Caray, Caray!

We start where we left off – with Martin at his brother’s graveside, in the pouring rain, his raw emotions a mix of profound grief and even deeper rage, screaming, asking his brother to give him the name of the woman who took his life, then swearing to him that he will discover the name of that woman, that he will follow the trail of the Prado Castelos, and that once he finds her….that woman will SUFFER.  (Cue another lightning strike and more ominous choir music.)  Martin slumps onto his brother’s grave and cries uncontrollably, while we see flashbacks of him proudly watching his younger brother (the only family he had) graduating from college with honors.

Back at Demetrio’s graveside, the priest walks up to Martin and gently leads him away.  They arrive at Demetrio’s rat-hole, er, humble but messy abode, where Nanciyaga is ready with a pile of towels to help Martin dry off.  Martin tells the priest he plans to leave the next morning, so the priest goes to the bedroom, brings back a manila envelope, and hands it to Martin, telling him that before dying his brother made sure everything was in order (well, except for the messy house).  He informs Martin that he is now the owner of Demetrio’s share of the gold mine “La Morenita,” which will make him immensely rich.  Martin angrily tosses the manila envelope on the floor and says he doesn’t give a damn about that money, but he swears he will use all the gold in that mine to be with the same woman who caused his brother’s death.  He shows the priest the “V”-shaped pendant with her two last names engraved on it, and again he swears he will find its owner.  After all, he knows that his brother used to work for her family, so it will not be difficult to find her and avenge his brother’s death.  The priest warns him:  “Vengeance will not bring back your brother, but it will hurt you.”  “Father, what that woman did is unforgiveable.  So I beg you to stay out of it.”  “I can’t,” says the priest “because my duty is to help you.”  Martin replies:  “Dedicate yourself to saving other souls, because mine no longer matters.  Mine is already condemned…..I will avenge my brother.”

Veronica is in her bedroom about to go to bed, when she receives an unexpected visit from Emiliano.  He tells her he needs to speak with her and that it cannot wait until the next morning.  She is surprised and then perplexed when he suddenly embraces her. 

Red alert to lady members of the Patio – we now get our first view of Martin bare-chested and in the shower.  Add to that the incredibly sad look on his face….it’s enough to make any one of us sign up to console him.  He once again starts crying, remembering how he promised his mother on her deathbed that he would take care of his brother.  He thought bubbles:  “I failed you, brother.  I failed both of you.”

Emiliano tells Veronica he missed her so much when he was away and wonders why she didn’t visit him when he asked her to do it.  She reminds him she had to stay there to help out his father with the business.  “While you were away I tried to support him and to learn from his administrator, Demetrio Silveira.”  Emiliano asks if he is still with them.  “He no longer works for Prado Castelo.  But he is the one who prepared me.  Demetrio truly was a very capable man and helped us very much.”  He notes how well she speaks of him.  Virginia happens to walk by the bedroom door and hears as Veronica admits to Emiliano that she and Demetrio were quite close.  He asks if they were a couple.  “And what if we were?” challenges Veronica.  Emiliano says he just wants to know if she is going out with him or someone else.  Veronica is intrigued by his question and asks what is going on with him, over-emphasizing the word “primo” (cousin) as she speaks to him.  He begs her not to use that word with him and reminds her they are not related by blood and could even marry each other if they wanted to.  Sadly for him, she doesn’t plan to marry any time soon and, besides, she has always seen him as her cousin.

