Fruit of the Drunken Tree

After Mami ostracizes Petrona, Petrona looks for Gorrión. At the playground in the Hills, near where Ramón’s body was found, she meets a young boy named Julián who asks her if she knows “’who he’s involved with’” (102). Petrona is unsure if Julián means Ramón or Gorrión, but when Julián tells her to come back as evening falls, Petrona understands his implication. The guerrillas meet at the playground at dusk, and Gorrión will be there because he is one of them.

One morning, Abuela discovers her house has no running water, so she walks with Tica and Memo to the grocery store. Along the path to the grocery store, Abuela, Tica, and Memo are caught in the crossfire of militant groups; helicopters fly close overhead and guns fire around them. A camouflaged man whom Abuela identifies as a guerrilla yells at them, so Abuela grabs the children and lunges under the cover of cactus bushes. All three of them are severely bloodied by thorns. When they finally return home safely, Abuela tells Mamá to call Inés. Abuela cannot bring herself to explain what happened. Inés is furious, wondering aloud why her children, and not Mamá’s, were put in harm’s way. 

Gorrión swears to Petrona that he is not involved with the guerrillas. He says he sympathizes with the encapotados, a term for far-left activists, which Petrona will later understand to be a euphemism for guerrillas. Gorrión tells her not to “get confused” (111) about the different groups, though his explanations are deliberately confusing. Petrona’s love for Gorrión confuses her conscience as Gorrión tells her that Ramón was not a guerrillero either. He encourages her to stay secretly at the Santiagos’ house while they are away as she is unwelcome in her own home. He promises her they will get married and live a safe and carefree life one day. He stays with her at the Santiagos’, and though she feels nervous and guilty, his affection always calms her. While they are living in the Santiagos’ beautiful home, Gorrión tries to indoctrinate Petrona with communist ideas about systematic inequality. She is ambivalent because she feels affection for the Santiagos, but Gorrión’s explanations of his grievances resonate with her experience. 

Abuela is withdrawn and somber after the violent incident. The bruises she sustained in her panicked escape grow more gruesome in the days afterward. Cassandra tells Chula that Mamá and Papá are concerned about Chula’s traumatization from the rally in Soacha, and they might take her to see a psychiatrist. Chula abhors the idea and resolves not to show any signs of emotional distress so she can avoid the psychiatrist. Chula begins calling Petrona at her house every night, and Petrona recounts the plots of telenovelas. Petrona always thanks Chula for not betraying her secret, which makes Chula feel embarrassed and guilty, but she likes feeling helpful to Petrona. Abuela becomes more taciturn, and her silence reminds Chula of Petrona.

One day, Chula enters Abuela’s store, although she is not allowed. She steals several items, including a small bottle that reads “LUCK,” which she turns into a necklace, and shampoo, which she mixes into the chicken feed. One night, Cassandra dares Chula to count the stars, even though it is forbidden to do so because Abuela believes that they will die if they count their birth stars. The next day, all of Abuela’s chickens are dead, and Chula thinks they died because she counted their birth stars. She confesses to Mamá. She also feels guilty that Tica and Memo were caught in the crossfire and not her. The act of confessing brings Chula relief, so she also tells Cassandra about Petrona’s boyfriend, the fake carpet guy.

One night, Abuela awakes screaming in pain as if her skin is still covered in cactus thorns. A doctor arrives and says Abuela must not have felt the pain until this point because she has been in shock. While on painkillers, Abuela imagines she is on a cruise, which reminds Chula of Petrona’s hallucinations after eating the fruit of the Drunken Tree. As the family sits at Abuela’s bedside, Chula inadvertently confesses that she poisoned the chickens. Enraged, Mamá physically reprimands Chula and Cassandra, throwing them against the bathroom wall and hurling buckets of cold water at them as they scream. 

Gorrión pressures Petrona into hosting friends at the Santiagos’ home. Leticia and three young men come over. Leticia introduces them as “la Pulga, La Uña, el Alacrán”—the Flea, the Nail, the Scorpion (127). Petrona confesses to Leticia that she and Gorrión have had sex. Leticia offers Petrona more work passing envelopes if she needs extra money. 

On Christmas Eve, the Santiagos leave Abuela’s house to return home to Bogotá. Chula calls Petrona at their home to warn her. The Santiagos drive first to visit Tía Inés and her family and to give presents to Tica and Memo. When an airplane flies overhead, Tica and Memo run cowering to the corner. Inés explains that they have been running in fear at the sight of airplanes since the crossfire incident with the helicopters. Inés is frustrated, and Mamá comforts Tica and Memo. She reads Tica’s palm and tells her that she “will be beautiful like Cleopatra” (132). This idea calms and delights the distressed Tica. When the Santiagos leave, Chula is relieved to see that Tica is upbeat. 

On the drive home, Chula’s mind wanders as she stares out the window at the crescent moon. Abuela once told her that “the crescent moon was God’s nail” (134).

Petrona and Gorrión return to the Hills, taking pains to ensure they are not seen together. Petrona returns to her hut, where her younger siblings greet her warmly. Mami is silent but not hostile, and Petrona feels Mami’s eyes staring deeply into her. Throughout the neighborhood, Petrona feels eyes watching her. Petrona takes her four younger siblings to a local parade, and they bring home gifts to Mami. The family enjoys a peaceful evening, and Mami says it reminds her of the peace they felt in Boyacá. The comparison makes Petrona nervous, and she worries life will fall apart again like it did back then. Petrona remembers how she promised Gorrión that she would not reveal that he stayed with her at the Santiagos. He alludes to potential danger if the encapotados find out.