Caray, Caray!

Capítulo 7

My advice, get ready with your finger on the mute or volume buttons because there is a whole lot of high volume wailing going on tonight.

Last night it looked like Rafa “stretched his leg” (Estirar la pata = to kick the bucket, to die) but we know from the previews that he survives long enough to endure a botched or at least unsuccessful operation. Our doomed Romeo passes out in maid Matilde’s arms prolonging his agonizing death for our viewing pleasure.

Meanwhile brother Jero continues to leave voice mails for Rafa.

The drunk doctor staggers into La Bonita sans medical bag, wrings his hands, and nervously gives orders to everyone on how to prepare for an emergency operation. Get my instruments, prepare the patient, oh dear oh dear. This goes on for a couple of scenes.

Roberta and her friend Selene are parked on a street outside the house. Roberta gripes to Selene about Rafa being with Renata. Why won’t he answer? What’s he doing with Ren? What if he tells her our plans? Why does sis always have to stick her nose in my life?

Fina calls Renata on some buls**t pretext and is relieved to hear that Rafa stood Renata up without contacting her at all.

Regina sobs and gazes at the “various ages” sketches of her daughter. She tells the drawing that she’s going to give Antonio a chance but that she (the kid) will always be the most important thing to her. Wow, this actress is a very convincing crier, well done.

Let the operation commence - we have a montage of split screens, concerned faces, bloodied rags, sweating nervous doctor, his shaking hands, lots of bloody digging around in the wound, and at last the bullet is removed complete with bits of flesh hanging off the forceps. (At least I think that’s what the instrument is. Carlos will correct if necessary.)

Roberta and Selene see Renata’s car approach and they duck down. Come on, like they’re not allowed to sit in front of the house? Or Renata’s not going to recognize Selene’s bright red convertible VW? Oh, maybe she didn’t recognize it because the VW logo is blurred out, that explains it.

Doc says Rafa is a peaceful guy, no enemies, why would anyone want to shoot him? (If he’s so peaceful why did he have a big revolver lying around? Cleaning it maybe.) Matilde says when Rafa regained consciousness he mentioned his girlfriend, La Bonita. Augustin looks pensive.

Renata calls Adriana who is in really cool pajamas and tells her she’s worried about Rafa, something very strange must have happened to him. Then she tells the story about running into Jero and him accusing her of swiping his wallet. Renata recalls the long kiss between strangers and takes a big bite of the forbidden fruit, er, I mean apple.

Jero becomes increasingly worried because Rafa doesn’t answer his phone and he never showed up at their rendezvous.

Hired hand Ezequiel (Alejandro Ruiz) calls Jasmin from La Fea Mas Bella but she says she never heard anything strange during the day, certainly not a gunshot. Oh, her name is Alfonsina in this show; she was also Gardenia in MEPS. Lázaro and Ezequiel ponder the accident, nothing about it makes sense.

Matías shows up and Renata tells him she had a rather odd night and refuses to give any more details. He invites her to play tourist with him tomorrow. I think Matt’s got a bit of a crush on his step-sis.

Rafa awakes in a panic and promptly croaks. Matilde wails and cries and drunk doc tries CPR for about 5 seconds then gives up. Everybody wails loudly and that darn angelic choir that sang for dead Roberto also sings for Rafa.

You’ve got to be kidding. Roberta and Selene are still in the red bug griping about Renata and Rafa. Roberta gets all hyper about all of the what-ifs. She’s driving Selene and me crazy with her ranting and Selene tells her to chill, she knows Rafa loves Roberta.

The Sturm und Drang at Hacienda La Bonita continues with Matilde giving the performance of her life. Doc says he did everything possible, Rafa just lost too much blood. Everybody is all torn up except Augustin whose cogs and sprockets are working overtime. He glares at the doc.

Fina is creeping around dark bedrooms again, muttering she hopes Rob learned her lesson and that everything she (Fina) did was worth it.

Now the padre joins the mourning. Looks like he arrived too late for last rites. He is cara impactada to hear that all indications point to suicide. Matilde’s not buying it, what was his motive? Padre agrees and recites the Trinitarian Formula.

Augustin joins doc who is sleeping it off, er, praying in the Hacienda chapel. Sez he’s just resting his eyes, the excuse I stopped using when I was six. Augustin asks the doc if he remembers what happened, that Rafa just died. I think the Doc’s in deep doo-doo and will do-do whatever Augustin wants in the future.

Renata wakes up, still worried about Rafa. She wonders whom Jero was waiting for, split screen of both Ren and Jero with insomnia, “their” song CME plays. I think Juan Luis Guerra’s voice is the more romantic one, IMHO.

Doc tells Augie that Rafa built the hacienda and vineyards with Jero’s money. Also that Jero is due any time. Augie’s not liking this, says Rafa was just a kid starting out so he could do things his way (a mi modo), meaning he could probably do a bit of cheating. Augie says they’d better get ready because if Jero thinks he’s coming there to do his own sweet will (su santa voluntad) he’s very mistaken. Not sure what he means but it’s definitely a threat or warning of some sort.

Back at the deathbed Doc wants to bury the kid and Matilde says not until the bro gets there. Doc points out they don’t know when the bro will get there, if he arrives tonight or tomorrow then he can decide, otherwise they will proceed. Hard to believe that nobody can figure out how to get in touch with Jero but whatever. Doc says he’ll prepare the body for burial and Augie announces that the doc has decided to dispense with an autopsy. Matilde seems to think an autopsy is a bad thing so she’s cool with letting the preparations begin. Clearly Augi doesn't want an autopsy, not sure why.