Martin is visited by Magdalena, Dr. Botel’s wife.  The priest is still there and explains to Martin that Botel was Demetrio’s best friend, the one who prepared his body for burial and who forbid anyone to open his coffin, because he did not want anyone to find out how he died.  (Could it be he didn’t actually shoot himself?  File that in the “unresolved mysteries” folder for now, peeps.)  The priest and NanC leave, and Magdalena continues having a looooong chat with Martin.  She assures him that Botel is not a violent man.  “That’s not the impression I got when I asked him about my brother Demetrio.”  Magdalena asks why he didn’t tell Botel he was his brother from the start, and explains that almost no one there likes outsiders (“fuereños”) – “They all show up looking for gold and only find their perdition in alcohol.”  “Or they find death,” says Martin.  “That’s right.  I’m truly very sorry.  Botel and I loved Demetrio very much.”  She tells him that Botel and Demetrio were business partners and inseparable friends, and both men started drinking more and more as they dug and failed, time and again, to find any gold.  (Cue flashbacks to the two buddies drowning their sorrows at the local bar.)  “If he and my brother were such good friends, perhaps you two heard him speak of his girlfriend.  Do you know her name?” asks Martin.  “No, he never wanted to tell us. He said it had to be a secret until he built the fortune that she wanted him to build before she would marry him.”  Magdalena tells Martin how Demetrio suffered because that woman never visited him there as she had promised.  “Of course, such a self-interested woman would never come to a place like this one,” says Martin.  Magdalena also tells him that for months Demetrio received no letter from that woman, then finally he received one that destroyed him completely.  “Telling him that she was marrying another man,” adds Martin.  “That’s right,” agrees Magdalena.  “With that, your brother forgot about everything, did nothing but drink, stopped going to the mine.  My husband and everyone else kept working until they found the new gold vein, and when Botel informed him that he would be a millionaire, your brother went crazy, screaming that he had missed the deadline that woman gave him to return as a millionaire.”  Martin laments:  “And now he would be married to a demon, but at least he would be alive.”

Veronica tells Emiliano that by the look on his face she can tell he does not want to take over the management of his father’s business.  He reminds her he only studied business to please his father and that she knows his true passion is anthropology.  That’s why she helped convince his father to let him study his second career.  Now Emi wants her to also help convince his father to allow him to dedicate himself to anthropology and museums.  Salma and Virginia, who have been listening at the door, now suddenly walk in.  Salma convinces Emi to go to bed, then confronts Veronica about what she just heard.  So it was Veronica’s fault her son went to study far away.  And now it’s her fault that he shirks his duty to run the family business.  Veronica reminds Salma that her son’s “passion” is the study of pre-hispanic civilizations (which oddly required him to travel far, far away from Latin America??!!)  She doesn’t understand why her aunt won’t just let her “grown up” son do what he loves to do.  (Preach it, sister.)  Salma wonders out loud if Veronica’s real motive in backing her son’s passion is that SHE wants to be the one running the family business.  She warns Veronica to stay out of it and to leave it up to “his parents” to decide if they will grant their “little boy” er, very grown (and kinda old-looking) son, permission to follow his passion.  Then Salma forbids Veronica from ever again bringing Emiliano into her room “especially dressed like that.”  “Oh, come on, tia” says Veronica, a little exasperated.  “You tell me that as if I’m wearing a sexy negligee and trying to seduce him.  I’m in pajamas.”  As a final parting shot, Salma tells Veronica that if she watches Veronica’s actions more closely than she does Virginia, it’s because SHE (Veronica) could follow in her own mother’s footsteps.  Cara impactada de Veronica!!!!

Back at the humble and messy abode, Botel is now there apologizing to Martin, telling him Demetrio was his friend and he hopes he will be too, unless he prefers to forget about it all and sell him his part of the mine.  Martin says t’s not for sale.  The mine is all he has left of his brother, so he is holding on to it.  But he asks Botel to manage the mine himself, because he has to leave town first thing in the morning to attend to an important matter. 

Young Ana Perla walks through town in the late evening with her grandfather.  He says it’s a good thing he is with her.  She apologizes for arriving late, but her ride on the riverboat taxi was delayed due to the storm.  He warns her that something bad can always happen when one least expects it, which is why he never lets her go out on her own, and he doesn’t like her going so frequently to Mina Escondida.  She reminds him that she goes because the old teacher needs someone to help her.  Besides, she could have just stayed there and spent the night in her cousin Blanquita’s home.  Her grandfather tells her that he does not like her spending so much time with her cousins Blanquita and Polo because their father gives them too much freedom.  It’s just because they are bored, points out Ana Perla, since there is not much to do in Mina Escondida, although today everyone was excited because an outsider came to town and everyone wanted to meet him.  He grabs her arm and tells her firmly:  “You are NOT going to meet him or anyone else from the outside.”

NanC tries to convince Martin to have dinner, but he is not hungry. She offers to bring breakfast in the morning, but he tells her it won’t be necessary because he will be leaving early, but he will return.  He tells her he will continue to pay her to care for that place, and she can stay there if she wants, but she must leave that place exactly as it is now – a complete mess.  NanC leaves and he sits there contemplating the “V”-shaped pendant.  He thought bubbles:  “V. Prado-Castelo.  V. for Vengeance.”

