Lupita Manana

Riding to the fields the next morning, Saturday, the Torres children are invited by their jokester cousin Elvio to come to the Spanish language movies with the family that night. Lupita dreams of buying a dress so she can go to church. That evening, Lupita offers to pay for her cousin Irela to accompany the older children to the movie.

Sunday morning, Lupita writes a letter to her mother and encloses $15. Returning from church with the Ruiz family is Fidencio’s grandson, Lucio, a well-dressed teenager who asks to be called “Lucky.” He has his guitar with him and plays songs requested by the family. He disrespects Lupita for the first time, flatly refusing to play the old Mexican standard “La Paloma,” which in English is “the dove.” Lucio is boastful. Salvador is clearly drawn to his big ideas and swayed by his prejudices. Lupita is distressed because of her brother’s acceptance of Lucio.

The next morning, Fidencio’s worker group goes to a different field to harvest zucchini. As the work dehydrates them, Lupita notices one of the older women swoon, and she runs for help. Consuelo sends Lupita to get Fidencio. They gather to care for the woman, Elena, who is suffering from heatstroke. The adults are familiar with this condition and know how to deal with it with the least disruption. No ambulance is called, and the other workers take up the slack for Elena, who is taken to find some shade. Lupita realizes that an illness grave enough to require hospitalization will result in deportation.

The following day, Salvador receives a box of clothing Lucio had promised him. Lupita is troubled by this.

Friday of that week is the Day of the Dead, All Souls Day, an important Mexican holiday but one the Ruiz family does not observe. It is the first Day of the Dead since the death of Lupita’s father, but she cannot celebrate his life, attend mass, or show respect for him.

Salvador remains in the foul mood that descended upon him when he opened the box of flashy clothes from Lucio. He finds his new clothes a reminder of his low social standing, especially since he wears the clothing of his deceased father to work in the fields. This also troubles Lupita and she thinks, “Ay de mí, Salvador despised Papá’s coat. How could he?” (150)

Irela takes Lupita to the department store in Indio and helps her pick out a dress to wear to mass. The clerk tells Irela to tell Lupita not to try the dress on because “you look too dirty” (151). As agreed, Lupita buys Irela an ice cream sundae. Lupita is amazed at how much money she is making and that she spent almost $35 on clothing.

That night Lucio picks up Salvador for an evening of fun. Consuelo cautions Lupita not to wait up for her brother because Lucio has a reputation as a partygoer. Lupita is concerned that, if Salvador runs afoul of the gringo police, he will be turned over to la migra. Salvador does not return that night.

The next morning, Lupita watches for Salvador throughout the mass. He is at the Ruiz house when they return from church. Lupita recognizes the smell of marijuana about the boys. Lucio announces to everyone that Salvador is stepping into Lucio’s job as a dishwasher since Lucio is now a mechanic. Salvador will also move into the home Lucio shares with roommates. Lupita is shocked and feels betrayed. Salvador takes her into a bedroom and tries to persuade her that his moving out makes sense because he will make more money to send to their mother. Salvador says:

This is a way to get a better life and for me to get more money. I cannot work in these fields anymore. I will save, so when we go back to Mexico together, we will have a lot of money to take home with us. Lucky says I can take back so much money that it will make people’s eyes pop. Maybe I’ll have a car to drive back home in (154-55).

When she is unpersuaded, he strikes the door frame, shakes her by the shoulders, and throws her onto her aunt’s bed. Lupita sobs, remaining in the bedroom until evening. When she emerges, she is consoled by her aunt, who counsels her that Salvador’s behavior is typical of men. Lupita decides that she must remain strong and faithful.

Two weeks later, Salvador and Lucky return. He refuses to converse with Lupita, giving her $20 to send to their mother. In another two weeks, the two return again for a visit, again avoiding any conversation with Lupita. Salvador gives her $17 to send to Carmela.

Lupita receives a letter from her mother in December, thanking her for the money and saying that everything is going well in Ensenada. When Salvador comes for another visit, Lupita shows him the letter. He responds by giving her $13 to send to Mexico. Lupita confronts him with her suspicion that he has forgotten Dorotea and has a new girlfriend. She learns from her cousin Elvio that Salvador is thinking of buying a motorcycle. She is outraged that her brother is placing his own desires above that of his promises and his mother’s needs.