Good lord, Roberta, now in her room, is STILL writhing and wailing about Rafa standing her up, she’s working herself up into quite a lather. FF>>

Doc is pissed at Augie for announcing there would be no autopsy. Augie says it’s because the doc was drunk when he operated and he could lose his license. Augustin tells the doc he (doc) drank three bottles of wine, is an alcoholic, and he (Augie) won’t tell anyone that doc operated under the influence if he agrees to dispense with the autopsy. It’s for the doc’s own good. Doc is stricken. Time for another drink, eh doc?

Fina calls a number and gets a busy signal.

The doc makes a call from the house phone and exempts Rafa from an autopsy, he wants to save the family from further anguish. The phone rings, Augie answers and Fina asks for Rafa. She makes up some cock and bull story about interest in Rafa’s product. Augie says sorry, in the first place it has all been sold, in the second place Rafa’s dead, suicide. Oh come on, like someone’s going to give that info over the phone? And I’m not even going to get into the issue of tracking phone calls and that Rafa got numerous calls from a cell phone that resides at the same location as this “innocent inquiry” call. Anyway, it seems Augie wants to bury the kid and rush his deal through before big brother arrives. He unplugs the phone in case the brother tries to call.

Fina does a quiet happy dance that Rafa’s dead. She has a gleeful satanic grin that scared the hell out of me.

Matilde finds the crumpled “Dear Rafael” letter. She runs downstairs shouting that she killed him! It was La Bonita that caused the boss to take his own life. The doc, desperate to divert any blame away from himself, makes a big show of reading the letter and exclaiming profusely how this caused Rafa to kill himself. Lazaro kind of rolls his eyes and says “Kill yourself over a woman?” I’m liking this Lazaro a lot, he seems to be the only one with any sense. Doc gives the letter to Matilde and tells her to guard it carefully. She must give it to the brother, he has a right to know that This Woman caused Rafa’s death!

Later, the doc is outside ruefully recalling the bloody operation in gory detail. He clutches his little flask between his fists and takes a swig. Man, the doctors sure get a bum rap in these shows.

The next morning Rafa’s in his coffin and Matilde is still crying a river over her boss. Lazaro gives her a look like “Yo, Waterworks, shut the hell up already”. The entire hacienda staff is there, the women are crying and the men are stoic.

Alfonsina says something about the boss being such a great guy, he gave her a job even though she was a woman and didn’t have an engineering degree. Some other woman points out Alfonsina knows more about vineyards than anyone and el jefe knew the value in that. I only mention this conversation because it might be important somewhere down the line.

They’re ready for the burial but Matilde makes another big scene about not wanting to let go.

Roberta runs into Renata on the Stairway of Doom where Renata tells her that she never saw Rafa last night because he stood her up and wouldn’t answer his cell. This bit of info perks Rob up but she still Hates Not Knowing.

Jero is still trying to reach Rafa but the hacienda phone is unplugged. He calls the hotel lobby but nope, no messages from his brother for him. He books a flight to Tijuana.

The doc tells Augustin that it’s obvious Rafa killed himself over a woman. Augie thinks it’s odd because Rafa seemed like such a balanced person with a great future. Short PSA about all Rafa’s hard work to create his organic pesticide-free vineyard. Augie tells the doc he’s never loved anyone enough to take his own life, life is so precious he wouldn’t give it to anyone. Something tells me something’s gonna happen down the line to make Augie change his tune.

Augie tells Doc he’s not going to the burial, he can’t stand all that stupid crying. Anyway, he has an appointment with the notary, he’s planning to proceed immediately with the harvest, blah blah blah before the brother arrives to mess up Augie’s program. Then he makes a dig that neither the bonita nor the doc are responsible for Rafa’s death, “Or are you?” he pointedly asks the doc. Doc freaks and says don’t discuss this, I’m not responsible, is that clear Augustin? Is that clear? Augie gives doc his evil smile. (Note: I have a hard time understanding Augustin and my closed caps were terrible so if I missed something important please tell me and I’ll add to/correct the recap. Thanks.)

Oh HELLO! My reward for recapping just arrived. Matias is ready for a ride and he’s all decked out in tight, white, bun-hugging jodhpurs, white polo shirt and riding boots. I know, I know, it sounds like a dorky getup but honestly on this guy it’s positively smashing. Rewind. Pause. He wants to ride with Renata and he gets to ride a horse named Borracho (drunkard) which I find amusing.

Jero fishes Renata’s bracelet out of his pocket and recalls the stolen kiss.

Montage scenes of Renata and Mat playing tourist in the DF, lots of sibling-on-the-verge-of-not hugging and kissing. Looks like a fun day.

Cut to Rafa’s funeral. Lazaro cogitates, Doc looks guilty, Matilde’s, you guessed it, crying.

Roberta cries and keeps trying to reach Rafa via cell phone. She doesn’t understand what’s going on with him.

Over at Hacienda La Bonita they are cleaning up and notice the house phone is unplugged.

Jero is at the airport recalling the day his mami died. Little Rafa is weeping uncontrollably and so loudly that I can’t hear what mami’s last wish is but I imagine she’s tasking Jero with taking care of his little bro. She “stretches the leg” (dies) and grownup Jero thought bubbles that he promised mom, Rafa just has to be OK. He checks his watch nervously.

A local taxi drops Jero off at La Bonita. Jero hears the mournful death knell and spies the black funereal bow tied to the entrance gate. Uh oh, big brother’s got a bad feeling. He spots Matilde dressed in black. She doesn’t know how to tell him but...but...the boss Rafael, Jero’s brother, is dead!

Mañana: Renata and Mat kiss? Renata thinks of Jero. Matilda tells Jero that it’s the fault of A Woman. Jero clutches the letter and vows to find out about This Woman.

Vocab:
a mi modo = my way
su santa voluntad = his own thing, his own sweet will (lit. his sainted will)
estirar la pata = to kick the bucket (lit. to stretch the leg)

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