Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Providence, Summer 1998

Raquel leaves Nick’s apartment, ashamed of her shorn hair. She is sure that this will be the last time she closes his front door, and she vows never to speak to him again. She reflects on their relationship, on his subtle disrespect for her, and on the differences between their families. Although his family is the more affluent, his parents are openly disapproving of their daughter Astrid. Also, although they have been kind to Raquel, she realizes that she finds them cold and uncaring. Her mother, by contrast, is warm, supportive, and loving. She might lack money and social status, but she is a much better human being than Nick’s mother. Raquel goes to view more of Anita de Monte’s work and is struck by how vibrant and original it is. There is nothing derivative about it. Raquel finally understands that she has been taught to appreciate art through a white, male gaze, and that men like John Temple are drawn to artists whose work reflects their own interests, tastes, and worldview. She returns to her apartment, where Marcus and Betsaida do not need to be told what happened and why her hair is so short. They try to make light of how terrible it looks, and it is clear that they will help Raquel to move on from her disastrous relationship with Nick.

New York City, Spring 1994

Jack has a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). He is on top of the world until Tilly tells him that Linda Fitzsimmons wants to speak to him. Her son is about to start an art degree at Brown. Linda is a little tipsy. She thanks Jack for the piece that he installed in her family’s foyer and makes a cryptic allusion to a curator who wants to display “those pieces” that she acquired. She tells him that she refused the request.

Providence, Summer 1998

Betsaida takes Raquel to do a limpia, a ritualistic Santeria cleansing. Afterwards, Raquel feels better, lighter. She goes to the radio station to do a show with Marcus, and she feels even better. Her life returns to normal and she begins spending time with her friends again. Her world no longer has to revolve around Nick. Suddenly, Mavette bursts into the studio, freshly back from New York. She tells Raquel that the summer was a disaster, but that Claire and Margot revealed that they are lesbians. Although they did not want to tell their families, their fathers are both influential financiers, and after some initial shock and anger, they decided that it would a good “family merger.” Raquel tells her mother about the breakup, and her mother is happy for her.

Providence, Summer 1998

Anita’s spirit is strengthened by Raquel and Belinda’s interest in her work, and she goes to watch the two women pore over her pieces. Raquel loves the way that Anita used grass and other organic materials, and she appreciates the female forms present in much of Anita’s work. She also sees Anita’s influence in Jack’s work during the years following Anita’s death, and she decides to write her thesis on that instead of on her previously planned topic. (Anita alone knows that she did influence Jack’s work; she actively moved his pieces around and altered them.) Raquel asks Belinda to be her advisor, and Belinda agrees. Anita witnesses an argument between Nick and Raquel and realizes that for toxic men, life is just a gradual honing of their ability to manipulate and control. Raquel tells Nick that his parents are racist and that she does not want to be with a man whose family cares so little for the difference between right and wrong. She has learned how supportive Tilly remained of Jack even after he killed Anita and has realized how close Nick’s own parents are to Tilly. Crushed, Nick tells her that he needs her to support him. Raquel hears this and walks away.

Providence, Fall 1998

Raquel meets with Professor Temple, and they argue about Jack Martin. John feels that Jack’s relationship with his wife had no bearing on his art, and Raquel disagrees. She believes that an artist’s life and identity do impact their work, and she explains that she wants to write her thesis on what she sees as evidence of Anita’s influence in Jack’s art during the mid to late 1980s. She is passionate in her argument and adds that she would be happier working on her thesis under Belinda’s direction. Professor Temple, without rancor, agrees to allow her to switch advisors.

New York City, Winter 1999

Jack’s girlfriend Ingrid returns and helps to take care of him. She dispenses his pills, and she and Tilly try to prevent him from drinking too much. An important figure in the art world wants to stage a massive retrospective of his work, and he is thrilled.

Providence, Spring 1999

Raquel’s thesis is lauded. It will be published in Art in America, and her findings on Jack Martin and Anita de Monte are the talk of the art world. She is offered a position at the magazine upon graduation. As she is in the process of moving, she receives a package from Nick’s mother, who has sent Raquel an image of Anita de Monte. Raquel, heart pounding, is thrilled.

New York City, Spring 2000

Anita’s spirit is powerful once again because of the interest in her that Raquel’s work has generated. Now, her spirit is present at a tedious party. Jack is there. Anita changes the music on the stereo system to Paul Simon’s album, Graceland. Jack hates it and becomes upset. In the form of a bat, she swoops around the party, creating mayhem, but after that, she gives up haunting Jack and moves on. She still watches over Raquel and her family, but she lays her anger at Jack to rest.