan Pablo breaks off when he catches sight of Victoria, tears streaming down her face. Sorrowfully, Victoria tells JP:
No era ella, Juan Pablo, no era ella.(It wasn’t her, Juan Pablo, it wasn’t her.)

Victoria tells him what happened. Juan Pablo can’t believe his mother has done such a thing:
Si mi madre no hubiera llegado con esos análisis, habrías sido feliz al lado de MM aunque no fuera tu hija.(If my mother hadn’t shown up with those analyses, you’d have been happy with MM even if she wasn’t your daughter.)

Vic is so confused, so hurt, she couldn’t bear another disappointment. All she wants right now is to be in Osvaldo’s arms so he can console her. Only he can give her back a sense of peace and hope. [Oh crap.]

JP wipes his brow and says meaningly:
Victoria, en esta vida, uno debe estar preparado para todo, hasta el peor de los golpes.(Victoria, in this life, one must be prepared for anything, even the harshest blow. Alternate translation: Oh crap.)

He continues: Osvaldo is only a human being and he can’t always offer you the peace you’re looking for.

Valle de Bravo, a group session:
Osvaldo, why are you here? the group leader asks him.
I’m here because I’m a coward, he says. [Any arguments to the contrary? No, I didn’t think so.]

Casa Sandoval:
Fer looks at her brother and pities him for his unhappiness; if only she could do something to help him.

In his mind Max relives his intimate moments with MD. All that joy will never come back into my life, he thinks.

MD prays to the Virgin for the strength to go on alone with her child. She’ll never fall in love again.

When she gets home, María D finds the FerBeast, little red car and all, waiting for her in front of her building. María tenses, expecting another round of insults and attacks, but she’s surprised by what Fer has to say: Max is very unhappy. Now Fer realizes that the woman he should have married is MD.
Well it’s a little late for those reflections, says María D. Besides, you never liked me. What made you come here to tell me that?
Fer says that however she feels about MD, her brother’s happiness comes first. She knows he plans to stand by Ximena only until the baby is born. So if María really loves Max, lucha por él! (Fight for him!)
María is unconvinced.
Think about it, says Fer. Maybe you lost a battle. But not the war!
[And for me this is the first time that Victoria’s two daughters actually look like sisters.]

Victoria comes home sobbing. Max greets her soberly: So you know?
Know what? asks Vic. [Way to meter la pata, Big Boy!]
And Max tells her:
Mi padre se fue de la casa.
(My father left the house.)
Fer has been listening in the background and now she springs forward and attacks Victoria, telling her it’s all her fault. She never had time for her father, for her, for Max. All she cared about was her business. I hate you, she spits out, as Max leads her away.

Dios mio, cries Vic, ¿por qué? ¿por qué?


Part Two of Two: Of Conspirators, Unfair Blame and a Shocking and Tragic Death.
The abridged version:
Ofelia and Guillermo – otherwise known as Thing 1 and Thing 2 -- celebrate Victoria’s misery and then add to it by sending her a compromising photo of Linda and Osvaldo.

Victoria thinks Osvaldo is innocent but blames Linda and María D – she must be Linda’s accomplice -- for trying to hurt her.
Millie worries because JuanJo has disappeared. Linda laughs off her concern.

The FerBeast softens toward Cruz.

Milagros, Napo and Cruz finally find JuanJo – sprawled out dead on the street..
----------------------------------------
And now the unabridged:
At the airport:
María Magdalena, despite Bernarda’s machinations, is grateful for the chance to make a new life. Toni tells her she will always be welcome in her home; she and Victoria would have been happy if she had turned out to be the daughter they were looking for. They say an emotional and affectionate goodbye.

Ho Ho Ho! Linda Sortini Claus comes home with shopping bags full of gifts for the baby and new clothes for herself – she needs to look good in her new job, right? Where did she get the money for her shopping spree? An advance on her salary, she fibs. María D’s baby will never lack for anything with three mothers to care for him!

Yes, says María, in an uncharacteristically bitter outburst, he’ll have three mothers and no father. Max will lose out on knowing his child, watching him grow, hearing his first words. And he’s probably waiting anxiously for the birth of his child with Ximena.
But he doesn’t need my child; and my child won’t need him:
Yo me basto para quererlo, para cuidarlo y para protegerlo.(I’m enough – I can raise him, care for him and protect him on my own.)

Pip and Toni discuss what happened with María Magdalena and its effects on Vic – for her, it’s like losing another daughter.
Fer tearfully phones Pip and asks him and Toni to come to the house at once. Something terrible has happened! (¡Ha ocurrido una tragedia!)