The next morning, Martin waits for the riverboat taxi at the mining town’s pitiful excuse for a dock.  The priest comes to speak with Martin and makes one last, futile attempt to talk him out of his planned vengeance.  Martin tells him not to worry, that he will not commit any stupid act of violence.  All he wants is for that woman to pay with the same currency, to suffer the same way his brother suffered, to feel the same anguish his brother felt living there.  “I want her to cry tears of blood, just like him.”  (Ok, then, that doesn’t sound terribly violent, Martincito.  Just cruel and unusual punishment, that’s all.)  Vengeance is like a boomerang, warns the priest, and all it does is cause more damage.

That same morning, Veronica and Emiliano are out riding their horses on his father’s extensive property, with annoying Virginia lagging behind them.  She finally catches up with them and whines that they didn’t wait for her, but she admits that she needs help to perfect her riding style and tries to recruit them.  They both tell her there are plenty of instructors at the club, prompting Virginia to declare that in that case they are all going to the club the next day.  Emiliano can’t wait to see Sanson, a horse he remembers no one could dominate, but Veronica proudly informs him that she has been making strides with Sanson and gaining his trust, and he now even allows her to mount him.  “I don’t doubt it.  You are capable of taming any savage with your sweetness,” says Emiliano. 

Martin returns to his Mexico City apartment with his good friend Alfredo, who tells him he still can’t believe Demetrio committed suicide for a woman.  Martin can’t believe it either, and he can’t accept it, but anyone could have gone insane in the hell hole his brother was living in.  He begs Alfredo to leave because he needs to be alone.  As he is leaving, Alfredo tells him he already informed Claudia and he expects she will soon be there too.

Virginia whines to her aunt that Emiliano only has eyes for Veronica.  Salma reassures Virginia that she knows she is better for Emiliano, because even though they are both adopted, Virginia’s origins are very different from Veronica’s.  Plus, she likes that Virginia is sweet and amiable, while Veronica is rebellious and inconsiderate.  Virginia then “confesses” her life-long love for Emiliano and Salma promises her full support because she thinks Emiliano could not find a better wife than her.

Now alone in his apartment, Martin gets on his laptop and promptly finds information online about the Prado Castelos and their membership in an exclusive club where they also own a large stable of prized horses.  His doorbell soon rings and we are all introduced to Claudia, who wastes no time trying to “console” him by seducing him.  She reminds Martin that when they were an item they used to have so much fun with Demetrio.  (So what better way to pay tribute to Demetrio than by having fun right there and then in memory of him?  No, she didn’t ask this last question, but that’s what she clearly had in mind.)  Claudia also reminds Martin how upset he had been with Demetrio because he was dating someone but refused to tell Martin who it was.  “I shouldn’t have allowed him to distance himself so much from me, much less for a woman who is not worth it,” moans Martin.  He starts sobbing:  “He was like my son”.  Claudia seizes her chance and they begin to make out, but Martin abruptly stops, leaving Claudia all hot and bothered.  He reminds her what they had is over, so doing that is not right.  But there’s nothing wrong with it if we are both free, she insists.  “I think I will not be free for a very long time.” Claudia is now intrigued and wants to know if he is seeing someone.  He tells her he has to do “something” that he doesn’t think she can understand, then leads her to the door and sends her off – to what I’m sure will be a nice, cold shower.  Once she is gone, he promptly slumps onto his sofa and begins bawling again.

Next morning at the club, Veronica is out riding feisty Sanson.  At the same time, Martin shows up at the club house for a pre-scheduled tour of the facilities.  Back with Veronica, who has had to jump off Sanson because he is getting a little worked up.  Emiliano gets upset and tells Veronica he could not handle it if something bad happened to her.  She assures him that she is fine, and no matter how long it takes her, she is going to tame that horse!!!!  She insists on leading Sanson back to the stables herself.  Meanwhile, Martin is inspecting all the horses in the stables.  Virginia, with her perfect timing, comes over and takes Emiliano with her to greet some friends.  Veronica continues on her merry way towards the stables, leading Sanson by his bridle.  As they near the stables, Sanson gets feisty again, pulling back as Veronica continues to pull on his bridle.  Martin comes out, sees what’s going on, and senses danger.  He runs over to help.  Veronica releases the bridle as it chafes and burns her hand, and Martin grabs it and calms down the horse.  Then he turns to ask if she is ok.  They exchange glances, and from the look in their eyes, it is love at first sight for both of them.

(end of #2)