Riding home from the fields one afternoon, the brakes go out on Fidencio’s truck, and the field workers experience a harrowing ride through a number of Indio intersections until Fidencio guides it safely into the garage where Lucio works. Lupita takes the opportunity to speak to Lucio, trying to express her concerns about Salvador. He angrily chases her away, saying he cannot be seen speaking to her.

During the Day of the Three Kings, the Mexican holiday where gifts are given in honor of the Christ child, her cousins all receive gifts from their mother. Lupita, who had turned 14 the day before, is surprised when Consuelo also gives her a fine, red velveteen dress. Feeling unworthy, Lupita wants to return it, though Consuelo insists she keep it. Touched, Lupita assures her aunt that she has never shared the Ruiz family’s true financial condition in any of her letters to her mother. Consuelo offers Lupita the option of remaining permanently with them in Indio.

On January 31, a letter from Carmela arrives, followed by Salvador wearing a new corduroy jacket. When he says his mother will soon pay off the moneylender, Lupita reminds him that Carmela will continue to have living expenses she cannot meet on her own. She asks him about the new scent he is wearing and he tells her it is a gift from his new pocha girlfriend, Tammie.

Aunt Consuelo confronts Salvador about how he has abandoned his sister in the process of building a new life for himself. She demands that he find a way to introduce her to new friends. Consuelo brings up the Valentine’s Day baile, dance, that the community’s young people will be attending. Over Lupita’s protests, she insists that Salvador take his sister to the dance. He is ultimately shamed into agreeing, promising to match Lupita with a boy named Rafael.

Because she does not know how to dance, Lupita is coached in dancing by her cousins Elvio and Catarina. Consuelo assures her, “Lupita, a girl never forgets her first baile. You will never forget this one, I promise you” (174). Practicing steadily, Lupita learns the steps to the gringo dances before Valentine’s Day.

Lupita is surprised at how pretty she looks as she gets prepared for the dance. Salvador, driven by Lucio, arrives late to pick up Lupita. She is made to ride in the back seat by herself as the boys ride up front. Salvador tells her they already dropped off their dates at the dance before picking her up. Rafael dances with Lupita to the first two songs, then takes her to a chair and leaves her. No one speaks to her as she watches the young people dance and laugh. Feeling abandoned, Lupita goes into the lady’s restroom to weep. She emotionally releases Salvador, telling herself she “no longer had a brother” (180).

As she emerges from the bathroom, the discordant music suggests that something is wrong. She hears cries of “la migra.” Slipping back into the bathroom, she climbs out the open restroom window and hides in the oleander bushes. Lucio and Rafael come outside eventually, casually discussing the fact that Salvador has been arrested. Lupita confronts them, demanding to be taken to Consuelo’s home immediately.

When Lupita tells Consuelo what happened, her aunt asks if she will remain in Indio and work with her. Lupita realizes she must stay with her aunt. To do so and avoid deportation, she must learn to speak English. Consuelo agrees to help make this possible. That night, Irela, who had overheard the conversation, crawls into bed with Lupita with an English language children’s picture book and a flashlight. She instructs Lupita to call her profesora Irela and begins to teach her English.

The brief Afterword was written by Lucas Guttentag in 1992, approximately 11 years after the publication of the book. Guttentag, the Director of the Immigrants Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, discusses the ambivalence felt by many Americans toward would-be immigrants: While American society intends to be an accepting land of opportunity, Americans are fearful of foreigners. The irony of this, he points out, is that the United States is a nation comprised of immigrants.

He describes the “push” factors that cause people to want to leave underdeveloped nations in the face of the “pull” factors of opportunity and prosperity that draw such people to the US. Discussing the changes brought about by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, he lays out why those new laws were only a partial solution to the issue and the way additional new penalties were created for those who try to help unauthorized immigrants. He writes, “Lupita Mañana reminds us that immigration is much more than an abstract concept: it is about human beings uprooting themselves from their homes and their families to try to make a new and better life” (189-90).