Caray, Caray!

Our heroine is getting the hell out of Dodge via the train. Coincidentally, of course, our guero Rodrigo is going on the same train. They are attracted to each other. She gets on (second class), so does he (first class). (He has fancy food, she has an apple.)

The train stops. Rodrigo gets off and rushes back to find Luciana in coach. He mouths, "Come have coffee with me and talk?" She isn't getting off, though. He gets deluxe transport to his home, but she commences a long, long journey by trolley and bus etc. to what is going to be approximately the same place he's going, right?  She carries her handy picture of the Virgin Mary under her arm.

Luciana's mother looks at a picture of her husband, his tractor, and their daughter Luci. "They've both left us," she moans to her son Lorenzo, who says Luciana will be back.

So the deal with Violeta is, she's told her mother Magda (who lives in the pueblo and is best buds with Luciana's mother) that she's a night nurse. Really, though, she works at an antro, which could be a bar, a dive, a hole, let us call it a Den of Iniquity and its name is "Hell."

Rodrigo's dad doesn't seem to like him. He blames him for the accident which has left Pat crippled. Yes, Ezra, ALREADY the hospital!! Max the father is angry at everyone. The mother Rosalena(?) is mad at her husband - he taught their sons to love danger. The priest tells her Rodrigo needs love and tolerance and patience.

Patricio is crabby and doesn't want his dinner. He feels like a piece of furniture. Downstairs, the arrival of Connie (the mom's sister) and her son Aldo, cousin to Rod and Pat. Aldo wants to see Pat. The mom says Pat is "nervous." She feels very sorry for - her own self. "Why does God do this to ME?" she hyperventilates.

A newspaper is delivered to Rod and Pat's dad Max, the cover story is on the brothers' accident. Max is furious. He yells at Gala, their publicist. Turns out it was Gala's (update: mom) Julieta that leaked the story.

The cranky mother informs us that because Gala is divorced, if she's to marry into the family she must procure an annulment so there can be a proper church wedding.

I'm going to introduce you to a Yiddish term, "het," which means far away, and "het het" means really out in the boonies. So I deem Luciana's hometown to be "het het." Het het, the market gossip is that Luciana has gone far away. (Note that from her village's point of view, the big city is "het het.") Nobody knows where. Procopio (the villain's stooge) reports this.

The villain orders the stooge to go spy on Lorenzo (Luciana's brother) and his dumb buddy. They're easy to spot, they are always hanging out in front of the funeral parlor hopefully waiting for somebody to die. Lorenzo's friend is amazed Luciana has gone off to the capital (shh don't tell anybody). Everything is big there! That friend is a dim bulb. He's going to spill the beans.

Rodrigo tells his grumpy brother Pat: "I've gotten engaged to Gala, but I'm not very happy about it because of you." "Marry, have your family, go forward while I'll just lie here. Enjoy life since you can. I don't blame you, it could have been you instead of me."

Gala is mad at her friend Julieta (who played an annoying upper-class diva in HQDNS) for leaking the story. Juli wants Gala to marry as fast as possible. I don't know why she cares because the subtitles quit while the explanation rolled.

We are reminded that Luciana's dying father said to her: "Seek your destiny, seek Rosa Torres." "Who is Rosa Torres?" Luciana muses.

The aunt can't cheer Pat up by talking baseball. Brigida the housekeeper is scary. Pat throws Brigida out when she asks what he wants for dinner. He doesn't like Brigida. He says of the young sprightly Jana, "She's a free soul, she shouldn't take care of me." Is he not her "real" brother?

Luciana: still traveling! A taco guy gives her direx and a free taco. It's a full moon in Mexico again! Luciana gets to Violeta's house but nobody answers. She sits on the stoop to wait.

Big dinner at the big house, Gala and Julieta invited themselves in order to make the Gala/Rod engagement public and seal the deal. The mother is definitely not happy to be hearing the big news this way.

Luciana is sleeping on the stoop when a drunk woman in sparkly high heels and a sparkly red dress arrives. It's Violeta. She does NOT look like a night nurse. Though I believe she ministers to men in the night. She opens the door, Luciana is appalled to see the mess. Violeta, very happy to see Luciana, says the night nurse job was invented to get her mother off her back. Actually she works in a den of iniquity.

Luciana tells Vi the sad story of everything getting stolen by the evil boss (who at that moment is wearing a fabulous satin robe with a purple hem, drinking on his bed, vowing to steal Luciana back). Next morning Luciana has cleaned everything up like Cinderella and has coffee and donuts for her hungover friend. Then she goes out to find work.

Rodrigo tells his brother Pat about seeing the cute Norteno girl again. Pat says he'd have liked to have seen her again too.

The angry dad scolds Rodrigo some more for Pat's accident which left him a guinapo (a rag, a wreck). The angry mom doesn't want to have fun with her friend, she wants to stay home and sulk.

Het het: the stooge runs to tell his villainous boss: "I saw Lorenzo and his dumb friend talking about Luciana's arrival." The boss deduces that Efren the grocer knows where the little dove is.

Paz (Luci's mom) tells Magda (Violeta's mom): "When my Luciana was born we were working in a rich woman's house and she gave me these fine clothes that her children had outgrown." The friend asks follow-up questions but Paz immediately falls off her stool and breaks her hand.

In the airplane hanger Max tells Rod's friend, with no air of happiness, that he's spent 36 years married to the same woman. Rod's friend thinks fidelity is too hard.

Luciana attends a pep rally for wannabe perfume salespeople. When it turns out each applicant must pay 1000 pesos as an "investment" she speaks up angrily and leaves - I approved of the PSA (that this sort of gig is a crock). Then she almost finds work with a nice guy in a little food place but the guy's mother throws her out, I didn't catch why.

Fourth night in a row it's a full moon. Violeta to Luciana: "Borrow my clothes and work for my boss!" Luci doesn't want to. Violeta's next idea is that Luci go back home, marry the evil old dude, and wait for him to die. "Take advantage of the situation!"

Intimate dinner, Rod and Gala. He wants at least four children; she wants it to be "just be you and me" and nags about a date for the wedding.

Luciana looks for work some more.

Pat is not eating. Max is contracting changes to the house to make it accessible for a wheelchair.

Luci discovers she won't get work as a maid without references. Also, she is too pretty to get work where there are men living!

A priest Honesto cames to see Pat. First the mom complains about Jana, "she's poorly brought up and rowdy." Then Pat complains: "Where was God when I had my accident?" "At your side - that's why you're here with your family that loves you." sez the priest.

Het het: Lorenzo is annoyed nobody has died, that's a problem when you're in the funeral business. The friend wants them to go on a trip to the capital. The stooge is spying.

Violeta pushes hard and Luciana finally agrees to go see Vi's boss. There's work cleaning the bathroom? or attending the ladies in the bathroom? Anyway, when the boss sees Luci (he looks her over fore and aft) he gives her work attending tables instead. She gets a wig and a lot of makeup and a tiny little red satin outfit. And what do you know, here come Rod and his buddies and fiance for a night at "Inferno." Luci and Rod stare at each other. I can't believe he recognizes her.

Tomorrow we have no recapper unless somebody steps up. Ezra will blog on Wednesday.

Labels: refugio