Milagros is disconcerted when she realizes JuanJo isn’t home. Napo tells her the last time he saw JJ, he looked depressed.

The evil adventures of Thing 1 and Thing 2:Ofelia tells Guillermo with malicious delight that the bomb is about to explode in Osvaldo’s house. Even Guillermo is impressed with how much pleasure Ofelia takes in Victoria’s suffering. Why do you hate her so much? he asks:
Resulta que Victoria me hizo a mí lo mismo que te hizo a ti Osvaldo con Leonela.(The fact is that Victoria did the same thing to me that Osvaldo did to you with Leonela.)
She stole away Osvaldo’s love.
[And here I confess I was hoping Guillermo would smack Ofelia silly for mentioning Leonela. And then she would pull a weapon on him and this pair of vipers would end up neutralizing each other. But not yet, I guess -- he’s too intent on torturing Victoria right now.]

Fue mi culpa! ¡Fue mi culpa!
(It was my fault!)
Osvaldo left because of me! sobs Vic to Pipino, who, along with Toni, has come running in answer to Fer’s cry for help. I was so distracted by my own problems, I wasn’t there for Osvaldo. Looking for your lost daughter wasn’t selfish, Toni reminds her. Yes, counters Vic, but I should have told him!

Guillermo and Ofelia continue to wallow in Victoria’s pain and the fact that in the end, for all her airs of superiority, she has been betrayed just like any woman. They need to keep their distance but they want to make sure Victoria finds out about Linda. Guillermo has been saving his cellphone photo of Os and Linda for just such an occasion. And like any crook, Ofelia just happens to have a cellphone registered under another name. Gui will send his photo to Ofelia’s phone…

Fer thinks her father is an innocent victim. Max tells Fer she shouldn’t be laying all the blame on her mother. As Max comforts his sister, he recalls Os’s last words to him about Victoria – how controlling she was, how little time she had for him -- that he loved Victoria but she never allowed herself to be loved.

Guillermo and Ofelia send the photo to Victoria.

Vic is inconsolable over losing Osvaldo and María Magdalena in one single day. Max joins her as Toni and Pipino look on. Her cellphone sounds and she rushes to answer it: ¡Tiene que ser Osvaldo! (It must be Osvaldo!)

But it’s the blurry photo of Osvaldo kissing Linda! ¡Osvaldo y Linda son amantes! wails Victoria. (Os and Linda are lovers!)

The three try to convince her that there must be an innocent explanation for the photo. It looks like she’s kissing him on the cheek, suggests Toni.

Back in the barrio, Linda isn’t sorry she sold everything Os gave her. After all, it cheered up María D a little. She still pines for Osvaldo.

Oscar arrives at Casa Sandoval. Max is on his way out and asks Oscar to look after his mother.

Milagros is dishing out the eats at her stand in the mercado and Napo is serving as waiter. She’s still worried about JuanJo’s whereabouts. Napo will call the fire station to see if he’s there.

Sorrow begins to chip away at the stone that was Fer’s heart:
At Casa Sandoval, Cruz notices Fer’s tearful face. He knows the best medicine for sadness. In his pueblo, people listen to the music of the wind, the trees, the birds, the water and a song sung very softly into one’s ear. And as Cruz begins to sing softly into Fer’s ear, her face breaks into a wistful smile.

Millie stands by anxiously while Napo phones the fire station. The guys haven’t seen JuanJo either.

For a moment, you made me forget my sadness, says Fer. Cruz, forgive me for all the times I was rude to you. She kisses him on the cheek and goes back inside. And he is left to reflect ruefully that he is well and truly in love but to her, he’ll never be more than a simple gardener.

Max once again shows up at María D’s apartment, but this time he’s looking for Linda. He knows his father very well, he says: And he would never have gone to bed with a woman as vulgar as you unless you kept after him until you got what you wanted. Do you realize the harm you’ve done to a married man, a family, a decent woman?
Linda laughs in his face: If your father had an affair with me, it must have been because he was bored with your mother.
She is sure Osvaldo will come back to her. Let Victoria resign herself to the role of victim.
Max leaves in disgust.

Napo has called everywhere and he and Millie still haven’t found JuanJo. Maybe he’s back home…

At Casa Sandoval, Pip, Toni and Oscar try to convince Vic that the photo means nothing. Says Toni:
Te estas ahogando en un vaso de agua.(You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, lit. You’re drowning in a glass of water.)

Victoria says she trusts Osvaldo completely but Linda is up to something. She wants her watched. And she undoubtedly has an accomplice who took the photo and sent it to her – María Desamparada!Esa es su venganza por haberla corrido y por no haberle permitido que se casara con mi hijo Max! Quiero que las tengas vigiladas a las dos!(That is her revenge for my firing her and not letting her marry my son Max. I want you to have them both watched!)
She won’t have pity on either of them. [Guau! Vic’s character hangs another u-ey, morphing from Mother Teresa to Ma Barker faster than you can say TELEVISA!]

Rox asks Ximena if she thinks Vic and Os are going to get divorced. Xi couldn’t care less. She just wants Max to cough up the money so she can live in the penthouse she has her eye on. She’s so sick of living in the hotel. But all he thinks about are his parents’ problems!

It’s dark now and there’s still no sign of JuanJo. Napo and Millie are back in the apartment and Millie is crying. She knows something bad must have happened to her son. Cruz comes home in good spirits. When he hears the story, he says JuanJo is probably with Linda. Millie dashes out to check and to give her a piece of her mind. When she’s out of earshot, Napo confesses to Cruz that he’s worried too. It’s not like JuanJo to just disappear – he’s either home or at the fire station.

Millie pounds on the girls’ door. When Linda opens it, Millie grabs her lapels (I’d have gone for the hair) and demands to know where JuanJo is. How do I know? she says, unconcerned. He’s probably out on a drunk. That’s not so, says Millie.

At the dining room table at Casa Sandoval, Ximena tells Max that her mother isn’t afraid of working. She’ll be at the company tomorrow morning.

Nathy, María D, Cruz and Napo stand by as Millie laces into Linda:
You’re nothing but a cheap whore! It’s your fault I can’t find JuanJo and I don’t know if my son is dead or alive. You did the worst harm a person can do to a mother – destroy her son! You better pray that he’s alive or I’ll tear your eyes out -- I’ll kill you with my own hands!

Cruz and Napo lead Millie away leaving Linda tearful and shaken.

At Casa Sandoval, Micaela tells Max and Ximena that Fer and Vic won’t be joining them at the table. Max and Xi snipe at one another some more.

Millie, Napo and Cruz bundle up for a night to be spent on the streets looking for JuanJo.

Guillermo calls Ximena. She hangs up on him, pretending it’s a wrong number. Xi and Max continue sniping. New Xi threat: If you leave me, she says, forget about your child. Forever. Max looks upward for an answer. He doesn’t seem to find one.

Victoria is tormented by dreams of Osvaldo and Linda together and of María D and Linda mocking her. She prays for guidance.

Napo, Cruz and Millie comb the streets searching for JuanJo.

Max goes to see JP in the church. JP asks Max how Victoria reacted to Osvaldo leaving the house. Badly, answers Max, especially after someone sent her a photo of Os and Linda together. Looking for the bright side, JP replies: That means that Victoria still cares about Os. Nothing is worse (más angustiante) for a marriage than indifference.

Cruz, Napo and Millie search on. Someone tells them he saw a guy resembling JuanJo.

Do you know where my father is? Max asks JP. No, he doesn’t. All he knows is that Osvaldo was planning to go someplace to meditate. He doesn’t want to lose your mother, adds Juan Pablo.
My mother is a great woman, says Max, but very rigid (demasiado dura); I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Linda has recovered nicely from Millie’s threats and now models one of her new dresses for Nathy and María D. The roomies are shocked that she is indifferent to JuanJo’s disappearance and Milagros’s anguish. And once more, Nathy wants to know where she got the money for her shopping spree. She doesn’t believe the story of the salary advance. Linda admits she sold JuanJo’s “horrible” engagement ring (although it wasn’t worth much) and the bracelet Osvaldo gave her:
Los bienes son para remediar los males.(Your possessions tide you over in bad times/ The goods are a remedy for the bad.)
María D hands back the baby gifts and tells Linda to return them. She can’t accept them knowing where the money came from.

A tragic discovery:
Milagros stands at a distance as Cruz and Napo approach a figure sprawled on the ground and surrounded by empty bottles. It looks like JuanJo. They grumble about how irresponsibly he is behaving and try to figure out how to get him home.
When they reach him and turn him over on his back, Napo pulls away in horror crying:
¡Tiene la cara destrozada!(His face is a destroyed!)

Cruz checks for a pulse and finds none. JuanJo is dead!

Milagros’s wails of anguish echo in the empty streets. ¡Noooooo! ¡Mi’jo!
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No Max in a kayak. Just memories of love lost. Sigh.

Labels: triunfo